BeerTools Discussion Forum

I used one a couple weeks ago.

The thing swelled to capacity withing 2.5 hrs.

I had activity in my airlock within 2 hrs of pitching.

I am preparing to start a cherry stout and decided I should make a starter. Here is what I put into it. 2 Cups water 2/3 Cup Light LME WL Brittish Ale Yeast I boiled the water & LME in a pyrex for 5 minutes in the microwave then cooled in an ice bath to 80 degrees. I ensured to sanitize my 22oz ...

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the replies. I have come to the conclusion that the two cheapest and easiest ways to improve my beer is a quart starter two days before the boil and a secondary fermentation vessel.

I can't wait to start my next batch.


Brad

I am suprised to find out in an issue of BYO magazine that all 5 gal batches need a starter to actually get the start that they really need. They said that a 5 gal batch with an SG of 1.048 needs 228 Billion yeast cells. But a White labs vial only contains 30-60 Billion cells. They said this size ba...

I have read in many places that boiling the fruit is bad.

"Fruits should not be boiled because of their pectin content. If boiled the pectin will set causing clarity problems."
(Papazian, Joy of Homebrewing pg. 90)

FYI,

Brad

In my latest issue of BYO magazine they also sent a beginners guide. I like going through these just to see if there is anything I can do to refine my technique. They said there are two more ways to bring down final gravity. 1. Aerate your wort with an injector kit. I saw a Oxygenation system on Bee...

Hey just like the last guy said - DO NOT DUMP IT. My last batch was a Dunkelweizen and after a normal week of bottle conditioning it tasted horrible! But after 4 weeks it is drimkable and getting better every week. Just sit on that beer in a dark cool place and forget about it for a month. Heck make...

I think this sounds like a great Idea and I believe I will do it as an experiment also.

One thing to keep in mind is that you would want to average out the IBU's to ensure
you are using the appropriate amout for a given style.

You need to take another reading on day 10.
If it drops just one point, you need to wait another day.

If it is the same on day 10, prime and bottle.

Enjoy

The expert at my brew shop from the begining has always given me this rule of thumb: If you can take a hydrometer reading two days in a row with absolutely no change then you are ready to bottle. If there is even a change of only one then you must wait 24 more hours and take another hydrometer readi...

Try this link, it is a list of all the beer schools in the US.
http://www.beertown.org/education/schools.html

- Enjoy!

If liquid was splashing out as you say, you must be doing open fermentation without an airlock.

Is this true?

I am also fairly new to brewing, I started in Feb of 2004 and have just completed my 4th batch of beer. I bellieve I have learned enough over the last months of brewing to confidently say that you have not harmed the quality of your brew unless your addition made significant splashing to aerate your...

From Papazans Joy of home Brewing I made Righteous American Real Ale. But I was on the South Beach Diet and was dying for any homebrew. So I added some beano drops to the recipe. In some magazines I saw people were adding anywhere from 5 - 15 drops of the liquid to a 5 gal batch. So I decided after ...