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Just to fill in the final numbers... I tracked fermentation for 7 days, and measured 8.6 brix this morning. Starting at 1.074, that gives an alcohol-corrected final gravity of 1.010. Given how low that is, I would say: 1. The lactic acid doesn't change the refractive index; 2. Sour mashing will...

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I didn't pick up a wild yeast (wouldn't that make my reading too low, rather than too high?) . There wasn't any alcohol flavor, and the sourness was very clean. I soured for about 24 hours, and it probably took a good hour past the 60-minute mash to cool below 145. I'm...

Ok, post-boil on the refractometer is 1.074 for 91% apparent efficiency. This can't be right; it doesn't taste that sweet.

I'm doing my first sour mash beer, and was wondering if anyone knows of any additional corrections that should me made to a refractometer reading. I was targeting a pre-boil OG of 1.058, but the brix reading converts to 1.068. Either the sour mash made things hyper-efficient, or the lactic acid...

Haven't tried it yet. Since I only brew once a month, these decisions can take a long time. :)

It's bad because of risk of contamination. I have done this on most of my batches over the past 3 years (somewhere between 10 and 20?), until I bought a wort chiller a few months ago. I'd buy two bags of ice from Safeway or the gas station, do a partial boil, dump one bag of ice into my...

If (and only if) you would otherwise dump this beer, you could try the technique used in eisbocks. If you have a plastic bucket or keg and a freezer, you can start freezing the beer to the point where a very light slush starts to form. Rack the liquid portion to another vessel, while trying to...

Thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely buy that the combination of not enough slurry plus a 50% drop in viability led to a major underpitch. Now, 72 hours later, gravity is starting to drop and the sample has some particulates in it. And yes, since getting a refractometer, I usually check...

I feel like I already know what the answer is, but... I'm trying my second lager right now, with the following details: OG: 1050 Yeast: blend of White Labs 800 and 833 Temp: pitched at 44F, now at49F Time so far: 48 hours So the yeast is taken from my first lager batch, and it had a...

Actually, with induction, thinner is better. You need a metal that is both magnetically susceptible, AND has enough resistivity to convert the induced electrical current into heat. AnOldUR: what's the model number for your 62 quart pot? I called Bayou Classic and talked to someone who was very...

I tell people all the time at interviews. But I'm in tech, so it's more like "As an added bonus, I make beer."

Just give it time. The CO2 has to diffuse from the top of your keg (where the gas is) to the bottom (where the beer comes out). The foam is due, I think, to the speed at which the beer is getting pushed out. The lack of carbonation is due to the same thing that causes most homebrew problems: not...

Is anyone using a Bayou Classic 1036/1136 (36qt stainless pot) with an induction cooker? Does it seem to work? I'm thinking about picking up an 1136, the Max Burton 6000 1800w induction cooktop, and going for a semi-BIAB. I'd do a 1.5qt/lb mash in the big pot, heat up sparge water on my...

I've found that yeast can taste bitter when it's from a hoppy beer. Your gelatin probably pulled some yeast to the bottom, where you're drawing from. My usual process is to gelatin before kegging, to leave all that extra yeast behind. I give it about 3 days.

I love market research, so I'll try to help. But I haven't been very good at introspection lately. 1. I guess the experimentation, and the sequence of 100 small tasks that I can check off as "done". 2. Clean-up, and all the acrobatics of brewing in the kitchen. 3. I don't really know why I...

If there was real honey in it, then I think a lot of the harsh alcohol will mellow out. I've brewed beer with honey and wine with honey, and both started off tasting very harsh and fiery. Both mellowed out over time, and the honey flavour increased. The aging seemed to happen at both room...

One update: a hugely suprising -- though obvious in hindsight -- benefit to the kegerator is that my beer is now at a much better serving temperature. The bottled beer, remaining tap-a-draft bottles, and everything tastes so much better just being up at 48F instead of 37. I'm seeing better head...

Yeah, I didn't realize about the gas dip tube until I had beer in my face. Really, the keg has a "beer from the top" port and a "beer from the bottom" port. Now, a few hours after tweaking everything, it looks like things are settling down. I had to pour a glass to deal with a second suck-back...

After just over 3 years of homebrewing, I finally switched to kegging! Let's just say, my experience so far hasn't quite matched the picture on the tin. And since my wife (who is the best wife ever for finally caving!) doesn't want to hear about all the things that went wrong, I'm posting it all...

Oh, and I also meant to add: I just drop my temperature probe right into the bucket. I went to all this trouble to acquire and build my fermentation temp controller... I might as well measure the temperature of my actual beer! I just give it a spritz of Star San in between batches. The probe...