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+1 to the hot water. It softens the tube. It also works on the other end of the job, making it easier to get on the cane.

Well, I now have three gallons (I have no idea what I'll do with that much) of Special Bitter Vinegar underway. I'll keep you updated on its progress.

I am so good at making mistakes then reading what would have prevented them after the fact. I used oxiclean with the "grout" instructions in cold water and soaked overnight. It left that nasty white residue, but thanks to this thread, vinegar (I did 2c/5gal) did the trick (It's cheaper than starsan)

The fermentation was within acceptable limits. I've just been trying to wait out the flavor. And also because so many of the people here say to have patience. I got the impression that he knew what he was talking about. Malt vinegar? that sounds interesting, although the flavor IS kinda nasty...

So I took a sample of my Special Bitter to the LHBS when, after 3 weeks in secondary, it still had this strong medicinal smell/taste. The guy there took one smell and said it was infected. He took several more and said it smelled like it had gotten infected with something like the strain that...

Three weeks in secondary, I took a sample: 1.014 sg (3.6% abv) it still has that medicinal smell/taste. I'm gonna take a sample by the LHBS to get a more experienced opinion on what I'm tasting. It still isn't clear so I'm not gonna bottle yet. I'll check again in a week.

No new question or problem. I'm just excited to see a "sunrise" color grade showing up in my carboy--presumably cause it's starting to clear--and I felt like sharing with people who'd care and share my excitement. (I told my mom and she was like "that's nice, dear.")

...For he's a jolly good FELL-OOOW!

I'm on my first batch and I used a strainer too. although the one I had in the kitchen wasn't near fine enough so I went out and bought a finer one for my next batch.

Thank you, DonutMuncher, for asking a question I was wondering about. I also had a problem of the hose reaching the bottom of the secondary just fine when the auto-siphon was in the down position, but when I raised it to pump, it raised up off the bottom and thus got a little of aeration that...

The thread so nice they named it twice. :) I'm new too, but welcome anyhow! I made some cider for my second brew and it felt a bit easier than the beer.

Thanks for the compliments on my notes. It makes me feel like I'm doing something other than waiting on the yeasties. I've decided to use campden tablets on my next batch. and to go ahead with my plans to leave this batch in secondary for at least 2 more weeks (maybe 3) and when I do bottle...

Yeah, I kinda lost patience with waiting for it to cool (since then I bought a wort chiller) hence the 85 degree pitching. Now that y'all mention it, my Mr. Beer batch did have a similar thing going on, just not as pronounced. I just looked up my water and it has 4ppm chloramine. So which is...

Or maybe similar to a cleaning solution. I'm brewing my first non-Mr. Beer batch and I just tasted my specific gravity sample after one week in secondary. I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes (which would have been avoided had I perused the fora before starting this brew) but I don't think any of...

After only having used the Mr. Beer once, I went out and spent the better part of my tax refund on a "real" homebrewery.

Okay, technically Commerce City, but close enough. I've been a member for about a month and lurking reading the posts for longer than that. I am finding this pastime to be quite addicting. And I love the sense of being able to create something that is connected all the way to the dawn of...

Pretty much any time I google something home brew related, homebrewtalk.com is the first couple links.

Thanks for the tips. When I started this, I hadn't heard of apple wine. it wasn't till later when I was actually doing some research and looking on boards like this that I realized that with the higher ABV, it would end up more of an apple wine than a cider. I was thinking maybe, in my concern...

First off, Hi, all! I joined up a couple weeks ago, but I've just been lurking since then. I am pretty new to the whole home brewing thing, but already I'm addicted. I have my first non-Mr. Beer 5 gallon batch of beer fermenting away and I just bottled my first cider today. The beer recipe is...