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Hey all! I've mentioned this project before on this site, but it's been quite awhile and the project has migrated some since then. I am an electrical engineer and had an idea last year to design/build a programmable thermostat to control a fermentation device. It turned out really...

Due to a lack of viable options, I decided awhile back to create my own thermostat for my fermentation chamber. After looking at the options available, I wasn’t too excited about any of the temperature controllers I could find. The thought of having to update the temperature manually on a...

I'm trying to get a yeast harvest from a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. This is my first time attempting something like this. I boiled about 1/3 cup LME in a pint of water, let it cool to room temperature Sanitized a quart mason jar and added the wort, then drained the bottom sludge from 3 bottles...

It seems as if my beers are getting worse with age, its been several months and it seems as if they are getting an odd flavor that gets worse the longer it sits. It is kind of a tart or bitter flavor. I have noticed this the last several batches that I have made. This could have always been...

With about 5 batches under my belt, I finally had a noticeable taste advantage in aging my beer. I brewed an amber ale and it was the darkest beer that I've made. I had to wait for 3 weeks until I could bottle this one because it just kept fermenting... When I started drinking them about 2...

I'm brewing an amber ale and it has been in the fermenter for 2 weeks now. The airlock activity has been pretty predictable so far, it started out very quickly and the yeast worked vigorously for about 3 days. Then the next 10 days or so there was almost no activity. Now as I have just...

I have now brewed 2 batches of beer with my food grade plastic fermenter and it now has a strong beer smell to it. While it smells great, I worry that it is dirty and could contaminate my beer. I wiped it down and rinsed it out real well right after bottling, but didn't wash it with oxyclean...

I have been using PBW to clean my stuff before use for my first couple of batches. I am mixing it with warm to hot water and using what I believe to be about the correct ratio of cleaner to water. After a few minutes, it seems there is a good bit of the PBW powder has settled to the bottom...

I bottled my first batch last night and aside from actually getting the beer in the bottles and the caps on, not alot went right. First off, I think I need to work on my sanitization process. I filled up the bottling bucket with my star-san mixture, placed it on the floor and then used that...

Hey all! I'm about 4 weeks into my first brew attempt. Unfortunately I didn't study enough before I purchased the kit and got an Oktoberfest Lager. The more I read about lagers, I wish now that I would have started out with a simpler ale for the first go-round. However, moving forward...