Recent content by gecko45

So, open-top, chilled keg, at normal force-carb pressure, for about 15 minutes?

What's the process for this? Is it like using an aeration stone for pre-fermentation oxygenation of wort, where you just leave it in at the of a wand in an open container? What PSI would I want to use?

I've found the small 20oz soda bottles fit, as long as they're Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, 7-up, etc. The 20oz Coca-cola bottles with the "My Coke Rewards" caps do NOT fit the carbonator I have, although I haven't tried any of the larger ones.

This was my very first all-grain batch, and the sample I just tasted after force carbing seems like it's one of the best I've made. Ran into the following minor problems: 1) Huge grain bill, and I wasn't fully prepared for the volume of grain+liquid that resulted during mashing, sparging, and...

It looks like the fermentation on this is just about done: it's dropped clear in the fermentor and I'd like to get it off the yeast bed. I just can't decide if I want it still or sparkling. I'm personally a fan of sparkling beverages, but I'm interested in any input others have. I've got a...

I recently made my first batch of mead, a prickly pear mead (roughly following the recipe I found here). I went easy on the honey (10lbs), and put in just under 6 pounds of peeled/boiled prickly pear flesh (not including the skins). Aeration with a stone + pure 02, a few teaspoons of pectin...

For the starter, do you mean 2 cups sugar in addition to whatever amount of wort extract, or is the sugar + water + nutrients + yeast the entire starter? And thanks for the help! I figure I'll give it another $10 recovery effort before starting over.

I checked up on it 3 days later, and it hasn't fermented any further, but now there is a huge soy sauce flavor and aroma. Could it be oxidized beyond repair? Would I be better off dumping and starting from scratch?

It's done. My original OG was 1.093 (I added a bit of dextrose to boost the ABV). Also had yeast energizer in by the end of the boil, so that shouldn't be the problem. I'll see how it progresses then post an update. PS. Also it smells (and tastes) delicious.

I had this fermenting for an entire month at 68F, and when I just checked it it was at 1.044 still... and I used two entire vials of WLP500... I whirled it around and left it at 75F. If it doesn't pick back up, what would be recommended to finish it out? 1) Buy another vial of WLP500 and...

My tettnanger which were lagging behind seemed to grow about 30% overnight. Looks good so far.

I ordered some rhizomes from freshops, and 3 weeks ago managed to finally get them under some dirt. Cascades, growing in the backyard: Since I only had room for one variety in the ground, I have the following growing in pots that are way too small: From left to right: Centennial...

Seemed to pick up fairly quickly with no problem, so I suppose it is most likely the pitching temperature to blame for this non-problem.

I tried brewing a batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale using the extract+steeping version. I shortened the boil time very slightly to match the AA% I had in my hops, but otherwise followed everything else. Did a full 5.5 gallon boil, cooled to ~75F, pitched 1 packet nottingham, and left it in a...

What about using dextrose instead of table sugar? I've always heard people complain of "cidery" flavors when plain sugar is used in beer, so I imagine using dextrose instead would allow the flavor from the rice and Sake yeast to become more exposed.