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Hey guys, great thread here. I recently brewed the Pliny clone from my LHBS (on 3/16) and am trying to figure out my dry hop schedule. It's a 5-gal extract recipe (that cost me $74! So I don't wanna F it up). It's also the first brew I stuck in a swamp cooler (set at 65-68) since ambient temps...

Temps in Boston are at close to 80 degrees right now, and my swamp cooler spiked up from 65 to 70 overnight =( I've got it back to 65 now but I'm afraid the damage has been done. This is quite a pricey batch as well, and is my first IIPA. I hop everything is ok!

Thanks AleFred and pelipen for your helpful information! Just finished brewing/pitching and cleaning up. I'm beat! My swamp water and FV were both at 65 degrees during pitching. I'll be watching the temp like a hawk for the next 3 weeks. Should I keep the swamp water at 65 for the entirety of...

2 packets of Safale US-05

I'm about to brew an IIPA and want to control fermentation temps for the first time via swamp cooler. Ambient temps in my fermentation room fluctuate between 72-77 degrees. What should my target fermentation temp be? And what temp should I keep the swamp cooler water at? Thanks! Here's the...

Your back hurts from brewing so you have your boyfriend massage it with the butt of a beer bottle.

Haha thanks Dawn! I'm still not accustomed to the time change =\ can never find sleep. I guess I'll read some more forums to pass the time!

My next batch will be a stronger IPA that I'm dry hopping, so I probably will use a secondary anyway.

Yeah I'm thinking it's a temperature issue because the room fluctuates about 5 degrees every day (from 72-77 degrees). I'm definitely going to use a swamp cooler for my next batch I'm cooking up on Friday. Umm, the smell is hard to explain. I guess it smelled like... Damp gym socks? Not putrid...

Here's a pic of it at week 2. Not sure if it even helps since all the trub is at the bottom, but there's no visible sign of infection. The trub looked normal though. Just smelled bad!

I have a similar question on the matter. So I just bottled my first IPA Sunday night, and decided to try out an extended primary. I left it to ferment for 3 weeks, racked to the bottling bucket and bottled away. My concern is that it smelled pretty bad. Borderline funky. The beer is very clean...

*And then commute to your 8am class.

When you get home at 11:30pm on daylight saving's day from a day of puking while traveling home on 3 separate flights from your first Vegas trip, and you realize it's bottling day, so you stay up till 3am cleaning, sanitizing, and bottling.

Wow, sounds like a kickass idea! Definitely eager to see your renovations and progress along the way. Make sure to post lots of pictures! You seem to be very determined and knowledgable, I don't see why you should have any major difficulty achieving your dream. I do wanna say that, though it may...

I have another Q which stems from How To Brew: for extract brewing, do you add all your extract at once at the beginning of the boil, or do you add half at the beginning and wait till there's 5 minutes left to add the second half in order to reduce the chances of Maillard reactions/off-flavors?

You guys know your ****! I'm definitely gonna use a swamp cooler for my next batch in a week or two and see if that makes a difference. Should the t-shirt be soaked all the way through, or should the top remain dry? And I'll try my best to leave the boiling wort alone just to be safe. Thanks!

Hey all, I'm a new brewer, currently waiting one more week to bottle my second batch (I'm skipping the secondary this time around as many of you helpful brewers have advised me to do). So I'm reading Palmer's How To Brew, and he points out how you shouldn't vigorously stir the boiling wort...

You keep sniffing the airlock because it smells heavenly.

When you finish a batch and all you can think about is when you're gonna start your next one. Is two days too little time in between batches??

So my beer was "ready" last weekend, and I was a bit unenthused about it. Everyone else seemed to like it but it tasted kinda bland and flat to me. Maybe they were just saying it to be nice. The remainder have been sitting in the fridge since then and DAMN they are delicious this evening! I'm...