Search results

I’ve been experimenting with a few kveik strains. When I get weird results, it’s when I have large ferm temp fluctuations. My best results have been when I keep the fermenter around the same temp as the pitch temp for the first 2 or 3 days. Next time, I’d pitch at 95 and use a heating pad to...

The Chugger pumps are designed for flow regulation. The motor spins a magnet and the pump impeller is made of steel, so strong magnetism is what makes the impeller move. I recommend completely disassembling the pump mechanism (8 phillips head screws to take it apart) and clean well after...

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned, but it could be the grian crush. I have a similar setup to you and have never had a stuck sparge. I did a kolsch with 100% pilsner malt and it stuck early and often, even with just a trickle coming out the ball valve. I probably stirred it 50 times over the...

Sounds like your bottles weren't clean as you might expect? Do you sanitize your caps? The day before I plan to bottle, I fill my sink with hot water and PBW then soak my bottles for a couple hours, then rinse well. On bottling day, I sanitize the bottle and the cap, fill and press the cap...

See how the beer comes out before getting too excited about it. It's hard to know exactly what will happen, just from tasting the wort. I've had some porters come out astringent to my liking, but mellow completely into a delicious beer after 6 weeks or so in the bottle.

You'll need to play around with the flow rate and possibly your grain crush or you can easy get a stuck sparge. If the flow rate is too high and/or the crush is too fine, you can easily compact the grain bed, leading to a stuck sparge. I've done 3 batches with recirculation and I haven't...

I soak all my bottles in hot water and PBW for about 30 min before reusing them, then sanitize and fill as normal.

I'm working on the same problem, and as luck would have it, my first test beer is planned to be an oatmeal stout. I was planning on using Iodine to determine when the mash is finished. What is the issue with recirculating an oatmeal stout? Does it "thicken" the wort too much? Would adding the...

I'm in Milpitas. My setup is fairly portable if you want to get together for a brew sesh.

I like to boil the priming sugar first, cool it, pour it in the empty bottling bucket and then pull over the beer from the fermenter. It mixes well this way and there is no need for stirring.

I'm leaning toward this system: http://www.morebeer.com/products/aeration-system.html I plan to get a stopper with 2 holes in and run the line through one hole and run a sanitized airlock on the other hole to seal things up for the 15 minute bubble session. Seems like a decent way to go for...

Hi everyone. I've been lurking for a while and figured I should join and get it over with. I started brewing about a year a go. I guess it's the standard story how I got started: "wife gets a BIAB beer making kit for her birthday and I start making beer with it." I did a couple 1 gallon...