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Originally, I was going to just go with the Goldings at 60 minutes and let that be it, but I'm a hop head and can't help myself. It turned out to be a good thing because of the slight boil-over and loss of the Goldings, but I know what you are saying. Ah, yes. I like dryer beers anyway, but...

I know it defeats the purpose of asking for opinions after the beer is made, but now that I have to wait for it to ferment and bottle condition, I thought I would ask you guys what you think it might end up like or what I could have done differently. So here's the recipe and method: 1 can (3.3...

I'll look into it, although my LHBS sells lids by themselves pretty cheap. Before I switched it out, I used a rubber mallet to gently bang the edges of the lid in to place, but to no avail. The lid itself no longer makes any sort of locking "click" when closing it on the bucket, not that it's a...

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I had hoped to hear all of these things, so I suppose I posted this thread to hear some reassurances. I have gotten that and more, so thanks! @iowabrew: I used a Wyeast American Ale smacker, which swelled up nice and no issues with. And as I said the high...

I'm worried about infection, mainly. I didn't think too much about it, because I know it takes a while for fermentation to start sometimes. But on the third day (today) there was still no bubbling in the airlock, so I panicked a little. I peeked under the lid and saw a nice giant head of...

This has turned out to be pretty good at only three weeks. Granted, I'm only opening it because I wanted it to be ready for Christmas. I have a storng suspicion that this will continue to get better, and will probably even be excellent in two or three more weeks. But as of right now, the 3-week...

Tried the first bottle of Christmas Ale today. Success! It pours and looks like a stout; very dark, even opaque, even though holding the bottle up to the light I can see through the beer in the neck of the bottle. The head isn't as thick as I would like, but it has a nice brown color from the...

Bottled today. Final Gravity was 1.022, close enough to the calculated FG of 1.021 that I felt comfortable going ahead with it. I primed with 4.5 oz. corn sugar, boiled in a cup of water for ten minutes and then cooled to fermentation temp, dumped in the bottling bucket and racked on top, then...

I'm reading Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff's book about yeast and this is specifically covered in their chapter on fermentation. If anything, homebrewing is teaching me a lot about the value of patience.

Definitely my intention to try it at 3 weeks no matter what, but I have read this as well. Just for the sake of discussion, is there a specific way to know if the beer is "green" and needs more conditioning? Is it just carbonation, or something else? The sediment/yeast in a similar gravity...

It's been two weeks and a days and the krausen has not crashed on this beer. The airlock stopped bubbling a while ago, but when pressing down lightly on the bucket lit, a little CO2 does bubble out. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, and don't plan to until the krausen drops. I expect that...

This is a great show. The new one in Boston was really good, making beer on a sailing ship and boiling live lobsters right in the wort was awesome. And then jumping in the sour mash with Jim Cook from Sam Adams like it was a hot tub. Unfortunately, Boston was the season finale, and we will have...

Southern Tier Warlock - my last pumpkin beer of the year, after it eluded me until now. Sierra Nevada Celebration - first 6er of the season. Excellent as always. A bit of an "out with the old, in with the new" transitory kind of night. It's snowing tonight, after all.

I added a little sanitizer solution to the airlock and it has been bubbling away since around the 30-hour mark (after pitch), so I'm feeling good about it. From what I understand (in threads around here and elsewhere), you are supposed to add late extract additions in at most the last ten...

Yes, they went in with the rest of the spice bill at 10 minutes. I tasted the wort before pitching, and I had my hair blown back. The only thing I'm worried about right now is the yeast, because it was my first time doing a starter and it bubbled over after the step-up. But I'll know in the...

It's cold-crashing now. Thought I would take the time, while enjoying a nice SN Torpedo, to share the recipe and see what the HBT experts think it might end up like. It smells awesome. 9.9.lbs. Amber LME, late additions (1/3 at 60, 2/3 at 20) 1 lb. Chocolate Malt, steeped at 150 degrees 30...

Ah. Okay. I had seen somewhere that people siphon a small amount of the caked yeast at the bottom to "keep it going" and have enough for priming bottles. But it makes sense there would be enough floating around in there anyway. Thanks for the reply. I'm using the secondary mostly for...

My beer has been bubbling away through the airlock and things are looking good (smelling good, too). But I have one more yeast question. When fermentation is complete, I'm going to rack to a secondary for the first time. I was wondering how much yeast from the primary should go into the...

3.3 lbs. LME extra light 3.3 lbs. LME light 3.3 lbs. LME amber 1 lb. corn sugar 1 lb. crystal malt (steeping) 1 oz. Centennial 60 min. 1 oz. Citra 30 min. 0.5 oz. Chinook 30 min. 1 oz. Cascade 15 min. 1.5 oz. Chinook 15 min. 1 oz. Cascade at flameout. Primary ferment at least 7 days...

That was fast. Thanks. So, it looks like I need three smack packs, but I only have two. This might be an obvious question, but do I absolutely have to wait until I can get more Ale yeast? Can I just pitch the two? Or should I do a starter with just one? I was all ready to brew tomorrow, but I...