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Use RO and follow the instructions in AJ Delange's water primer. Seriously, it's very simple guidance that works. - Artichoke

Hi, I'm building a house which is on a well water system. The water straight out of the well is already fairly soft but I am adding a reverse osmosis system for brewing, with the intent that I would be in full control of adding back salts to achieve the desired water profile for the beer being...

To answer the OP's question, Specialty grains which have already undergone conversion like crystal malts contribute gravity points to the OG, whether you mash them or not. As far as the tool you are using goes, I am not familiar with it. - AC

Great point, thanks.

Does anyone have experience making vitality starters for dry yeast? I have 2 packages of 34/70 dry yeast, which I want to use up to cold ferment 24 L of a 1.050 lager wort at 10C. While technically those packets have enough yeast to ferment out the beer (eventually), it would be under-pitching...

I agree with the others, get rid of it you run a risk of serious injury. After many successful fermentations without any mishaps, I started phasing out all my glass carboys about 2 years ago and switched to SS brew buckets. I did this because a 6th sense told me it was just a matter of time...

My mistake the switch is fine. Problem must be in the delivery of the power from the controller to the heating element. Element seems ok measures around 9.5 ohms across it.

After completing the mash cycle and after sparging the full volume of wort, my grainfather heater stopped working. I Had to transfer the wort to my propane system to finish the boil, what a pain. Anyway, after opening up the bottom hatch and poking around with my ohm meter, it looks like the...

In my experience, oats do nothing for mouthfeel. The rye however will add body and a viscous mouthfeel so I would beware of using too much rye. The oats will boost gravity and contribute to alcohol production. They will help to dry out your saison, so I say go for it, 5-10% should be fine.

All grain process, something like 60% North American 2-row, 40% adjunct (corn, rice or a mix of both) soft water, and ferment cold with a huge pitch of an appropriate lager strain. I like Wyeast 2007. Hops for bittering only. A key to getting the right "flavour" in this style is to brew and...

Every beer gets 90 minutes, no matter the style, for several reasons (1) I like the time it gives me to double check hop calculations based on pre-boil OG, make notes, clean the mash tun, clean and sanitize the fermenter etc. In other words, I don't like to rush the brew session. (2) Now that...

New blog post, following up on the results of entering my last BJCP 6A into the Canadian Brewer of the Year competition circuit. http://tophamroadbrewing.com/2020/01/oktoberfest-marzen-competition-results/ - AC

For my next couple of brews, I'd like to experiment with the yeast scavenging method to de-oxygenate strike water, it seems so straightforward and elegant. I apologize if this is buried in the thread somewhere, but has anyone experienced any down sides to using this method? Thanks. - AC

That is an excellent idea. The yeast will scavenge the oxygen and you save on CO2 for carbonation.

New blog post, my battle with Oatmeal Stout continues. http://tophamroadbrewing.com/2019/10/oatmeal-stout-competition-results/ - AC

http://tophamroadbrewing.com/2019/10/belgian-tripel-bjcp-26c/

From my experiences brewing with oats, they add neither body nor head retention so you would've been fine leaving them out. You will have gotten gravity points out of them though. - Artichoke.

Adding a small amount of SMB (Sodium Metabisulphite) at packaging really does work very well to preserve freshness. Winemakers have been doing this for years, so why not leverage off of what they already know. As for sulphur aromas and flavours coming through, they don't as long as you dose...

Results of entering my home brewed versions of 1A and 1B into the Canadian Brewer of the Year Circuit are posted here. - AC

Usually 0.3 - 0.4 g SMB into 19L so approximately 15-20 ppm.