Recent content by BrewGardenCA

The Pilsner partial mash I did this summer, I thought, was going to be the best beer in the history of the world. And it is really good. But it's incredibly over carbonated. I used DME (and probably too much) but I think the real problem was that when I bottled, I should have racked one more...

Whenever I'm brewing I'm always calling to my wife, "Come here, you've got to smell this!" Fresh crushed grains? Oh yeah. Mashing-in, Ooooh yeah! :) PS: Tasting the wort? Mmm-hmm. :)

Have you tried giving it a "swirl"? I know some folks say "no" to trying to rouse your yeast, but if you've got time, that's all it might take to get things going again. You'll need to give it time to let things settle out again, but it beats the risks of off flavours you might get if you raise...

It seems like the problem has been boiled down to sanitization in this case. But I'd like to make a comment in another vein... When you add your extract to your boil, be sure to take your pot off the heat first. Then pour in your liquid extract, stir it up well, so that it dissolves into the...

I'm in Canada, so not too far north of you. We've got easy access to much of the Cooper's extract kits here. I've found they age really well. When I started homebrewing a few years back I did a bunch of them, really liked how the Stout and Dark Ale kits turned out.

Yeah, you should see three levels in your jar. The top level will be the left-over beer from your last batch, the creamy beige stuff in the middle is the yeast, the cruddy stuff at the bottom, the left over hops and trub from your last batch. Ideally, pour off the beer and then pour the yeast...

The higher the alcohol of the beer, the more time you let it "age" the more mellow it will get. You won't have that alcohol taste. But for what you're talking about, you don't need months, a couple weeks should be good. Time also aids in clarity, of course, and you know, the long tail of yeast...

Wow, that is a HIGH OG for sure. Glad things kicked in. If your yeast was still "waking up" from being in the fridge (even though it was up to temp) that might have accounted for the slow start. I'd recommend making a starter. Since I've been making starters, I'm doing it for all my brews...

Oh sorry. That's not a good scene. The brew-belt comes in handy when you have to ferment in a Canadian basement in the winter, but it sounds like this might be a brew chalked-up to a learning experience. I'll probably be drinkable, just maybe not what you expected.

Like a million others, I've made the mistake of grabbing the wrong sized stopper (by about a half size) and pushed it all the way into the carboy just after I had pitched the yeast. It was sanitized, so everything turned out okay. Had to come to the forums to figure out how to get the stopper...

Ha! Brewing up in Canada in the winter, we can just set our carboy out in the porch for a bit to get the temperature down. In fact, when I was brewing with some friends last month (on the winter solstice, no less) we just took our kettles off the burners and stuck them in the snowbank until the...

Yup, make sure your boil is really going. Don't just bring the water to 100C, get it rolling. You might want to try dry hopping too, if you want to boost the hoppyness of your brews. Throw an ounce into a nylon bag and let it sit in your fermenter during primary. It's worked nicely for me in the...

I always keep my bottled beer downstairs. Never had a problem with skunking. Though, I'm always looking for better cases. Had my father-in-law make me up a great six-pack carrier from wood for when I brew a few brews over to friends. Looks nice and old-timey. :)