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  1. R

    What is the best wort chiller for my intended setup?

    Any heat exchanger, whether it's an immersion chiller, CFC, plate chiller... whatever, will only get the wort down to the coolant temp. If you're water is really running that hot, you'll need to either prechill it (pump ice water, run a 2nd immersion chiller in ice bath, etc) or make a hybrid...
  2. R

    Storing Starsan

    Plastic bucket has worked fine for me. It's a dedicated sanitizer bucket though, haven't tried fermenting in it after storing the Star-San. Probably wouldn't be an issue, but Star-San tends to coat plastics over time. Word of caution, if the solution turns cloudy, pitch it. This usually happens...
  3. R

    Iodine HELP with first AG

    Sometimes it's hard to tell, especially with a dark wort. What I do is I tilt the bowl so the iodine/wort gets stretched out in a very thin layer. Starch positive tests (i.e. not yet converted) will have a very distinct purple color to it. Try it right after you mash in next time to see what to...
  4. R

    Hello from Chicago Burbs!

    Welcome, I'm from Arlington Heights. There's quite a few Chicago area people on this board. Good luck with your first brew.
  5. R

    Wrong stopper. Hope I didn't ruin my batch

    Wait until you push one all the way through and into the carboy. That's why I use carboy caps now. :D Your beer will be fine. The beer shouldn't touch the neck/mouth, since you'll be siphoning it out, not pouring, so you shouldn't have to worry about contamination.
  6. R

    Hop Substitute for a Steam Beer?

    Midwest has NB at a reasonable price right now.
  7. R

    Is this complicated mash and temp control required?

    There's nothing wrong with the way they have it. It's just more complicated than it needs to be. There is still a reason to do each step except arguably the protein rest, but the benefit is minor. That said, if you have the ability to do a mashout etc, it's not going hurt the beer and may...
  8. R

    Kolsch yeast sure is messy!

    It's pretty clean overall with nice fruit (berries?) esters. It'd be a good candidate for what you've got in mind IMO.
  9. R

    Worried about the yeasties

    You might also have a leak in the bucket lid that's short circuiting the airlock.
  10. R

    Aquarium pump requirements for 25'x3/8" Immersion Chiller

    Cool, Thanks. I'll have to take a look at that, I prefer Lowes to HD anyway.
  11. R

    Aquarium pump requirements for 25'x3/8" Immersion Chiller

    Yeah, that's the plan, run tap water until it comes out of the chiller reasonablly cool (and save the hot water for cleaning) and then switch to recirculating ice water.
  12. R

    Aquarium pump requirements for 25'x3/8" Immersion Chiller

    How about something like this? http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100046313&N=10000003+501542+90075&marketID=90075&locStoreNum=1913 Or this...
  13. R

    Kolsch advice needed

    1. You'll get some more fruity esters (which I personally like). If you aren't above 70F, I think you'll be fine. 2. The wet t-shirt trick works great, as well as cold water immersion. In fact, I did my crash cooling this way with some snow. 3. It'll work, but the yeast will end up at...
  14. R

    Worried about the yeasties

    Sometimes the smack pack won't swell, other times you have to shake it to get the dissolved CO2 out of the liquid before you notice much swelling. I'd say if you got airlock activity in the starter, you should be fine.
  15. R

    Is this complicated mash and temp control required?

    I don't see a need for a protein rest with that grain bill. Do a single infusion to 155F for 60 min. The 158F part just puts the alpha enzymes into overdrive to finish conversion, more time at 155 will have pretty much the same effect. Bringing up to 167 (mashout) will better prepare the grains...
  16. R

    Kolsch yeast sure is messy!

    Yes it is!
  17. R

    Aquarium pump requirements for 25'x3/8" Immersion Chiller

    I was thinking of getting a cheap aquarium/fountain pump to recirculate ice water for my immersion chiller, since my tap water temps will be going up with the warmer weather (and to save water). How many ft of lift would I need to be able to drive water at a decent flow through 25ft of 3/8...
  18. R

    An Eternity in Secondary?

    If it hasn't been exposed to light, it should be fine
  19. R

    Capping with those special oxygen caps question

    I give them a quick dip in star san and crimp them on dripping wet. I figure the cap will be covered in star san for 30 seconds before it dries and a little star san in the beer doesn't hurt either.
  20. R

    Cold-crashing/Lagering, finings and re-suspending sediment

    I've been cold crashing most of my beers and that's been helping with the clarity, but even my lager that's been near freezing for 6 weeks still isn't quite as brilliantly clear as I would like it. I was going to try some finings (polyclar, gelatin, super kleen) just for grins and see what...
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