Recent content by BlackRock

This is absolutely horrible! Kinda makes me want to go buy a six pack of Budweiser just to dump it down the toilet... That or go puke in a bag. I buy stuff from both of the shops but I guess at this point it's time to stop. I can't believe we continue to allow such few mega-corps to buy up...

I just finished another early morning brew yesterday, 5gal of Candy Caramel Amber. I've been starting my brews earlier and earlier lately. It seems to make the footprint of brew day smaller which keeps my wife happy. I set up at night, clean the kitchen and prep my strike water for the...

Excellent info. Thank you. Simple and complete. I'm ready to go find me some apples. My LHBS says they'll press upwards of 200lbs for $30. Maybe I'll get my buddy in on it split the cost if we can find that many apples.

Just an update. I left the batch in primary then cold crashed it on day 10. I racked it to a keg and got some pressure on it. After settling for a few hours I poured off a glass to find amazingly clear beer so I didn't use finings. I then force carbed it, brought it to the wedding and proceeded...

I want to make and keg a batch of cider from fresh pressed apples. It seems like there are lots of options for how to go about it from making the cider down to clearing it, kegging it and making sure it's stable and/or pasteurized. My goal would be to make ~5 gallons from fresh pressed apples...

I should add that the sample I pulled today was delicious. I was thinking that I rack it to a carboy once I hit the FG I want. Then give it as many days to clear as I can but maybe I should just leave it sit in primary for as long as possible then just cold crash and keg?

I brewed an IPA up on Sunday. I just took the first SG reading after 48hrs and it's nearly done at 1.019. I'm tempted to see if I can't get it finished up and kegged in 10 days. That would be 12 days from pitching to packaging. My question is how would you best finish off a brew and be...

No. I've done a couple batches now using the 2112. I've fermented at around 64* and had excellent attenuation. I will say that it's taken a couple weeks to really chew through stuff, but the pale ale I just brewed up with it is amazing. Marris Otter 2-Row and Amarillo making a perfectly...

Aye! Definitely didn't think about that one. I'm sure glad my California Common is still in the keg just waiting for more CO2. I'll get it filled up and give the lines a check with soap for sure. I must have damaged, bumped or loosened something in the last move in and around the house is...

So I walk downstairs to grab a beer only to find the tank empty and my beer with zero pressure to serve... bummer. Luckily I had some in the fridge bottled, but still. The tank shows empty, the keg has zero pressure, but it's been on tap for over a week just fine and maybe two days since I...

Do you only do a single sparge or do you split the water and do multiple? There are so many variations out there. I've seen people do mash out's, others do really slow drains, full batch sparges where they stir and leave sit another 15 minutes to convert possible new starches, etc. Its hard...

Custom in shop recipes. One of my favorite things from a brew shop near me. House recipes, clones, etc. But they do a board with a few listed up for the month and price them at a set price. So much better than the kits since they use fresh hops, yeast and grain or extract straight from the shop...

Your OG should be pretty spot on using extract once you get your volumes worked out. Are you doing a full or partial boil? I'd agree that your OG could be both a measurement problem if the water you added didn't get mixed into solution thoroughly first. It will also lower your OG if you had...

Kegging is such a time saver for me. All you have to do is rack your beer from one large container to another. You attach the CO2, set the pressure and stick it in your fridge. I think it took me 35 minutes last time which included cleaning the keg and getting everything put away and in the...

Definitely move it to a secondary then to make room for another brew. I've done batches both ways. I feel like my house IPA comes out cleaner and more crisp when I use a secondary vessel to condition the beer. Use your hydrometer to measure the FG to know when fermentation is done. Once it's...