Fully functional Brutus 10 system in great condition. Currently configured for natural gas with banjo burners.
Powder coated 2" steel frame. Three 10 gallon stainless steel brew pots, marked interally with gallon levels, two with false bottoms. All with quick disconnects. All hoses and quick...
I am in the market as well. I would stay away from the Kegco product based on my experience. Two units have failed. The first lasted 14 months, just outside of warranty. Beverage Factory did replace it, but still got stuck with shipping costs. The replacement started having issues after a...
I kegged it when I took the picture Friday. I have it in a kegarator at 11 lb CO2 at 35 degrees F. I can vent it occasionally. Tasted it today. It is a pale ale I did several years ago. Do not remember it having the high hop bitterness this batch has. Would using pellets (assuming same...
Is what is seen in these pictures hop creep? I dry hoped an ale with pellet hops (Cascade and Centennial in a mesh bag, which I removed before taking the picture.) for the first time in several years and got a film on the surface. First time I'd seen anything like this. Smelled fine so I...
I just racked to secondary two batches of an Octoberfest Marzen brewed three weeks go. Original gravity was 1.058 for both. One batch is now at 1.015, the low end of the 1.015 to 1.017 target range. The other batch came in at 1.019. Both were at 52 degrees when checked.
I plan on kegging...
I've brewed this recipe the past two years, it is top notch! If you use the pumpkin you will have a good two to three inches of trub in primary after a week. I personally like to get the brew off the crud before I add the spice tea in secondary.
I found last year this beer jumped a level...
Both of these recipes were primarily extract based. The steeping was with a pound or so of 80L crystal malt and a bit of 120 for color. I've made both several times and the results are pretty decent brews. Saving time seems to be the best reason as I see it.
I've recently brewed a brown ale and a Christmas ale that both started steeping the grains in cold water and maintained the steep until 170*F was reached. What do you gain (or lose) by this method compared to starting the steep in 150*F or so water and holding it for 30 minutes?
The comment by Hang Glider on warm to the touch makes sense. I probably did toast the first batch of yeast. I got fermentation after adding the second vial of German Lager yeast although it never developed krausen or any real indications of actvity. If shaken plenty of dissolved CO2 comes out...
Think I figured this out -- Bought the wrong size stopper for the better bottle so I loosely covered the neck with a piece of foil. No pressure build up in the bottle therefore no krausen or activity in the wort during fermentation. A good shake generates a good release of fizz so carbonation...
Got home from work tonight and still absolutely nothing going on. I need the starter for this weekend so I pitched a fresh vial of White Labs in the bottle. Hope to have better luck with this batch.
Looking at the bottle visually. I'm used to seeing at least a little action in the bottle after 24 hours. The complete lack of anything made me think I'd toasted the yeast.