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Due to a lack of snow, my IC system sh*t out at ~82F. Being late (after work brew session) I racked to carboy and, shrugging, pitched a real healthy starter of Wyeast 1272 (Am AleII, that's right , I dropped the deuce). Do any ill effects arise from this kind of temp? It is fermenting 12 hours...

Right now I'm running a 3' ss braid in a 10g rubbermaid. I triple looped it around a brass T which sits in the center, sorta like an old time lollypop with a vinyl stem to the valve. However, I made a sweet pex drip ring, looks fancy, works great. It is basically a circle with two spokes, 9"...

I don't tip, I have a hose barb inside my round MLT. A 4" piece of tube that is curved has a heavy brass tee (I just know I'll get lead poisoning) rests on the bottom center of the MLT to which a long braid is triple looped around (think 3 concentric circles,sorta). So I get a siphon similar to...

Hey that's the same thing that happened to me. I had a thermometer with a 4' wire probe, Don't get it wet. This I came to find out later. I ended up with an OG @ 1.035. Tastes good though. Get a good thermometer, like cheap and failsafe. On my next try I intentionally overshot temps, Tried to...

Hey, I've got a Turkey fryer set up that I have changed to use with a 15.5g keg. The burner frame has a ring that "retains" the stock pot but was too small in diameter to put the keg on. So I welded on three outriggers to support the keg, which raised the kettle up 2" or so. Also the keg has a...

float a small mixing bowl in a pot or bowl filled with ice water. I used a pie plate in a big mixing bowl filled with ice. I filled my (plastic) hydrometer flask to the desired level, dumped it into the dry(!) pie tin, swirled it with a spoon for 15-20 seconds: 63F.

Yeah I was shooting for 5 gallons. Ended up with 4.25, not really sure what happened. Why would there be such a big drop in efficiency by boiling? 73% is just fine by me, it's my third AG brew. I would like to work out the kinks though. As a side note, I got totally hosed with pellet hops. The...

So I ended up with 4.25 Gallons @ 1.074 OSG Which I think means: Total gravity points in grain bill= 432.5 432.5/4.25=102 and 74/102= 73% efficiency I guess I'll collect more wort next time, lost a lot to steam.

I am mid boil right now. Maibock recipe from Braukaiser.com. Or as close as I'll get to it today. Bear with me: 8.5# Pilsner Malt 3.75# munich 1# Cara Pils Combination Infusion/decoction clustermash 150F 40min 157F 30 min 168F mashout and lauter at 1 qt./min 6gallons pre-boil S.G...

Why not try a high quality silicone caulk in the crack? Speaking as some one in the building trade, if fiberglass shards in your throat is a remote possiblity from this cooler, I'd not worry too much. (Ever demo an old house?) Caulk the crack and wipe of the excess with a paper towel (dipped in...

I mashed at 153 until iodine test was showing it done. On a future brew I'll try this two temp mash I read about on Braukaiser.com. As I recall it mashes at 142-146F ish for a while then 158F ish until complete. It's on his Infusion Mashing article I think. An awesome website. And I will be...

I had a stuck fermentation with a liquid yeast so I (after 4days) added two packs of US-05. This is a brown ale OG @ 1.054. The fermentation understandably took off. In a week (@ ~65F) I was down to 1.006 and still churning. So I over reacted and bottled with only 1/3 cup priming sugar. There is...

My basement is my designated brew spot. The winter temp down there hovers around 48-52F. It seems too cold for any kind of ale yeast. I'm planning to brew up a Marzen soon that I hope to be ready by the end of April. Would you recomend something like a Wyeast Octoberfest or Bohemian Lager? I've...

Just checking the Fermentis guidelines and if my metric conversions are correct I think at 50F or less they are saying I should pitch 50g of Saflager. That's almost 5 packets! What do you think, bag it and use wyeast liquid and save money? Makes no sense. My last Lager with saflager (1 packet)...

An easy way to build a very well insulated box: Get a sheet of rigid foam insulation from a builders supply shop (get 2" or 1.5", should be available in 2'x8' or 4'x8'). There is (what is locally called, varies regionally) Super-Tuff R, which is foil faced on both sides. It cuts with any type of...

On my first AG I had the same issue. Going for 1.046 or so ended up with 1.035. Obviously there were many variables at play, but I had the same thermometer too. Coincidence? I think probably, but ditto Phatuna anyway. On that note, friend of mine showed me: I'm using a 6" waterproof digital...

Thanks again for the answers. Kryola, I'm wanting to try out fly sparging out of curiosity, to increase efficiency and also because I want to have experience using it as a basic technique. My last brew was a brown ale, batch sparge. I got 70% efficiency, I think (10lbs of base malt plus...

Hey thanks, I did batch sparge on my first two brews. I feel like I figured it out (as a general concept) on the second go 'round. I just want to get the same basic understanding of fly sparging. It seems that there is no reason to keep any of the first runnings in the grain bed prior to...

So, new to AG, 2 somewhat unsatisfying brews. I'm trying to get a default setting for fly sparging (or your hybrid thingy). My question is the mash out step. What would you do: 1. drain all of the first runnings (after vorlauf) then add sparge water at 170F (no mash out) and continue as...