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That 3-5F slow temp drop method seems to be purely a diacetyl-management issue. See Kunze "Technology Brewing and Malting," 4th ed., pp. 503-505. The slow-drop method is only done for short cold fermentations. If you do long cold, or short warm, or short cold followed by a few day d-rest, then...

That's bad advice. If you didn't pitch enough healthy yeast, then you'd be raising the temp far too early. Standard advice is to raise the temp for the d-rest after 50%-80% done. Granted, some yeast are more tolerant to warmer ferm temps, so your process won't necessarily be a problem. Nor is...

Nothing wrong with leaving the probe in the thermowell during temperature changes. I routinely toss 75F wort in my freezer fermentation chamber with probe in the thermowell set to 50F then let the freezer go full blast to chill the wort. Yes, like you said it does overshoot, but only by around...

Claiming that a 154f mash may have caused your beer to stop at 1.028 isn't even in the ballpark of a possible explanation. No.

^^ ha ha. So there's a 3rd method: 1) vitality, 2) decant, and 3) Both! But seriously, pinchegil's method seems unbeatable. Just more work than I'm willing to do. :) If I ever have a 1L vitality starter create any issues, I'll switch to that.

I'd say you're mostly correct. Two comments: 1) it may take much longer than 12 hours for the yeast to flocculate . Some lager yeasts take 2 days. 2) your method #2 is mostly just for lagers, since they call for much bigger starters. I brew about three-quarters lagers and used the decant...

Lot of folks are moving away from cell-count-calculators and just doing "vitality" starters, which is just a pack of yeast in 1L starter, on a stir plate for 4-8 hours. I've tried this a few times with great results each time: short lag time, reasonably strong fermentations (I measure CO2...

Squirting in some silicone adhesive onto NPT threads is a leakage and sanitary disaster in the making. A far, far better solution would be just buying another valve from SS Brew Tech for $25: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/miniballvalvewnewrackingarm And of course...

I've brewed Schlenkerla-style rauchbiers many many times (mainly the Urbock) and with different yeasts but haven't seen any difference among yeasts. By far the most important element in this beer is the smoked malt. Specifically, source and amount. I was never satisfied with store-bought, so I...

The recommended procedure is to rehydrate properly, then over the course of 10-20 minutes, keep adding cold water to get the temp down to within several degrees of your wort temp. Then pitch.

Then you don't need a heater for a keezer, but my comments about the silliness of the water bottle still hold. You may be tempted to put the probe in water if your keezer is cycling the compressor excessively, but the better solution is to just increase the controller's differential instead of...

He wrote above that he's using it to ferment 1-gal batches in a mini-fridge, not a serving keezer.

Yes we totally agree. I'm just saying you can shave some time off. And it seems undisputed that the yeast will clean up diacetyl & precursers quicker when they're still active. So I wouldn't expect your 2-week fermentation to make worse beer; just slower. But personally, if I waited until...

Sure that probably works fine, but you could shave off a lot of time by merely watching for the fermentation to slow instead of waiting 2 weeks. Lager fermentations almost always slow by day 6-7 (if you pitched enough healthy yeast), so waiting another week would cause unneeded delay and would...

Two points: 1) Yes, you absolutely need a heater if you plan to do any lagering. Or else you'll overshoot big time. I use a couple seed germination mats wrapped around the fermenter but there are many ways to do it. 2) No, don't put your probe in water -- folks who do this simply haven't...

^^ This. No need to check gravity and let in O2. Just wait until fermentation slows then do the d-rest. The brewing books say to wait until you're around 80% of the way to completion for the d-rest, but some folks lately have been pushing that toward 50% and claiming no ill effects. And other...

It should be all done in 7-10 days if you pitched enough healthy yeast. If you didn't, then it can take 3 weeks. P.s. Instead of waiting until day 21 for a d-rest, you should do this when fermentation slows. Which is apparently right now. Then give it 3-5 days (I highly recommend 5!) then...

Yes, ferment at 60F - 62F for likely around 12-14 days. Wouldn't hurt to bump up for a few days, but may not be necessary. This yeast is a very poor flocculator, so you'll probably want to add some gelatin when kegging. And even then, it'll need several days to be good, but a few weeks to...

I'd warm it a few degrees and leave it a few more days. Simply smelling for diacetyl won't tell you anything (it can develop later) -- but Google diacetyl test and you can do that. Or simply give it a couple more days. Cold crashing before bottling/kegging isn't necessary but won't hurt either...

It's not recommended to make starters with dry yeast. Rehydrate 2 pks then add cold water over 10-20 minutes to get the temp down near pitching temp. Then pitch.