Recent content by zacschmidt

Forgot to mention OG was 1.120 and temp was 72 degrees.

Sat night I started my first mead a 2 gallon batch. 6 lb clover honey 1.75 gallons water Lalvin E-1118 yeast 1/4 tsp yeast energizer 1/8 tsp Potassium Metabisulfate I attempting to make this as a gift to some friends that are getting married at the end of the year as a wedding present. I want...

Well it's going to be scaled down to 1 gallon batches so 1 bean per gallon I figured would be plenty and about 3.5 pounds per gallon. I want to do 2, 1 gallon batch but I might only do 1 for now, well see.

Sorry I didn't get to post this sooner but here is the recipe I wanted to use: 15 Lbs. Fireweed Honey 6 Vanilla beans, split 6 bags Earl Grey Tea Lavlin EC-1118 yeast Nutrient & Energizer 8OZ bottle Pure Vanilla Extract Make a starter with 1qt. warm water, 1/4 cup honey, nutrient, energizer...

Thanks guys I didn't think I would raise this much controversy, but I love all the information! Continued advice is always welcome. I've been looking up some items at a home brew store, my only problem is it is more then an hour away and I have no car here at school so anything I get has to be...

So in general a bench capper is better then a 2 handled capper?

Can you use a standard 2 handled capper on screw top bottles? Or do you need a bench capper?

Thank you all for responding! All of you have gave some good advice/ ideas/ leads. If anyone is curious I am a student at Ball State University.

Hello everyone, I've been reading all threads on this form for quite a while and am interested in starting to brew mead. From what I've read, besides getting a good recipe and patience, mead seems fairly easy to brew. However I am a broke college student and have just enough to cover bills and...

I have a question, when sweeting with splenda and then bottle carving with sugar would you use the same as when making beer, I believe 3/4 cup to 5 gallon? And also if only using a small amount of sugar to carb you wouldn't need to put it in the fridge to stop the carbing?

I'm a poor college student wanting to start brewing and looking for any kind of way to work around a budget, finding cheaper ways to brew something great while keeping it safe and clean! Any advice will help but for now these are the main questions I have. Can you use rubbing alcohol when...

Kind of off topic but what did you bottle your soda in? Are they glass bottles? And if they are what kind/ brand are they or where did you buy them? Also if they are glass bottles and you carbed them with yeast, how did you know when they were up to correct pressure to cold crash them?

I had thought about doing it this way but wasn't sure how it would work out. How successful was this method? Once it is carbed to the right level and then you chill it to slow the yeast do you have to keep it in the fridge? If you take it back out after a few days will the yeast just start...

I've talked to many different people about this and have never really gotten a good answer. But is there anyone who has brewed soda of any kind and has bottled in glass beer bottles and perfected it? I have never tried it but I've always heard mix things about it?