Recent content by Blackhawkbrew

Me please!

Grain bill it is then. Any thoughts on the mill from Adventures in Homebrewing?

I'm looking to upgrade my equipment and can't decide between a grain mill or new brew pot. I currently crush my grain at my LHBS but was thinking about saving some money by buying bulk grain. I have a 10 gallon brew pot with no valve and my immersion chiller doesn't fit well ( pot is short and...

Holy Cow!! I just googled "what does the 2 minute RINSE mean in Beersmith?" jbhistory, I feel ya brotha!!

Me please! Me please I'm in I'm in I'm in

Just kegged mine yesterday! Never used whole vanilla bean before, interesting smell after sitting in secondary for a couple weeks.

Finsfan, I haven't had a sample yet since I put it in secondary. I just added the spices right to the secondary. Still haven't decided if I'm going to bottle or keg it yet. Hope your brew day goes well!!

I don't think it will last a year!!

Just transferred to secondary. The sample I took for gravity reading was awesome just the way it was! I added spices right to the secondary. I've heard of people making a spice tea before adding, but I just added them right in. Can't wait for this one. Don't know if I should bottle it or...

Brewing this recipe now. Mash temp was a bit low, 153 degrees and my pre boil gravity was a bit low, 1.046. Not too worried though. My last few brews have had low pre boil gravity but spot on gravity going into the fermenter. Can't wait to taste this one!

I'm in

I have a temp probe in the mash. I mix the mash around until I get to the mash temp. Sometimes I move the probe around.

I preheat my mash tun by adding my strike water at 175*. It drops to about 165* and I let it sit nail it stays at the same temp for a couple minutes. I add my grains and stir until I hit my mash temp. Today my pre boil gravity was way down, called for 1.056 and I was at 1.047! I did a late...

The last several batches I've been having trouble holding my mash temps. I've been using the same Rubbermaid rectangular cooler since I started all grain about four years ago. I've tried putting a blanket around it and that helps a bit but temps still drop three to four degrees over the hour...

Brewed this yesterday! Now just waiting for yeast to begin. My og was at 1.077 and I rehydrated one packet of 05. I may have pitched a bit to hot though 77ish. Hope I didn't strain the yeast too much. At what point do I pitch another packet?