Bottled another small batch today over the open dishwasher. Nary a drop on the floor aside from some drips of Star-san :)

Bottle conditioning can take longer depending on temperature also. You want it cool, but not cold. Room temp is good assuming that's 65-75 degrees. Any colder and the yeast take their sweet time.

All great tips, thanks! I do use the bottling wand which is wonderful. I'm definitely going to try using the open dishwasher. That is, until I can spring for a keg or three.

I wound up brewing two 1-gallon test batches to try hop combos for either an IPA or pale ale. I bottled the second of these today.

I've been brewing for a while and my bottling days get a little better each time, but I still wind up with a decent amount of beer on the floor/counter by the end. Besides using a bottling wand (the best invention ever), any other tips to keep spills and wasted beer to a minimum?

Not sure what I'll brew after next week - probably a pale ale since I have the ingredients ready, but this week (and last week), I'm brewing two 1 gallon batches to test out different hops taste/bitterness. I'm brewing the second of these today with magnum and galaxy.

I'm in a similar spot as the OP. To me, it seems like improving or taking the next step is simply deciding on some aspect of brewing to "control" better. I've got a three tier plan as I begin brewing again after a 2-year break. 1. Control water volume - I recently bought a 10-gallon brew...

Quick update - works fine in Chrome. Go figure. Maybe a Flash issue with Firefox?

It's been a couple of months, but I want to edit and brew one of my recipes. When I click 'edit' the screen just flashes (almost seizure-inducing lol) but never fully loads. I have managed to click 'more' to open the style vs this recipe screen and that gets the entire page to load, but...

Thanks guys. Brewing this today and that's exactly what I did. We'll see how it goes :)

I'm brewing a new BIAB recipe later this week and it calls for a first wort hops addition. My mash will be 150 F and I'll probably lose a few degrees (I usually only lose 2-4 degrees). Should I wait until the water heats up a bit or just throw 'em right in.

This recipe is boiling as we speak. It's been a while since I brewed (not enough bottles and health problems this summer), but I'm back at it today! Holiday Oatmeal Stout STATS: Original Gravity: 1.062 Final Gravity: 1.016 ABV (standard): 6.02% IBU (tinseth): 35.67 SRM (morey): 34.19...

Patience, less crystal malt, and patience.

Great work! Congrats!!

Looks super yummy!

Hmmm, overshot my mash temp. Added some ice water. It stabilized at about 151 when I was going for 148. I'm going to just go with it.

Thanks fellas. I've dry hopped with a bag (man was it gross after 10 days in there) and I'm thinking about doing it with this boil. I've got the kettle on the stove. I'll let you know how it goes....

Thanks. What are your thoughts for using hop bags. I have a bunch of muslin bags I don't use for steeping anymore.

I think I'll try that. You know, peer pressure and all ;) First wort will give me time to do some other stuff that needs to get done. Win win

I'm brewing this tomorrow. First double crush and first ph test/adjustment. Fingers crossed.