Recent content by bad raccoon brewing

And I promise I wasn't even sampling it before I posted! 🥴

Hold everything--idiot alert--misread the hydrometer. Mine only goes to 1.160 as well. I took a photo of the reading and scaled it to continue the linear progression, but obviously stumbled. I went from 1.100 to 2.000. Should have been 1.280, not 2.080. This makes much more sense. OG is now...

Brewing a chocolate cherry stout based on this recipe with some tweaks: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/chocolate-cherry-stout.326884/ Original gravity on the wort post-boil was about 1.072. Using Safale 05, thought I'd probably get it down to the mid 1.020s, for an AVB of about 6-7% or...

This looks awesome! I'm planning to brew it soon. What's the rationale behind waiting several days to add the cherry concentrate rather than throwing it in at the beginning of fermentation? Anyone try adding it up front to compare?

Success! Cracked one open the other day. Highly carbonated, good flavor, nice balance. Really pleased with it. I brewed this one as a surprise for my son's wedding. Thanks for all the help!

Brief update for all you patient people. In all, this brew spent 52 days in the fermenter, which is crazy-long for me. The gravity eventually got down to about 1.008, which seems to be about the bottom for this one. I primed it with a little honey and bottled it about a week ago. I'll try to...

Thanks for the tip!

Great advice from many here, as usual--thank you! I decided to re-pitch 3711, which I did a few days ago. Has been bubbling away nicely (not too aggressively, but certainly steady). I figure I'll give 10 days or so (particularly if all action appears to have stopped) and then (hopefully...) a...

Assuming activity doesn't start up again (and it's not looking great, I must admit), what do I do? Re-pitch? What strain? Any tips?

Hello! Fermentation question for the experts: I'm brewing a saison using Wyeast 3724 (one packet for a 5-gallon batch). The recipe spit out an OG of 1.075 and FG 1.016 for ABV of about 7.74%. In reality, my OG was about 1.070. As many have experienced, this yeast has been slooooooow. I put this...

Yeah, I had the same instinct about just sloshing it from one bucket to another. I've seen narrow, cylindrical hop cages that are basically stainless steel strainers. I can slip one over the end of the syphon--should work. Hoping it won't strain out all the yeast, as I do need some carbonation...

Hello Everyone, I've got a saison in the fermenter that is full of orange peel, coriander, etc., and I am wondering about straining out that stuff before bottling. I typically syphon from fermenter to bottling bucket before bottling. If I try that with this batch, I foresee the syphon getting...