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There is no happy medium; 5 gallons doesn't last long enough, but it makes too much for me to explore all the styles and recipe tweaks I want to try. I need rich, alcoholic friends!

Well, CO2 is heavier, but gasses don't quite function that way. If you're opening the top to take samples, yes, you're introducing oxygen back into the fermenter, back into contact with the wort/beer, and--if fermentation is complete--then it will start to go back into solution in the beer. If...

From my experience, I've never had one go bad and I just found one from three years ago that was still fantastic. On average, I tend to store excess beers in my basement (55-60F) for 1-6 months at a time. There are several different factors to consider: alcohol percentage, alpha acids present...

Well, the krausen is the pale, creamy, foamy goodness on the top during fermentation, yeah? But on top of the krausen will form the clay that you're talking about, a dark-brown, non-foamy thin layer that floats up on the bubbles and coats the walls of the fermenter. In this layer you'll find all...

StarSan is a wet surface sanitizer, and can only work on essentially clean surfaces. Going into a full wort would introduce all kinds of competing chemicals and biological buffering agents, rendering the sanitizing properties essentially useless. Might some yeast get killed off? Possibly, but...

The same thought went through my head originally, but the acids in the wort are biologically derived acids, so I feel confident in saying that they should display a decent buffering effect and raise the pH when compared to StarSan in water alone. What's more, I did observe fermentation taking...

I'm not concerned with the phosphoric acid at all, it's the surfactant/detergent chemical Dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (Laurylbenzenesulfonic acid) that has me concerned. This may be the foamiest beer ever made, but if it didn't get broken down at all (or just enough) there's a chance it'll...

First, the question at hand: If you *accidentally* add StarSan sanitizer to your wort pre-boil, what will this do to the finished product? To explain: This is horribly embarrassing to even admit to as I've been homebrewing for years now, but I finally made a mistake that I just couldn't...

As much as I love filth, I'd love one of these more. Count me in.

Hey, on the subject of stir plates, has anyone ever used a growler on the plate instead of an Erlenmeyer flask? I know the fluid dynamics would be changed in the different shape glassware, but if anyone has tried it with success, that'd really save me some time and money. Not hat i don't love...

Yeah, I kinda figured that was how it was going to be. I have the PC fan ready to roll, just hate wasting material that seems even better suited for the job, you know? I guess now I have a stepping motor to play with for some other purpose. Not that I have any idea how to properly wire a circuit...

I've come across several threads for various stir plate projects, but I've got a few questions left before I commence my build: 1) Has anyone tried including a heat plate to keep the yeast t a happy 65-70 degrees? It would seem like an easy addition, especially given the heat output of the...

Okay, so I know this thread has been killed and resurrected several times, so I'm sorry. But I can't shake the feeling that I've just scrapped a perfectly good 1 Gig HDD from my first computer and am not using it to it's full potential. I have in my hands a 12v brushless motor and perfectly...

How much of each spice did you add? I've been curious about mace, but having never used it, have no idea of it's relative potency. I was thinking of replacing nutmeg altogether with it but didn't want to lose the presence of the nutmeg flavor. Have you ever worked with fresh of ground ginger?

duffman- thanks for the info! What kind of filtering process do you use on your mash tun?I have access to both a slotted false bottom and a stainless steel screen knit tube. I'm wondering which might clog less during the pull. BeerChickFindell- How much pumpkin did you add to the mix...

I've read a lot of posts dealing with when pumpkin was added to the brew. Is there any particular recommendation as to when the pumpkin should be added? I wrote my recipe assuming that the best manuever would be to add the pumpkin to the grain for mashing so as to allow the enzymes in the base...

I've read a lot of posts dealing with when pumpkin was added to the brew. Is there any particular recommendation as to when the pumpkin should be added? I wrote my recipe assuming that the best manuever would be to add the pumpkin to the grain for mashing so as to allow the enzymes in the base...