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Welcome to HBT.

I use bleach for my bottles also. I rinse the bottles after pouring. Then pour a bleach solution into each bottle and let it sit overnight - rinse well with hot water the next morning. I use a rate of 2 oz per 5 gallons, scaled down for the amount needed, to allow for some degradation of the...

Welcome to HBT.

Welcome to HBT.

My fermenter is a plastic bucket, so you're way ahead of me. Welcome.

I think I'm an exception, but I was pitching a full pack of Munich Classic for 5 gallons at about 1.050 OG. Now I'm brewing 2.7 gallon batches and still use a full pack. I get banana and clove - pretty much balanced. I guess it's an over-pitch, but it's working for me.

Welcome back to brewing.

Ain't it the truth?

Welcome to HBT and welcome back to brewing. I can see you're not wasting any time.

Palmer's statement was about downward swings in particular. I don't remember if he said anything about upward swings - didn't see it with a quick speed-read. I think he's concerned about the yeast getting sleepy when the temperature drops.

How to Brew E4 cautions not to over-cool more than 2 degrees F below the set point. I use a swamp cooler and try to keep the beer temperature as steady as possible.

Right. And still confirm stable gravity by checking three days before bottling and again on bottling day. I've had a few slow fermenting batches (not hefeweizen), so I don't assume fermentation is on a schedule. The two-week minimum that I used previously really should be fine, but I'm pretty...

Since hefeweizen loses its distinctive flavor with time, I rush it a little. I used to bottle after two weeks (after confirming stable SG) and let it condition for ten days before drinking. I got a little nervous about the possibility of bottle bombs, so now I wait 17 days before bottling. It...

I pretty much buy 100% of my ingredients from them. A first rate supplier.

Welcome to HBT.

I had two different all-grain set-ups at different times for different reasons. The first was 5-gallon batches with a cooler mash tun, which worked fine. The second was 2.5 gallon batches with BIAB (brew in a bag). It worked well. The all-in-one electric systems are getting very popular. If I...

Welcome.

I always thought bottle conditioned beer would be at a disadvantage in competitions due to the dregs getting mixed in with the beer. You don't have this problem? I found the beer took about 50% longer to carb up at 65F. Do you see something like that?

To all who replied: These are some really good ideas - many thanks. I'll be working on the problem going forward. TexasTea: Totally agree. I've gained much more knowledge from browsing here than from asking questions.

I’d rather not have to have two different suppliers to order from, but it will be well worth it to get past this capping problem. I think I’ll try some of these ideas that I can do with what I have available. If those don’t help, I’ll get some other caps to try.