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I mash and sparge the night before boiling all the time. I just wrap the covered kettle of wort in blankets and a sleeping bag and it’s always over 140 F the next morning.

I brewed one recently, in which I used Nottingham and fermented in the low 50s. It’s delicious and very clean.

Sorry for not responding sooner. Here it is, for a 5.5ish gallon batch: 4.5 lb pils 2.75 lb Vienna 1.5 lb flaked corn 5 oz CaraHell Mashed 144 for 40, then 156 for 25 Mash out at 168 1 oz Mt. Hood at 60 min 1 oz Tettnanger at 10

To add to my post above about my Mexican lager that I brewed with this yeast, FWIW: the feedback I got at my homebrew club was really good, so I sent it to a c. 375 entry comp and it took bronze in the international pale lager category, scoring 44. No comments in either venue indicated any bad...

I’m kinda in the same boat: plotting a backup beer (also a cream ale) if this one doesn’t turn out for the party I had intended it for. When I pulled a sample before cold-crashing and fining, it was tasting good. But the sample I pulled today had, as my wife described it, a slight acidic smell...

Good to look out for that, but we’ll have to see. My start wasn’t delayed — I think that was the OP. Mine got going decently quickly, though not as quick as most of my ale fermentations.

Just a quick update on my batch with this: I just started cold-crashing my 1.047 OG lager last night after I pulled a sample. It tasted nice and was at 1.008, for 82% attenuation. I had it at 50 degrees F for 5 days, then 54-5 for 4 days, then gradually let it get up to 66 over the course of 12...

I have a batch of 1.047 OG pale lager fermenting with this yeast now. I pitched midday Thursday when the wort got down to the low 50s. For a 5.5 gallon batch, I used 2 packs, rehydrated. I had blowoff tube activity at around 24 hours, and it’s been chugging along at 50 degrees for about 96 hours...

Go for it!

I’ve used marbles but even 15-20 seemed unable to keep hop bags submerged. Now I’ve got sous vide magnets I saw on Homebrew 4 Life on YouTube, but I haven’t looked to see if they kept the 4 oz of hops down.

I like the idea of it purée-ing the roasted berries. Especially if they’re hot you would be less likely to introduce any unwanted organisms. The freezing process did, however, break down the berries more than I had expected. I think the next thing to try is to increase the fruit volume. While it...

TL;DR: I roasted strawberries in the oven before adding them to the fermenter and I liked the result. You might want to try it, too. Last June (2021) I wanted to make a strawberry saison. I had never brewed with fruit but after talking to other brewers and reading online about others'...

I’ve got 4 kids with one on the way. I started brewing when I had a 4 and 2 year old and the third on the way, and I’ve kept up with the hobby the whole time through smaller batches (1.5-3 gal), mashing and collecting wort the night before (for 5 gallons), and planning carefully to maximize naps...

Just to add my recent experience with M21: I just kegged a 4.5-gallon 1.052 OG witbier into which I pitched a rehydrated pack of M21. After 3 days at 62, I raised it to the low 70s. A gravity check at 6 days showed that it was at 1.019. I left it until today, day 21, and it was at 1.011. So...

+1 on the hot OxyClean soak. I use the cheap orange or blue stuff from Dollar Tree most of the time. I blast out each bottle with a garden hose to rinse it twice after getting the label off. Never had a residue or flavor problem. Most of the time I don’t have to scrub. Sam Adams, Schell, and...

FWIW I’ve used gelatin in bottled beer, added to a cold-crashed primary fermenter. In my experience the carbonation time was a bit longer (3 weeks instead of 1.5-2), but I put in the normal amount of sugar for the amount of fizz I was going for. They were crystal clear at bottling, but got some...

Here’s the update: after 3 weeks in the bottle I lagered it for a couple more weeks in the fridge. I brought it to an informal meeting of my brew club and got really positive reviews. Got some surprised and puzzled looks when I told them that I used breakfast cereal, but the feedback was all...

TL;DR: using corn flakes cereal instead of flaked corn seems to have worked out for me. I’m writing this to share my experience with anyone who has been tempted to use corn flakes as a substitute for flaked corn in their beer. I don’t mean to thumb my nose at any purists – I’m just sharing my...

So I’m an idiot: it looks like I misread my refractometer and my actual FG ended up at 1.018 or 17, which is right where a lot of other folks’ beers have stopped. It’s carbonating now.

Just to add my experience: I brewed a session IPA (1.046 OG) with this yeast 4 days ago. It took off like a rocket after I added the rehydrated yeast: within 10 hours a small krausen and airlock activity. The next day it was going bananas. After 24 hours or so it settled down, and today I...