Took three different readings pre-boil, and that is dead on what I was supposed to hit for my efficiency and set up per BF and Beersmith. But, possibly my refractometer is jacked up somehow.

Today was batch 100....was pretty pumped until I experienced something I never have at home or at the brewery I work part time for. Pre-boil gravity - hit 1.054 with 7.5 gallons (great, no issues, conversion was good to go) Target OG - 1.073 at 5.25 gallons After about 55 min into the...

While I don't disagree with what you've put down there, in my experience with infections (which I've had a couple in my days), I always noticed both visible and tangible signs in the fermenter. But noted if perhaps scrubbing the crap out of my bottles and sanitizing didn't do the trick. The...

Ok, so trial #2....and I think I know what the problems might have been here. While this one wasn't good by any standard, it was definitely "there" as opposed to yesterday's bottle. I think yesterday I couldn't really taste what I needed to directly after having had a few Jai Alai's from Cigar...

I'm with you, especially on it tasting spot on and then turning into smashed butthole. I'm crashing two more now for another trial this evening...will let y'all know how it goes. I was brainstorming a bit this morning and thought of one potential issue: I typically soak all my bottles for a...

Agreed my friend. Funny enough, because I bottle so irregularly, the bottling equipment is brand new. Typically if I have a brew that tastes great right before transfer to keg (or bottle) I have no reason to believe there's extraneous variables causing off flavors. It's just odd. I'll give it a...

I've only tried the one bottle. Agreed, I do exactly the same as you on all else typically. I use a wand, if that helps.

Yeah, it won't do that for multiple reasons. The sugar derivative of whatever cherry you're using could vary, especially depending of how you added it, for example, whole, crushed, pureed, and the like. The yeast will attack for sure, but your style of adding it to the fermenter will greatly...

Quick history, I don't bottle often. I did for my first year or so as par for the course when I got into brewing. I almost always keg, with the exception of the occasional demand for my seasonal brews. Never really had/have any issues. Like most, I boil said 5 oz corn sugar in 2 cups of...

I've typically stay around the 1# range for both IPAs and Stouts. Sure, you can go bigger, but watch your DP. Really just give that mouthfeel and "silkiness" to a beer that you'd otherwise use other adjuncts for as well.

Johnwk asked great questions that matter, so let us know. My first question would be what was your Mash Temp? If you were leaning towards Beta Amylase in the higher mash temp range, you will always come in high on FG. I've done that by accident many times, and you'd be surprised what 3-4...

Awesome, thank you for the feedback. I will likely send for it in the near future....looks like it's roughly $35 for the one I need.

I'll take a look into the Ward Labs idea when I have a little extra discretionary for sure.

To those who know water pH testing/analysis: Ok, so long story short, I'm having issues with my new local water authority in getting exactly what I need in order to compare local analysis to target style. To keep it simple, here's what I have: pH - 6.94 (I'll check that with my meter, but...

Dead on. This is exactly what happened the one time I left A) Little to No head space and B) left a ton of residue in the beer during my early days. I was renting a house at the time and literally turned a bedroom into what looked like Alien if I came in there with a .50 and shot 37 foreign...

Wow, I really hope you're not a grade school teacher, unless you live in Russia.

It's definitely the braided hose.....compaction from the grain above causes the "issue" at hand, however it doesn't appear to hinder your efforts. I would go with a false bottom if you can brother....alleviate the inability to issue the flow you want during runoff.

I'm new to this forum as well, so welcome from another! I'm just hoping I can get a few less "Palmer" responses here than usual. Nothing is more irritating than a bunch of people who quote debunked guidelines!

I've had great results adding coffee beans and/or cacao nibs at knockout. Agreed with the truth behind specific roasted malts providing similar notes, for example, chocolate malt....will give some great roasty coffee flavor if used over and above what the general public brewers would use...

So for years I've always taken my post-boil OG reading from the fermenter (before pitching) or from the kettle once cooled. Recently I've been having some crazy up and down readings differing between my refractometer and (2) hydrometers and I partially concluded that I wasn't getting a solid...