Search results

To control the temperature of my last brew, I stuck the carboy in my brew kettle, added water, and changed out bottles of ice. Problem is, some slimy stuff grew on the carboy and kettle. What is the most sensible way of preventing this? I thought about using Star-San, but I didn't want to...

My current process involves bottling and then chilling and tasting a bottle periodically to see if it is ready. Not just to check carbonation, but all aspects of readiness. I will start kegging pretty soon, and the way I understand it, this does not translate very well because once you chill...

I was looking at the 6-pack I saved of my first batch, an Irish Red I brewed on 1/10, and I noticed a bit of stuff floating on the surface in all of the bottles. It has made a little bit of a ring on the glass, and when disturbed some of it starts to sink. I also noticed this in one bottle of...

me: I'll have a Bare Knuckle bartender: That's like Guinness, right? me: Yeah. bartender: What's the difference between that and Guinness? me: I'm not sure I'd be able to describe it that well. They're pretty similar. bartender: I don't like Guinness. me: Then you probably wouldn't...

I was pouring about half a gallon of blowoff down the drain when I had a thought. Why not save the blowoff and pour it back into the fermenter once activity dies down? It would be pretty easy to do. Use a stopper with two holes in your blowoff container. One hole is the blowoff tube from the...

So I've heard it is good to "archive" a few bottles of each batch for longer aging, but I've also heard the hop aroma from dry hopping will fade away. So should I archive my IPA or just drink it all?

Could I dump some into my wort to oxygenate it?

I just started my first 2 batches of Edwort's Apfelwein, and each have an OG of 1.050 compared to Edwort's 1.066. I only deviated from the recipe by using Mott's apple juice instead of Tree Top. Is this the likely reason? Anyone know the SG of Tree Top? I measured Mott's at 1.046. Does...

Some Williamette, Nugget, and Cascade :ban:

Noob question about Edwort's Apfelwein. He says to add the corn sugar right into the juice. Wouldn't this be a source for contamination? Is this why he specifies 1 pound bags of sugar? So they are used immediately after opening, reducing the chance of contamination? If I used sugar from a...

I'm looking at getting a new aluminum pot so I can do full boils, and I'm wondering if there would be any point in getting a 6mm thick pot vs. the more common 4mm. As for the size, Palmer says 8 gallons is big enough for all grain should I eventually go that route. Thoughts?

My second batch has been in primary for 12 days, and the yeasties appear to still be workin hard. Took a sample today and it tasted great! Hop Head Double IPA liquid extract kit from Midwest Munton's premium gold dry yeast 1/28/09 day 0 gravity 1.066 temperature 63F...

I took a gravity reading today and I took a big whiff from the open bucket fermenter... It burned the **** out of my nose. Is that normal? It had some suspicious filmy looking bubbles... I'll post a picture if I can find a place to host it. It is hop head double IPA extract kit from midwest.

I've read a few threads about FG being higher than expected, but my situation still isn't clear to me. The FG should be 1.010-1.012 according to the kit, but mine has stopped at 1.018. Yesterday I thought it tasted a bit sweet, but I didn't really notice that on the other days and I have a...

I got an extract kit today from Midwest (hop head double IPA), and noticed that one of the packs of leaf hops has lost it's vacuum seal. Could this be a problem?

So this is my first batch, the Irish Red Ale kit from midwest. I brewed on 1/10 and racked to secondary on 1/17. In the past day or two I've started to notice some small, scattered patches of normal looking CO2 bubbles. When I shine my flashlight just right, there appears to be a vertical...

Is there any reason not to use a 5 gallon carboy with a blowoff as a primary? It would be cool to be able to see what is going on, and a 5 would give me more bang for my buck if I could use it for either primary or secondary.

Alright, so I started my first batch Saturday afternoon and activity was quick to start and by the next morning it was pretty vigorous. Today (Monday), there is zero activity. From my reading, it seems there should be at least *some* activity as primary fermentation ends. I am using a 3...

I just started fermenting my first batch and glanced back at the instructions on the jar of Easy Clean no rinse cleanser. I discovered the solution I made was potentially as low as 20% of the intended concentration.