Recent content by barmyarmy

Do a full time recirculating pump to heat quicker and avoid stratification.

If your young how would you know if you have experienced the holy grail? Someone else told you it was the best and it most likely affected your perception. I love beer, but it's just a beer. Leave that worship/ white whale crap to the wine drinkers. If you can't, keep searching for your own...

I like to take a cup of beer from the primary and heat it up in a sauce pan. Mix your fruit with the beer and heat to around 180-190 for a few minutes. This has always worked well for me. Good luck.

Two weeks! You my friend are a zen Jedi. I do 8 min at 30 psi rolling on it's side. Vent frequently for 24 hours avoid carbolic acid build up. Done and done.

The anti- secondary people think so, but I have never had that problem. I clean,then sanitize everything. I then flush secondary with a little co2 and it has always worked fine. I hope that helps.

Yes. 10-12 ppm of o2 and 1 and 1/2 times yeast with a viable pitch. We have never had to re-oxygenate.

Proper oxygenation will not have detrimental effects. Over oxygenation my cause problems, but that would depend on yeast viability, cell count, temp ect.

That's correct! When I oxygenate my wort I know exactly how many liters per/min I'm getting. If you don't oxygenate, do you know how much o2 is not in your wort. If you don't, consistency will be a problem.

Danstar says you have to activate the yeast (stir or shake with warm water). That would be providing much need O2. Now if your sprinkling it on the top and it worked than I'm happy you got a great beer, but sprinkling it on the top of the beer negates everything the factory says about their product.

I agree with Johnny. Yeast needs O2. Anaerobic metabolism ( fermentation) can not take place until the yeast go through the lag and growth phase. O2 is needed for both of those phases. Dry does not skip those phases.

Cut peaches and freeze. Take one cup of beer from primary put in pan and heat. Add peaches and heat to just under boiling. Cool and rack onto fruit when you are about 2 points from terminal. Enjoy

Chest freezer from craig's list and a temp controller. About 200 bucks will take your brewing to the next level. Good luck

No bleach! Starsan does not clean anything. You must clean then sanitize. PBW or unscented Oxiclean should work well if you soak it for a while and scrub it with the soft side of the sponge.

I have a few thoughts on that. This local thing with beer is only a few years old and it's ok to get hops from somewhere else. Texas is a state that has one of the oldest brewing traditions in America. Since hops are a relatively new addition to beer, do some research to see of you can...

Mr. Malty is a great tool for estimation. In my opinion viability is much more important than cell count. That's why I wash yeast and make a starter.