Recent content by NurseJackie

Happened to me as well - after 72 hours I gave up and pitched US-05. Beer came out great - not sure which yeast won out in the end. Haven't bothered with BRY-97 since. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I'll try. Count me in.

Yes - thanks. Fortunately I came across that detail in another thread. And for the benefit of anyone coming across this thread in the future I will add that I needed to know how full to fill the keg and found that it's important to fill to below the gas in tube. Without CO2 to initially...

Thank you both for quick responses! I'm transferring to the keg and adding priming sugar today.

I'm an experienced brewer but for over 120 5 gallon batches I have bottled every one. Now a friend (and fan of my beer) from out of state has moved into a new apartment with a kegerator and has asked me to fill a corny with 5 gallons for him. The brew is finished, cold crashed and sitting full...

Could be the yeast - be patient. The last starter I did with wlp500 (2 liters with pure O2) took 3 days to take off. I was about to give up on it when it went to town and fermented out in just a few hours. I chilled, decanted, and stepped it up on brew day. This round took off immediately and...

FWIW: I brewed this on 10/16 following the recipe as written but subbing wlp500 for 530. Mashed at 158. Held temps at 65-66 degrees (internal, not ambient) for about a week at which point SG was 1.022. Gradually raised temp to 78 and held for about 2 more weeks until FG = 1.011. Crash cooled...

No, no! Don't dump in a bucket - it's not necessary. Rehydrate some S04, uncap each bottle one at a time and use a sanitized eye dropper to insert a bit of the yeast solution into the bottle. Recap immediately and move on to the next bottle. The exact amount of yeast added isn't critical since...

This has been my experience with big beers, bottled carbed with wlp007 - it flocks out so well that not many yeasties make it to the bottle. In the future, adding some yeast at bottling as mentioned above will solve the problem. I now add approx 2 gm of S04 (rehydrated, per 5 gallons) when I...

"According to chemistry, alcohol IS a solution."

+1 on the Thermapen. Couldn't brew without it. What I like best (after the accuracy of course) is the instant results. Plus, it's very well made and easy to maintain. Worth every penny.

Agreed on the amounts recommended above: I've used 2-3 oz in 5 gallon batches of porter with good results. The flavor will mellow over time so consider how long you plan to age the beer before drinking. If you are planning to drink early, err on the low side. To really do it right, invest in...

^^^^ Agreed. Just finished my 80th brew. Every single one had a blow-off tube -- never know for sure when you will need one, so why take the chance?

Yes I have done this. Worked perfect. Just pulled the caps, waited 10 min & recapped with new caps. This is effective if all the bottles are overcarbed (if bottled before FG or too much priming sugar added). There is another cause for bottle bombs: priming sugar not fully mixed in. This is...

You can use the "Dilution Tool" in Beersmith for this (under the Tools menu at the top). Enter your starting volume and your OG. Change the "Dilute with" drop box to "wort or beer". Most starters, if made with the standard 100 gms/1000 ml will be approximately 1.040 SG which is the default...