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I've not performed an iodine test more than once and the last time was more than twenty years ago! If it's your first mash, I'd say try it if you've got iodine, but otherwise, just taste the wort. If it's sweet and not gritty, you're good to go as far as starch is concerned.

If it's sold specifically as under modified then step mash, otherwise a single infusion mash is fine. As a first time lager brewer...stick to the simple mash schedule the first time...the rest of the process will occupy your mind for the next month ;-)

I was just brewing with a friend of mine who was decocting a bohemian pilsner and he came up short four gallons. It was a complete mystery. Clearly, it's gone, but not clear where he put it. Somewhere you had to have mismeasured or boiled off or spilled or set aside....it's still a...

Yes. Buy a bag of malt (50-55 pounds). Weigh the 5-gallon bucket empty (tare). Then fill it with grain to the maximum level you would store malt at...near the top ;-). Weigh it again. Use that weight to estimate...divide by five for pounds per gallon, divide by 20 for pounds per quart, etc...

There are excellent yeasts available from Wyeast, White Labs, Danstar, and others...regardless of whether they are dry or liquid. There are more options with liquid yeasts. No brand is better than another...just more options. The only thing that makes a given yeast great is the beer that's...

For what it's worth...I have found that aerating the wort prior to pitching is totally unnecessary if you pitch enough yeast to start with. I used to add oxygen to my wort and found it was very easy to add too much and my beers would get an off flavor. If you can..make a starter or pitch...

As long as the wort has been cooled, I'd do it. Clean the spigot out when you're finished ;-) If not cooled, then either use a submersion chiller first or use the spigot to push into a counter flow chiller (tube or plate style).

I've made a Dry Irish Stout and tapped it 7 days later. I did things I'm not proud of ;) Brewed 80/10/10 pale/flaked barley/roasted barley with fuggle hops and Wyeast 1084 Irish to about 1.045. Primary was done in three days. Let it rest for three more. Kegged on day six and shook the keg...

One to two degrees here as well (Minnesota), but I don't brew in the bitter cold...covers me in frost [emoji6]

I go to a local shop which fills by weight and pressure cutoff (like a gas pump)...$14. I'm not sure if that's good or not, but cheaper than those swap and go places here at $19.99.

If gas doesn't stratify, then why does carbon monoxide poisoning kill people more easily in areas where it rises too rather than everybody equally? Before you say that it's hotter...think about it ;)

Mixing isn't instantaneous. In fact without agitation, the introduced air will stratify and sit on top....eventually mixing in after a long duration...so don't pick up and agitate your beer if you introduced air into the head space. Taking a gravity reading may introduce a small amount of air...

CO2 is heavier than air and emitted by the surface of the fermenting beer, pushing air upward from the bottom. Further, it is a laminar flow, not turbulent. In hours of fermentation, all air is pushed out the airlock leaving only CO2 in the headspace. Laminar flow means mixing occurs very...

My water is city water pumped from an aquifer. Blasted with chloramine. For pale ales, IPA, Stouts, Browns or similar beers with high mineral content, I simply use 100% tap water. I treat all my tap water with sodium metabisulfate to drive off chlorine and chloramine. For lagers or low...

I brew all grain 6.5 gallon batches and I get two batches per tank. I use the Edelmetall[emoji769] Brü Burner.

The CO2 blanket is a real thing. CO2 is heavier than air and sits on top of the fermented beer. Only drafting it away by opening the carboy to open air and agitating it will drive it off. We don't die in our sleep because our homes are not sealed that well...if they were, we'd run out of...

I agree 100% as to what it means. Now, I would love it if the tool were made more intuitive so one didn't figure this out the wrong way. A simple solution is to redesign the tool using a radio button to choose which mode (bottle/keg condition or force carbonation) and adjust the controls (and...

I agree that the amount of CO2 after fermentation and before bottling is inversely related to the maximum temp of the beer during this interval. Once bottled, the temperature only matters to keep the yeast alive or serve). I still maintain that temp is poorly described in the carbonation...

I posted about it over at Beersmith forums. Thanks for the help guys!

Wasn't obvious to me...that temp only makes sense as serving temp; I don't think anybody bottle or keg conditions at 40 degrees as all but the heartiest lager yeast would be completely dormant. At the very least that is a poor default value in Beersmith in my opinion.