Recent content by amcardon

Fresh grape juice and blackberry juice are my go-to flavors. I also do half green tea, half black tea. Occasionally I'll do a batch with yerba mate for a change. Other addition I really like, especially in the summer, is to add a couple hops to the tea while it's steeping.

I'm going to try 2 separate batches, one with hops. Had some home-brewed root beer with hops and really liked the complimentary flavors. This will be my first attempt at brewing from scratch, been using Zatarain's concentrate with good results (modified from the instructions on the bottle, if...

How'd it turn out?

I've had great experiences with everything I've purchased from Vacuum Sealers Unlimited (bags and sealer).

Bottle bombs are from increased pressures caused by CO2 production during fermentation. If you want to prevent them, burp your bottles daily until refrigerated, use a shorter time for 2ndary ferm, use less sugar in 2ndary ferm.

Less minerals and some are so anti white/processed sugar that they won't allow it in the house period. I've used both, haven't noticed any difference at all personally.

I brew for 5-7 days (check with pH strips, shooting for 3-3.5 personally) so a shorter brew time might be all you need to change. Also, you're correct that you shouldn't disturb the booch, but that means don't move it around, stir it, etc... You can absolutely taste it along the way to find...

Lots of people cold-brew the tea with great results. Many large-scale companies also only cold-brew. You'll be fine!

Alright, so after talking to the local brew shop I decided to boil .25oz whole cascade hops in 2qts of water for 10 minutes. I don't brew beer, but was told that the short boil will keep bitter flavors out and the more floral hop flavors in. Strained out the hops and added that to 2qts sweet...

I do booch with mate occasionally, very different finish from black tea booch. Never kegged, bottled in 16oz ez cap bottles for secondary ferm for at least 48 hours, then in the fridge till it's requested to drink. Usually takes about 5 minutes to open a bottle slowly enough to not lose half...

It was that Buddha's Brew Hop'd that made me want to try a home version. I've got a batch that should be ready tomorrow, trying to figure out how to get hops in there... Boil? Dry hop? Boil in water or kombucha (and kill any probiotics) for the acidity? Just really unsure how to proceed...

Hey guys, I tried searching to see if this had been discussed before, but as you can imagine, searching "hops" on a brewing site pulls up thousands of hits... Anyway, I recently had a hops flavored kombucha that was fantastic and I was hoping to add hops to my home brews. I don't brew beer...