Search results

^^^^^ What "beeber" said. Our basement is well populated by mold, which coexists with the spiders. I use standard cleaning / sanitizing procedures, and have never had beer infected by mold. Or anything else.

This thread is cousin to those bottling v. kegging threads. It's like talking religion.

I dunno- it said it did on the sheet I got with it.....I've never paid much attention, just checked its calibration with RO water and have used it ever since. It's one of those eBay specials from the Happy Fun Luck Trading Co. of Hong Kong, which means it's made You Know Where.

I use my refractometer on brew day to test mash conversion, the SG of the first runnings, preboil, and get an OG sample at flameout. This is all so easy (I just do the x4 from Brix in my head, close enough) that it's well worth the $25 I spent on the instrument. On bottling day, I use my...

It has surprised some people when I mention that one of the things I enjoy about brewing is that it takes.....time. And it can't be processed, or made "instant," or speeded up. In fact, it can be argued that with beer, taking time = good.

RDWAHAHB. I've been in this pastime for five years, never calculated my efficiency or had a second thought about it. Beer is great.

The two glass carboys that came with my original MW kit just gather dust. It's buckets all the way......

I brewed extract kits for the first 18 months. When I switched to AG, I did a couple of kits, but then decided I wanted to give myself more options. So (as mentioned in an earlier post) I started using the recipe database right here on HBT. It's got some great beers in it. So, nearly 4 years...

The peak of the fermentation that produced the blowout has probably passed. Clean and sanitize an airlock and put it back in, you'll be fine. I've done this several times with no ill effects.

My racking hose reaches from my autosiphon to the bottom of my bottling bucket, where it creates a whirlpool. When racking starts, I pour in the boiling priming sugar mixture in, and in five years of brewing, I've no evidence that it doesn't mix thoroughly. The fact that it's hot doesn't seem to...

Well- in answer to what appears to be the question, yes, don't hesitate to just sprinkle or pour your yeast right on that foam. I do, and always get great fermentation.

In my experience, people don't get physics. A person may understand that a fan blowing on a bottle of beer won't cool it, but no- they don't get physics. The human brain only works in that mode (the logical, "scientific" mode) temporarily and with considerable effort. Relax a minute, and we've...

Back when I started brewing AG efficiency was one of those things I read about. I decided in the end that as long as I was in some reasonable ballpark of my expected OG, I wasn't going to worry about it. It introduces a number of additional variables that need to be controlled, and.....I'm just...

Can't answer the iodophor question, because I use Star San. I use two pumps per bottle. As long as the entire inside of the bottle gets wet, which the vinator does to perfection, and I'm good to go. Star San is basically a contact sanitizer.

There are a couple of threads buried somewhere here on HBT that discuss this issue at GREAT length. Some of the variables have been mentioned here, but not others (e.g., stirring the wort to constantly bring the warmest possible wort in contact with the metal of the chilling coil). I cannot...

I bottle in 10 gal plastic tubs that have lids. When the batch sits upstairs (where it's warmer) for the first two weeks, the lids ensure that a bottle bomb won't make a mess. When I transfer the bottles downstairs onto the shelves in the basement, I'm less concerned. Overall, though, as some...

I have made roggenbiers, but this is my favorite application for rye. I keep some of Ed Wort's BCB Rye IPA (see recipes section) on my shelves year-round.

Yeah- I just prime all my beer 5 oz. corn sugar (dextrose) to 5 gal. beer. I know that different styles are supposed to dictate different levels of carbonation, but this works for me.....

I boil 5 oz dextrose in a pint of water (I just get it to a boil, I don't pay any particular attention to the time) and throw it in the bottling bucket after the siphon starts. This is simple, has proven to do a very good job of mixing the sugar solution in with the beer.

Reusing the yeast is a good idea, but if the trub is removed, it needs to be under sanitary procedures. When I decided to to this, I followed the directions in the yeast washing thread (link in second post in this thread) and had great success.