Finally got some vienna malt in so I brewed Biermuncher's Aberdeen Session Haus Ale this weekend. I'm still tweaking my brewhouse efficiency it has been around 73% but since I got a 'Barley Crusher' for my b-day I've been doing better. I started my 6 hour process about 9am on Sunday by preparing my water. My final volume I was was going for was 5.25G reduced from the original 11 gal. I let Beersmith do the scaling down after entering the original volumes and amounts. I was mashing 7.44# total...

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I wanted to do a quick entry on Pliny the Elder - I brewed it two weeks ago. I purchased the clone recipe from Austin HB because they had a major sale on it and my brother-in-law commissioned it. It is amazing the amount of support you get from people who like your craft, eh? It's not like people can really have fun watching me do the things I like to do but with brewing they greatly benefit from the result. I never buy kits but since the sale included 17oz, that's right folks, 17oz of hops,...

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I needed to brew an ESB for an upcoming event and I wanted to try an AG Fullers Clone but I decided to try Full Owl ESB. I like it because he makes his own caramelized sugar and I've heard that Fuller's uses brewers caramel. I love these rumors about famous brews and what people think they use. One would think that by now some employee would have had loose lips and we would know definitively the answers to cosmic conundrums like what is the secret ingredient in Guiness, Fullers, and others. ...

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After the kind people at HBT convinced me that I would not die in my garage if I brewed close to the open door and had plenty of circulation I decided my 17F brewday was a big go! Todays undertaking... RiClarke's Guinness clone. OG 1.053 Using a very cool beer souring technique taking 24 oz of 4 day old beer left out to sour and after pasteurizing it adding it to the flame out wort I hope to come close to making the mythical brew my SWMBO's relatives swilled. It was to be my second AG brew and...

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It's brewday! I've been planning this all too long and now it is upon me. I'm very excited, I must say

First thing I will do is adjust my water by doing what Bobby_M advised. I'll be adjusting the mash water but not the sparge water (w/the exception of salt but that doesn't matter really).

My CA = 25 I will take the mash to 130 but final water after sparge will be 57
Mg = 13 taking mash to 33 final will be 19 after sparge
Na = 8 taking it to 49 final...

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