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If this is the dry Cooper's yeast, you don't need a yeast starter. Just rehydrate and go. This is the general rule with all dry yeast since they have much more cells than liquid. As for the secondary, there are many schools of thought, but I just leave mine in the primary for a month, than...

+1. You need to keep a beer this big for at least 3 weeks. I left my IPA for a month and it has no bad tastes.

It's totally worth it especially if you are doing full boils. But even if you aren't, you need to chill the wort as quickly as you can to get a good cold break. This leads to a cleaner beer. Plus, it means there is less time for other bugs to take ahold.

If you let it condition properly, even bottles with yeast in it can be really clear. There are many examples on the photo board.

This is not true on our scale. Many people, including myself, leave our beers on the trub for a month with no trouble. Pros worry about this when they have huge conical fermenters and the pressure of all that beer on a little space can cause trouble. So with us, a flat bottom and very little...

I'm confused. Did you do your primary in the glass carboy, or did you already transfer it to the secondary? It shouldn't be fermenting at all in the secondary. The term "secondary fermenter" is kind of confusing. Professional brewers call this the brite tank. It is for clearing only. Many...

Refractometers are cool for when you are brewing, especially all grain. However, the alcohol in the fermented beer makes it harder to use after fermentation. It can be done, but there is some formula you have to use to correlate the results. I use mine only on brew day to check the different...

Plus, these kits are clones, not the exact recipe. You might not have done anything wrong!

Agreed. And you said you racked it back and forth a couple of times. That's just asking for somthing wild to be introduced. Although I know it can be done, I would never brew something and not pitch the yeast right away.

You're going to get fermentation, sure. But the fact is that these do kot have enough cells for a proper pitching rate. That's one good thing about dry, they DO have enough cells. Like I said, it'll probably fine and let it go. I'd let it go for at least 3 weeks. After that, I'm not really...

Even with a Smackpack, you should make a starter. The Smackpack just wakes the yeast up. It doesn't start the reproduction stage. Google Mr Malty for a good pitching rate calculator. It will tell you the size of starter you need to get the correct pitching rate.

Some people strain, some don't. That's not any worry. 60F ambient might be a problem for lager yeast. Fermentation gives off heat, so your temp will actually be a few degrees higher. I would bet that it might have some funky off flavors. Also, lager yeasts tend to need a big starter due to...

Octoberfest yeast is a lager yeast which need to ferment at a lower temp. Never lagered before so I couldn't tell you a time line. This is probably a bit advanced for a beginner.

+1. This is exactly what I do and it works fine. Good to see another KC brewer!

Yeah, different strains produce different smells. But your beer is really young. 3 weeks post brew day isn't very long. Let it sit. Whatever it is, is certainly isn't autolysis after 3 weeks.

Before you add anything, we need to know the OG. 1.015 doesn't mean low alcohol if the OG was in the normal range. That SG seems to be pretty close to being done. Make sure that you aren't looking at the potential percentage on the hydrometer. That scale isn't really used.

Yeah, freezing won't kill them. In fact, at the lab I work in, we freeze back bacteria to use as controls for when we ID unknowns. We unfreeze them and they grow just fine.

With the apa and the porter being in bottles 3 and 5 days, I would think that there would be active fermentation (for carbonation) going on. So, wouldn't that produce diacetyl? To me, it would seem that you need to wait on these two to get an idea of what the final taste is going to be.

I would just go ahead and use the cleanser this time and buy some StarSan for your next brew. It looks like it is a chlorine based cleanser, like bleach. As for your water, I wouldn't worry about it. There are many advanced techniques to brewing beer. Since you are just starting out, I...

All grain or extract shouldn't make a difference. You didn't make a starter and there is just some lag time.