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So you're suggesting adding the 1 oz. Hersbrucker at 15 minutes rather than 30? I like the idea of mashing at 148-150 F. I will probably try that. My apartment has AC so it is always a comfortable 70 F so the summer heat won't affect things. :mug:

I'm brewing a 5 gallon partial mash BIAB Kolsch tomorrow. I'm using Wyeast 2565 which I currently have as a starter cold crashing in my fridge. The recipe consists of the following. - 3 lbs. Pilsner Malt Extract - 3 lbs. German Pilsner Malt - 1 lb. German Vienna Malt - 4 oz. Carafoam -...

I read somewhere I should boil for 15 minutes so I did. Probably way too long hence the amount of boil off. The only pot I had was my brew pot which is 5 gallons. I didn't use a cover and didn't think of wiping the insides off with starsan before pouring into the starter vessel - hopefully it...

I started using campden to treat my tap water since it is high in chlorine and chloramines but an added bonus is that it sterilizes the water. So I treat 5.5 gallons of water, use about 3.5 for my partial mash then use the remaining to top off without having to worry about bacteria in the top...

I made the starter with 2 liters of water and 7.2 ounces of DME (as suggested by various calculators). However, after boiling, I only had 1 liter of wort left. I took a gravity reading and it was about 1.060! I added probably another liter of water until the gravity was at 1.042. This is...

I second getting a bench capper. I had similar problems as the OP and a bench capper fixed all the problems and made my bottling day go a lot faster and with less stress.

I didn't have time to make the starter yesterday so I'll do it today and brew, instead, on Sunday. From the yeast starter calculators I've used they all say to make a 2 liter starter with 7.2 oz of DME but they do not explicitly say how much water to use. Does the 2 liter include just the water...

Thanks for the info. I'm planning on making it tonight. One question though, why should I take the starter out of the fridge only after my (5 gallon) wort is in the fermenter? Shouldn't I try to time it so that my yeast has warmed up slowly and is at pitching temp right when my wort is?

How long does fermentation last? I've seen estimates of about 24 hours. Then I can cold crash in the fridge (or is it better in the freezer?) for 24-48 hours. If I make the starter today (Tuesday), that would bring me to Saturday (ferment Wed, cold crash Thu/Fri), just in time for brew day on...

I'm planning on making a 2L and just swirling it as often as I can. I'll crash it then decant as much of the beer on top before adding. If I want to brew on Saturday, when should I make the starter?

I'm making a Kolsch this weekend with Wyeast 2565 and a Hefeweizen with Wyeast 3068 the following weekend. I've been told I need to make a yeast starter and I happen to have extra amber DME. Is this DME OK to use for a Kolsch and Hefeweizen? Any advice or tips you'd recommend for making a...

Thanks for all the comments. The last batch was difficult to siphon since I added pellet hops at flameout, didn't strain when dumping the wort into my primary, and then dry hopped pellets without a bag. I knew it would clog the siphon (even with a bag wrapped around it) so, a learning experience.

I'm wondering, in general, how sensitive beer is to the introduction of oxygen/air bubbles. I ask because I just bottled an IPA and my siphon kept getting clogged with hop debris so I had to keep restarting it which created bubbles in my beer. This happened 5 times. I finished bottling and hope...

I never use a secondary. I dry hop and add fruit directly in my primary. It's not worth the extra work and risk. In fact, I haven't noticed any benefit of using a secondary (however, I have never brewed a beer which requires aging > 1 month).

As I understand it, you do not have to worry about headspace in the primary fermenter. Enough CO2 will be produced to provide a protective layer which sits on top of your beer. However, in a secondary, you do want to minimize headspace. I think 5 gallons in a 7 gallon secondary is too much.

I'm in the same situation is the OP. I'm currently brewing 5 gallon partial mash BIAB. This allows me to mash 2.5-3 gallons on the electric stove which comes to a boil in a reasonable amount of time and I top off with 2-2.5 gallons before pitching the yeast. The additional malt extract gets me...

So I decided to just throw the pellets in without a bag. I was a bit short on time. I figured I will strain when I rack to the bottling bucket. One question, why should I put the straining bag around the racking cane/autosiphon in the primary rather than around the tube in the bottling bucket?

I thought using the weight of a gallon of water might be the way to go. I'll have to try this. Thanks!

So it has been mentioned on these forums that fermenters with labeled capacities (often in gallons) are notoriously inaccurate. I'm wondering what a good way to accurately compute the capacity is, say, in 1 gallon increments? I could try to use a kitchen measuring cup but how do I know it is...

I would love to cold crash but I don't have that ability (i.e., no fridge/freezer available). I happen to have a hop bag and grain bag (paint strainer). I wonder if the paint strainer is fine enough to strain out the hop pellet debris? If so, I can use the hop bag to keep the hops in the primary...