More brewing protips.

I always kick myself because I store a lot of grains in my brewery. I vacuum pack them and then label them so I know what and how much.

Sometimes I forget (normally because my sharpie has gone on walkabout) and say "Oh, I'll label this when I find the sharpie, no problem." Then life and me staring at 2 lbs of mystery malt in a vacuum bag. Yeesh.

 

The really dark ones are roasted grains. You're welcome.
I have a similar labeling system.

 

This is my problem. I always kick myself later.

 

Here's a tip: corn sugar is a waste of money and granulated doesn't look like DME.

 

make sure your thermometer is accurate, i mashed my last brew at 138 instead of 148, had a bit of an OG problem

 

Don't try to do to many things at one time. The last thing on brew day I do is fill my kettle with hot water and pbw and let it soak. I went outside to grab the rest of the odds and ends while the kettle was filling up. By the time I got back inside water was all over the counter and got into the drawers and cabinets below. Added another hour of clean up to my brew day.

 

Don't think too much. I tend to skip steps or screw up the order of hops because I'm too prepared and always thinking about something 5 steps away when I should be doing x. I do this with everything, especially writing. I always start typing or writing a word before I'm done it the one I'm on. Chess player I am not.

 

Ain't that a bitch.. Waiting around while someone else is already reaping the rewards.

 

I buy 5 gal batches of grain from my LHBS. I come back to it 3 months later and never wrote the style on it or what yeast to use. I'll get creative and make a split batch with these grains and use two different yeasts. Sometimes these beers aren't so good. I title them dark beer one, dark beer two, etc.

 

Buy an auto-siphon. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I've spent on equipment, I still don't own a $10 auto-siphon. Last batch I got a mouth full of trub and almost spit it into the wort. I'll learn to listen sooner or later.

 

I can't even imagine not having an auto-siphon.

 

I still don't have one after a little more than 20 years at this hobby, and see no need.

 

Are you sucking to start your siphon?! Not exactly sanitary.

 

Same here after 27+ years of homebrewing. There are so many ways to start a siphon that there's no need for another gadget that has to be sanitized, might break, etc.

 

DO be overly efficient: prepare 5 more caps than you think you need.

 

Always be prepared for a low OG, a dead yeast pack, or a broken autosiphon.