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Wow guys, thanks for all of the discussion & ideas here. I finally have a day free to brew, so think I'm going to just go for it. Never fly sparged, but my system is pretty set up for it, so will just take my time, sparge slow, and see how efficient I can get it. Big grain bill that will max out...

Thanks! I did add boil time (30 min) to increase the total water needed, which raised the pre-boil volume. Working through that I realized the concept of diminishing returns. Big beers are less efficient the bigger they get. I reduced my normal brewhouse eff from 64 to 55 in Beersmith to...

Thanks for the tips! I would just use the same batch sparge method I have been using, but doesn't seem it'll work by draining the tun of the first runnings, and then moving over just 2 gal to sparge with. Wouldn't even get the grain wetted again, and then have to try and recirculate and drain...

Ok, got that. But, in Beersmith it's saying to dough in with 10.75 gal, grain will absorb 3.5, with some dead space leaving 7 gal. Sparge with 2 gal, for a total pre-boil of 9 gal (90 min boil). This means I would start sparging with the 2 gal, and when that is all drained through I would...

Ok, so then the idea with fly sparging is not to drain the MT by the time sparging ends? Seems there would be significant sugars left if it's just a rinsing operation, and you keep the 1" above the grain bed in the MT until you have the required pre-boil vol in the BK. In the case of this imp...

Long time batch sparger. Setup is a direct fired 20g Spike mash tun with false bottom and March pump for recirculation. My usual process for say a 1.070 OG beer is to follow Beersmith to get around 1.3 qt/lb of grain into the mash tun, add my grains, stir and let settle, and then begin the...

Looking awesome!! My build, as part of the original post back in 2012, is still going strong. I don't brew as much as I used to, but usually get it going in the cooler months. I've adapted mine to use a recirculating infusion heat setup for mashing (smaller BG12 burner), and then a larger jet...

Sounds like some similar experiences here. I too really like 550 in a Belgian Dark Strong I have made more than once. Really like the spicier notes from that one. Kept fermentation kinda low (mid 60s) for a while to try and pull out a bunch of spice and it worked really well. Don't know much...

Wow, awesome. Thanks for that! Exactly what i was looking for.

Hello. Curious if any of you could be considered 'experts' with Belgian yeasts. Looking for some in depth advice on the various strains that might help me decide on one for an upcoming brew. Looking mainly for experience with the white labs strains. Any tips on flavors you've found at certain...

Cool. Yeah, mine will all be on 'standard' 1/2" barbs, using 1/2" ID hose, 3/4" OD. I ordered 17.8-21mm size (smallest to largest). Hoping that's the ID of the clamp, not the OD. Don't know why they'd be spec'd with OD, but never know on amazon.

Cool. Yeah, Oetiker-style (pic) have a little ear that sticks up that gets crimped/pinched. The pex ring clamps are a smooth copper ring that gets compressed around a diameter. Much smoother, but don't think SS is compressible enough for them to be used without an ear (ie. no smooth SS ring...

Upgrading the brewery a bit and buying some SS quick disconnects, and some new silicone hose. The hose is 3/4" OD. Just wondering what size ear / Oetiker clamp would be the one for this size hose? It seems like 19.8mm open, 16.6mm closed would do it, but wasn't sure if anyone had some real world...

I hear ya, big mistake that I totally regretted afterward. Just didn't think it was possible for it to be that active...just crazy. Will plan to get it in the keg for 2-3 month conditioning. Hoping for the best.

I know. I’m hoping that it eats a little bit of it now, and then a bit more when I naturally carbonate in the keg. Whatever is left we’ll say adds depth :rock:

Brewed a barley wine this past weekend and used the slurry of hornidal (Omega) I harvested from the last DIPA I brewed 2 weeks ago. Pitched at 1.105 on Sun around noon. Crazy airlock activity within 4 hrs, but then it slowed drastically by last evening. Thinking it was choking on a big malt bill...

I love La3 but just can’t get that to finish below 1.020 no matter what I try (mash temp, starter size, amylase enzyme). I’ve been listening to a few podcasts this week and a lot of the successful guys doing NE ipas are using a portion of lactose. Worth a try experimenting to gain some body...

Also, probably dependent on the vendor of the Hornidal too, no? Omega (which is the one I used) strips out the lactic acid producing bacteria from their Hornidal strain.

This weekend I brewed a pretty basic DIPA that had an OG of 1.074. Pitched a whole pouch of warmed up Omega Hornidal (before reading up that pitching too much can stall it later in ferm) and after 3 days it went very fast down to 1.020 today (pitched Sun around noon). I was hoping to get this to...

Yeah, that is one thing I'm changing for sure on this next batch of Belg Golden Strong. Step mash (no protein rest) of 144, then 152, then 162 then on up to 170 to finish. Spread out in 10-20 min increments. i think this does a lot of head retention too, which is another big problem. Past...