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Thanks, Dr. Jeff! I added more interior insulation, filled the empty space around my fermentor with 1 gal jugs of cold water and firmly closed the door. It's holding the temperature within 3 degrees of my target for 50-52 minutes and taking less than 10 min to cool back down. Seems like...

I came across this thread while researching a BM23 that I got on Craigslist. Mine was built in 1993 and I'm using an Inkbird ITC-308 to power the unit on/off and keep the temperature at 33-35F for lagering. I've noticed that it doesn't maintain the temperature very well. It gets down to the...

I did, it's a little chewy... allot of chocolate. Looking forward to putting it on Nitro.

Update: It finished around 1.004 :) I've racked it into a keg on top of 3 large vanilla beans that were soaked in rum for 3 weeks. Going to put it away for the next couple of months, something the recipe recommends, and then serve on Nitro (my first attempt at that). Thanks everyone for the...

Is there a way to measure it along the way or when it's finished?

Thanks again, about how long will it take to reach 1.2

Thanks... so 1.2 at 50F shows 1.1 PSI? That seems really low. Should I pull it out of the fridge to force carbonate it at room temperature? 1.2 at 72F shows 8.6 PSI.

20 years brewing and I'm prep'ing for my first keg on Nitro. I've read online that I should force carbonate CO2, then serve on Nitro Blend/Beer Gas. But what's the right technique? Everything I read says to (under)carbonate with CO2. Need a little help, please. This is a 5 gal batch...

Here's an update: I added 2/3rds cup of brown sugar and approx 5g of Glucoamylase.... and we have fermentation! Hoping it wasn't due only to the additional sugar. I'll get a gravity reading in a couple of days and let all of you know how it turns out. Thanks again!

Oh wow, really just a tsp? I was reading where a guy used half a bag for a 5 gal batch. I just ordered a 10g packet of FERMFAST Glucoamylase, labeled as "Single Dose". How much of that stuff should I use?

You nailed it, about 165. I usually heat the water to about 170 and it falls to 155 when I add the grains, but this batch had allot more water in the mash recipe, so the temperature barely moved.

Thanks, everyone, for the great advise... Going to try a 10g package of Glucoamylase (see it on Amazon). Should I use the whole 10g package or some part of it?

Oh, sorry, didn't mean to come off like "that guy"... Appreciate everyone's input. 20 years brewing and this might be the first batch I've tossed down the sink. FWIW, I really don't care about the ABV on this one... Looking for a creamy, somewhat sweet holiday beer.

With a hydrometer, like 99% of the other home brewers out there.

I brewed a Vanilla Chocolate Porter two weeks ago. Pretty sure I mashed and sparged at too high of a temperature. I did witness active fermentation for about a week. But 50 to 30 was allot lower than expected. So I pitched another batch of yeast, thinking the first batch might have been...