I think the rumor about nutrient depletion comes from the fact that that they are engineered to start very quickly. There is information out there on re-hydrating that says you shouldn't leave the yeast hydrate for more than about 30min because they will start to die since they are infused with...

I would also worry a bit about that yeast making the brew too dry. You could try mashing high too like 154 to 156ish to compensate. Any beer yeast will really ferment the sugars in the syrup out in secondary. I am curious, though, why just not add it in at 10min into the boil? I dunno if that...

I have done a lot of big brews. I have to down my ratio of grain and strike water to about 1.1q per pound and then I usually have to sparge with less water. I just go with enough to get your normal pre-boil volume. I have had good results doing this but yes your efficiency might go down about 5...

agreed on the lag time, most of my brews are going within 3 hours

my rule of thumb is 1/2 cup of DME per liter and that has worked out really well for me in the past. I have used calculators to figure out how much in ounces I need but it seemed like my starter actually started fermenting and making beer and I had to wait a few days for it to finish. I have...

hops are naturally anti bacterial so generally you don't have to worry at all. I just sanitize everything that is going to touch them and then throw them in and don't worry about it

Besides my LHBS I have ordered from morebeer which I like (there's also one near to where I live too). They seem to have quality stuff and shipping is free if the order is over about 50 or 60 bucks I believe...

You could try making a BIAB session beer like an english bitter or mild. How much grain can your setup handle?

Aluminum is totally fine if you create an oxidized layer on it first which will prevent any aluminum from leeching into the beer. You can do this by boiling water in it for a hour and you will see it darken. You shouldn't clean it with Per carb once you have done this, however, as it will strip...

Sluggo, well that all does make sense. I hope your brew turns out great... it does look pretty tasty. :D

Seems like a lot of lactose and specialty grains. Are you going for pretty sweet on this one? It does seem like a full ounce of hazel extract will be a lot in this beer but i don't have much experience using extracts in beer in general so I am not too sure.

Hey Aaron, Thanks for signing up and offering your knowledge to all of us!

Bip, Like others said before, there are really a lot of factors in what OG you get even if it shows that it should be a certain number in you recipe calculator. I almost never hit the numbers in the recipe and am pretty consistencly a few points under. I would leave the beer in primary for...

Hey Mentor, I agree with what you have said but there is another thread regarding his pumpkin recipe which gives some more info. I believe he actually steeped the pumpkin with some 6 row at about 155F to try to get any pumpkin sugars to convert. Thus, I believe at that temp it would convert...

I'm sure it will be fine, hope it turns out great.

Looks good. I did make this one a bit stronger in general because I was putting it into a barrel. Yours looks good. Happy brewing.

well just saw your efficiency post, so some of my previous post doesn't matter... oh well, hope the brew went well :D

You mean just the pumpkin in the boil, correct? Not the 6 row grains. ... If I've read correctly, boiling grains would extract the tannins in the hulls of the grain and be not good beer flavor.. ??? Anyone with a thought on adding the Maris Otter and or Biscuit malts? Maybe I should just not be...

I haven't used pale chocolate malt personally but that would probably be a good idea. You could also just use less roasted malt (eg brown or chocolate) and use one of the carafa's to darken the beer a bit. The carafa's are dehusked so they add mostly color and a very mild roasted flavor. They...

If you are trying to convert some of the suagrs in the pumpkin to be fermentable I would steep the 6 row with the pumpkin in the boil between 150 and 155F. This will allow the enzymes in the 6 row, as mentioned before, to convert the sugars in the pumpkin (although to my understanding there...