Recent content by brewdude76

Buy sterilized marbles and then sanitize them before putting them in the bottom of the carboy. This will reduce the amount of airspace at the top without compromising your recipe. Play around with how many marbles it will take to raise it 1.5 gals, measure twice cut once kind of mentality.

ec-1118 is great for unsticking fermentation because it has very little nutritional needs, so I've been told

In hindsight, I regret not pitching the Lavin ec-1118 when I wanted to. Fermentation is the weakest part of brewing skill set. Only one of my beers has finished at the FG I was shooting for. I bought a stirplate and 2000 ml flask to make starters, but ended up brewing on a whim because my...

That is very possible. I think the bucket that constantly blew the lid did not have as tight a seal as the other one. Or would it be tighter, letting less air in to create the cO2 build up? My first thought was a difference in the yeast, but that doesn't explain why it tasted uniform until...

I used White Labs Dry English Ale, which lists attenuation as 70-80%. Oxidation is out as a reason. I don't think the sweetness is from the lack of fermentation. The other batch is roasty as hell and more sweet and bitter than I want because the alcohol is lacking. They were both at 1.025...

I brewed a 10 gallon batch of Foreign Extra Stout and split them into 2 five ale pales. The OG was 1.073 and I didn't make a yeast starter or blow-off tube :o. One of the buckets kept on blowing the lid, it sounded like a shotgun blast! The other bucket blew the lid only occasionally. They...

I recently made my second batch of apfelwein, this time with a few tweaks. I added some squirts of honey, I would guess less than 8 ounces, and used Lalvin ec-1118. I plan on reracking it after two months and bottle after 8 months. However, there is a decent amount of lees on the bottom after...

Recipe looks good, it will be intense. One suggestion though, maybe use a yeast that accentuates fruity flavor, maybe Wyeast American ale 2. Unless the yeast you are using already does that.

If you're looking for malt sweetness, consider using Marris Otter as your base.

This is a ten gallon recipe for a stout. I want it to be like Bell's Kalamazoo Stout- roasty, dry and not overpowered by coffee flavor. Any suggestions? 14.50 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 69.05 % 3.00 lb Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM) Extract 14.29 % 1.50 lb Roasted Barley...

I am designing a recipe for a stout that is trying to emulate Bell's Kalamazoo Stout. It is very roasty without having a coffee flavor. I think my base is about 60% dark LME and a little less than 20% light DME to boost the alcohol. I'm going to post the recipe for advice once I recover it...

13,659 + 5 = 13,664

UPDATE: extrapolated the recipe to 10 gallons and reduced the oatmeal by a half lb. Tasted it after 15 days in primary, it's rough but good. Going to post the entire recipe after I bottle it and confirm it's worthy.

The toasting temps for the oatmeal was way off. The only way 350 for 20 mins would work is if you turn every 5 minutes or so. Even than, they would probably get pretty dark. I looked at Radical Brewing and he recommends toasting at 300 until it smells like cookies. He claims that freshly...

I read a post about waiting in a thread and someone posted a link to mailard reaction and I assumed that is what waiting helps avoid. Now that I know what it is, I realize I was wrong in my assumptions. Letting them sit is supposed to let the harsh, bitter flavors settle out.