Recent content by Brewmaster_n00b

Reserved for final product review.

I usually purchase over at NB but because of shipping costs I bought a kit from my LHBS. I got the True Brew German Style Dark extract kit for $33.99 or so plus tax. My wife and I were looking for something with a chocolate undertone but they didn't have any chocolate stouts so we purchased...

Well, Thank you all for your input. After reading all of your replies I have decided NOT to add any water and instead to just learn from this batch. I think 7 gallons would have been perfect. either 3.5/3.5 or 3/4 either way. Thanks I'll get it right next time.:smack:

You must not have seen my previous post where I link this and talk about how NB recipes are pretty minimal and are missing any talk of how many gallons of water to use for each step. Thanks for playing.

Well, my first brew was an extract kit and when I ordered the next one I noticed that the AG recipe kit was $10 cheaper but it said "Advanced" so, Ballsy? I guess. I'll take that as a complement, I made my own mash tun and the wort was very sticky from all the sugar that got extracted from the...

I found this but it didn't really answer any questions: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/not-enough-water-my-fermenter-225274/

I don't have a hydrometer yet, I'm brewing by the seam of my pants as it were. I purchased an AG cream ale from NB and it didn't come with a recipe, only times to pitch. so I had to Google, youtube, and HBT everything else. I thought 6 gals would become 5 not 4 so I didn't realize the power of...

Yup. That's where I am. Not sure if I should add room temp tap water or boil it first and let it cool to room temp before adding it. Its been 24hrs now.

I did my first AG recipe yesterday and did a 3gal. Sparge with a 3gal. strike. Because of grain absorption and boiling evaporation I ended up with 4gal. wort. Can I now (one day later) add 1gal. to my wort in the fermenter? Or am I just a brewmaster_n00b and have to settle for the 4gal. batch...

I bought a 5 gallon antique glass water dispenser jug or "Sparkletts" container at a garage sale. Needless to say it was dirty and needs a good cleaning, I was able to remove a good bulk of the gunk with regular soap and water sloshed around for about half an hour. But there is a fine buildup on...

I left the lid on crocked/partially to let the steam out the top without allowing for a boil-over. :mug:

ok, then next time I'll boil less then 3gal. I guess I'll try 2.5gal. since that should get me to my 5gal. magic number.

I wasn't planning on it but I began pouring the wort into the fermenter which already had the 2gal. in it. Next time I will be sure to pour the wort into an empty fermenter and add water to the 5gal. mark.

I assume this will affect my ABV in the end? If nothing is affected, wouldn't it be a good rule of thumb to always add .5gal more water to increase yield?

On brewing day I boiled 3gal. of water, added the extract and other ingredients, then added 2gal. of water to top it off. I didn't compensate for the .5gal of extract. Is this going to ruin my batch? should I let it ferment longer because of the extra water? Do I need to add slightly more...