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Without the recipe it is hard to make a call, but my general recommendation for an Irish red would be to add another ounce of roasted barley. What was your recipe?

Tonight, I did my first partial mash brew and I have to say it was a lot of fun. Definitely felt more involved than extract plus specialty grains. I was a bit skeptical that it would feel any different than the previous dozen or so, but it definitely was a change. I changed up my recipe at...

I know on the Brewing Network's "Brew Strong" and in "Brewing Classic Styles" 4 volumes seems to bee the magic number for 12-oz bottles. Anythin over that they recommend champagne.

What is the fermentation temperature? If it has dropped into the low 60's you could raise it up 5 degrees.

cheesy = slightly aged hops. Drool=Adding extra bacteria. He was just trying to make a lambic. :drunk: Thanks for the cautionary tale. I now can totally see my 2 year old throwing something into one of my fermentors. I hope all turns out OK.

+1 on waiting another week and taking another gravity reading. What are you brewing? I also agree with MikeG that 74-78 is a touch warm for most ales. It will cause very fast fementation but may also lead to some off flavors that the yeast have a hard time cleaning up. IMO I would invest...

I doubt straining would impact gravity. I can't see how you would drain out sugars. Was it a partial boil extract batch? If so, you most likely have an incomplete mix of the water and concentrated wort. I always found it really hard to take an accurate OG with partial boil. I would take...

Yes, you should keep it at a rolling boil the whole time. On a stove-top this can be tricky because of boil-over, but you can add some foam control drops and keep a spray bottle handy to knock down the foam.

Excellent point and you are absolutely right. I have never looked at it these post-boil numbers since I learned that the pre-boil gravity is key to making adjustments. Thanks for the correction.

For the yeast to multiply, they need to take in oxygen to make new cell walls. When making a starter, you shake/stir to help oxygenate a small amount of liquid boosting cell count. Then you pitch that into your full batch and oxygenate again. The yeast will multiply less if you pitch the vial...

If you measure after the boil you are not going to get an accurate measurement. To use more specific numbers, lets say you want to make a SMaSH using 10 pounds of 2-row pale ale malt and you want a preboil volume of 7 gallons. The maximum yield of 2-row is 38 points/pound/gallon (see...

The only thing that has not come up in this discussion is pH. What is your mash pH? If you are too high or too low that could throw off your enzyme activity too. My guess is you have that covered, I just thought I'd throw that out. Good Luck with your new process!

You can definitely get away with making most ales without a starter (though IMO starters produce better beers), but once you start lowering the temps for hybrids and lagers, you need more yeast. You can make a starter or buy more vials.

EZ Clean is not a sanitizer, it is a cleaner. You need to clean everything and then sanitize. Two steps every time! Iodophor and Starsan are sanitizers. Iodophor is cheaper, but will degrade over time and is less environmentally friendly (you are not supposed to put it into a septic, though...

My only comment is always take YooperBrew's advice!

Temp is way too high and even a Belgian needs some temp control. You may need a fridge and fermwrap if you can't keep your ales in the 60s.

What was your fermentation temperature? At what temperature did you pitch your yeast? These off flavors sound more like flavors from hot fermentation (fusels and esters) than from an infection. They may mellow a bit with conditioning, but it will depend on how strong they are.

Cane sugar is fine for priming. As mosquitocontrol said, just use a little less. If you want a more specific conversion, use this table from chapter 11 of John Palmer's "How to Brew" (it is the same as the one in Brewing Classic Styles).

I'm just brainstorming here, but do you have the same efficiency with Marris Otter and US 2-Row? I know that Maris Otter has a slightly lower diastatic power than domestic 2-row. With the other grains maybe you need a slightly longer mash time.:confused: This would be a much better argument...

Wait? Why wait! You have an empty fermentor so it is time to brew! Get the pipeline going:mug: