Recent content by jm21

I tend to do very large batches in a 15gal kettle so floating the hydrometer isn't usually a problem. After the first hour or so there was almost zero change in hydrometer readings. This has always been my experience. Takes 1-2 hours to get any sort of change at all, then about 3-4 hours before...

It's been taking me 3-4 hours to get the OG I am looking for, but I was just putting the hydrometer in the pot, so it was giving a reading from the top. Hm. I guess I don't understand what exactly is going on in the wort at a chemical level. Why does the top of the wort show low? Why does it...

I don't understand why it takes forever to convert the starches to sugars. I've done this a few times now and it always takes quite a few hours to reach the right gravity, stirring and re-heating once an hour or so. How are people able to do this in one hour? :/

So I made several batches of beer using BIAB, the last couple of which came out nicely, but it's been about 2 years now and I sort of remember what I'm doing but hoping someone can check my math. I'm in a bit of a unique situation in that: 1. I'm doing no-chill brewing, so just using the boil...

Went through all sorts of options before and the no-chill method is just so much easier given my location and apartment. No bathtub, hard to get ice or make it, ground water has a high temp. Getting it down past like 40c or so is really hard using traditional methods. A little bit easier now...

my freezer is extremely tiny...but I guess I should have made room. The grains were whole and in unopened plastic packaging. I will probably do as I have previously and use the no-chill method....I'm guessing the hops will be similar for bittering but when I dry hop I should increase the...

So I got into brewing a bit and then kind of fizzled as better beers became available where I live (southern china). Have several co-workers who are interested in making beer now though and was thinking to host a brew day to share my very limited knowledge and try to make some beer. Problem is...

I used an upside down steamer rack last time and worked fine. On vacation so don't know the dimensions. It was part of a steamer/stockpot i got a few years ago for maybe $40 or so... Sure there's some cheap ones on the web. Would be better if I cut the handles off but I use it frequently as a...

Wow, lots of great responses. I'm pretty sure I saw ritebrew on the amazon marketplace but will check out some of those other sites. I'm more into the pacific northwest hop-bomb type of APA and IPA. Unfortunately they're doing something with the internet where I live and I can barely connect...

Hops are kind of expensive in China and I'm meeting up with someone from the states over summer vacation...would like to buy 2-3 lbs of hops over amazon but not 100% sure what to buy. I've used chinook, cascade, willamette, and citra so far. Really like chinook both for bittering and for dry...

had a little bit of a problem with some bottles not carbonating as well...kinda sugary so must have been at too high or too low temps during the carbonation process. Will have to control that better next time. But overall pretty decent beers. The no-chill method seems to work OK and the dry...

So it's been two weeks now. Started dry-hopping and tested the brew. Slightly hoppy with a decent wack of bitterness at the back end. The last time I did it the last minute hop additions then taking too long to chill gave it a really bad aroma and pretty off taste. This is much better and...

Haha, both of us come from relatively cool places and when I was taking temperature readings I realized that our "cool"/"cold" apartment was about 80F. A few years ago that would seem like a hot summer day to me. My understanding was swamp coolers don't work well in humid places, and this is...

So as my fiance was grinding the 2-row and I was filling up the kettle and getting ready for the mashing, I realized my kettle was too small for the batch I had planned. My fermenters each contain 6l so knocked the batch from 30l down to 6l, 7kg of barley, 50g of citra hops for bittering. Did...

I've been doing research on the no-chill method and seems I've ran into a similar problem as a lot of the no-chill guys. The late hop additions just don't apparently seem to work with long chill times. Still reading but haven't found someone with a great solution yet. I can get my wort down...