Recent content by jlietzow

Guess I need to learn about starters. I had been using mostly dry yeast without rehydrating and was generally happy with the results. I've tried some liquid yeast more recently, just adding directly from the package to the wort, and have noticed an improvement in my beer (especially stouts...

Patience seems to a recurring lesson for me as a novice brewer. I began to see signs of fermentation yesterday and this morning the yeast is happy and working hard. I will have beer after all! Thanks to all for the helpful comments and suggestions.

Thanks for the comments. The temp is about 68 and I see no signs of any foam or even bubbles. The beer is clear as best I can tell (it's in a bucket). Based on the comments I'll wait one more day to see if anything develops. If not I'll pitch US-05. Who knows - maybe I'll like it better...

I brewed a Blue Moon Clone from AIH yesterday and pitched WLP400. Unfortunately AIH screwed up my order and did not include the ice pack when they shipped they yeast. I had hoped it would still be viable but after more than 24 hours I see no signs of any fermentation. I have US-05 and S-04 on...

88 + 5 gallons Scottish Ale = 93

I've been brewing for about a year now and have tried kits from quite a few online retailers and a local homebrew store (sadly now out of business). I've become a big fan of MoreBeer. Very good prices and the beer quality has been excellent. I particularly like the Cali Mountain Pale Ale (a...

Thanks for the insight. I just ordered a Taprite from Amazon for $47.

I'm new to kegging, using a combination of used equipment that I was able to get cheaply. Last night I had 2 batches of beer ready to keg so transferred them and cranked them up to 35 psi so that I could carbonate overnight. I reattached my co2 line to my other keg (now nearly empty) and...

That helps a lot. Thanks everyone!

I'm new to kegging (just one batch kegged so far) and trying to get a feel for my options as I get more beer ready to keg. I am short of space in my fridge and will have another beer ready to keg soon. Can I just transfer my beer to a keg, purge the oxygen with co2 and store at room...

Thanks to everyone for the help - I'm always amazed by the number of people who are willing to share their expertise. I have learned much in the last few days. I found someone selling a used corny keg on LetGo locally for $25, including a set of o-rings. I think I'll try to pick that up and...

I stand corrected! Charlie Papazian is indeed the author. :)

I have been looking for a fridge or freezer to serve as a fermentation chamber and came across someone selling an old fridge that had been fitted with a keg. From the decals on the fridge it looks like it was used for Miller Lite. I wasn't planning to get into kegging yet, but now I'm...

Well I added 5ml of rehydrated S04 to each bottle over a week ago and so far no improvement. I moved it upstairs (warmer) and I'm just gonna let it sit and see if anything happens. I suspect that I'll be dumping it in a couple of weeks. Not a big loss - it has an odd taste, I assume due to...

Thanks for the feedback all. This particular batch was a nightmare to bottle - many lessons learned from multiple mistakes (hopefully not to be repeated). I'm gonna go get a small syringe and try adding rehydrated S04 yeast to each bottle (that's all that I have on hand). Hopefully I can...