Recent content by Birrus

I stand corrected. Interesting reading. Thank you. 😉 I assume one of the solutions in cases like this would be having a larger pre-boil volume then, and boiling for longer. Any ballpark idea of the percentage difference when brewing only 5 gallons? I ask because I have not noticed it, but then...

It is my understanding the efficiency is not dependent on grain bill size, but equipment and process instead. Efficiency remains the same for a system regardless of the grain bill. It would only need to be adjusted for changes in process and/or equipment profile.

BIAB is the only method I've used since switching to AG 4 years ago. I agree with everything that's been said. Finer crush translates into higher efficiency. If buying a mill is not in your plans (I don't own one), simply ask the LHBS to crush the grains differently for you. Mashing for longer...

What they've said. Assuming conversion is done, if you thoroughly mix the wort before pulling the bag out, gravity should be uniform throughout the mash; and how much you squeeze the bag should not change this. On a side note; consistency is achieved by following the same routine every time you...

Hey guys, just a quick update for those interested. After 5 months, I measured gravity last week, and it is already @ 1.006; I don't think I ever mentioned the original Wee Heavy ended up @ 1.019. A nice white pellicle is covering the surface of the beer, and it smells wonderful. As far as taste...

I don't think 58 F is "cold" for pitching lager yeast; I'd say it's actually rather warm, especially considering zee Germans (and myself, although German I'm not), pitch as cold as 41 F. As far as never lowering the temp during fermentation, those homebrewers in the "warm pitch camp" swear by...

Okay, if you pitched 2 packs of yeast @ 58 F, have the fermentation temp set to 51 F (within normal range for this strain), and after 3 days the gravity has not changed at all, you may have a problem. Hard to pinpoint exactly what that is, since many things could go wrong, but I lean towards it...

Thank you all. Sweetcell, the result of your barleywine gives me hope. It looks like all I have to do is wait. Btw, I had a sour party all by myself, and dumped dregs from 4 bottles of Petrus Oud Bruin in there, ;). Let's see what comes out of it.

Thank you for that. The beer is dark, but not roasty nor highly hopped, as you very well assumed. I actually dialed down the Roasted Barley when I decided to go the Belgian route for the Wee beer, and according to calculations, the IBU were around 30 originally, (and 8 months of ageing most...

Thank you all very much for your input. I apologise it took me a while to reply, but I was out of commission for a few days. At this point I think I'll follow OldDogBrewing advice, and will leave it alone for a few months. I'll add the bottle dregs from every sour I drink from now on, in an...

Hello folks, will inoculating a 10% beer after fermentation with Brett work? I brewed and kegged a Scottish Quad (a wee heavy kit I bought and fermented with Belgian yeast) in January, and 7 months later I still had 4 gallons of it. It wasn't bad at all, but Florida and 10% ABV beer somehow do...

I assume that your house being on a "well" means you have no access to municipal treated water. If that's the case, you can always send a sample of your well water to a lab, to determine if it's "usable", and what type of filtering needs to be done. If you insist in using RO water, remember the...

OK, according to what you are saying, it is the shipping industry who eliminated the free option. I did not know that, hence my remark at the end: "I do not understand what could possibly have happened." And you sound mad, in these times more than ever: RAHAHB. :)

Northern Brewers' website states, and I quote verbatim: "FREE SHIPPING is Temporarily Unavailable Due to High Demand". I am struggling to understand how high demand equates to the suspension of free shipping; in my mind it would bring exactly the opposite as a result: More business, more profits...

I used a 5 gallons SS pot for over a year, employing the BIAB (Brew in a Bag) method, while brewing AG. RM-MN superbly explained what BIAB is, but you can always do some research, plenty of resources online, if you finally decide to go this way; it is indeed a thing of beauty. I adjusted my...