Recent content by ChairmanWow

Note: This recipe isn't designed to be an exact clone of Great Lakes Christmas Ale or Thirsty Dog's 12 Dogs of Christmas, but is inspired by both. The spices definitely come through without being overbearing. The finished product has a nice malty aroma with a hint of citrus and gingerbread...

My LHBS sells Simpsons chocolate malt, so that's what I used.

I don't think plastic would be a problem. Just make sure you add the lye to the water (slowly) and not the other way around. Hydration of NaOH is exothermic, and it generates enough heat to warm the bowl a little. If you add water to the powdered lye, though, that small amount could briefly get...

I get my lye on Amazon, the brand is called Essential Depot. It's about 15 bucks for two pounds. I use about a 3.5% solution, which won't scour the flesh from your bones but is still not something you want to get in your eyes. I wear lab goggles along with nitrile gloves when I dip the pretzels...

I'm in.

Has anyone used this yeast to ensure proper carbonation? I'm considering it for my Christmas ale, but I'd love to hear from somebody who has some experience using it. Any observations or tips?

I have a refractometer that I use for pre-fermentation gravity checks, so it was about 16.75 to 17 degrees. That puts the specific gravity somewhere between 1.068 and 1.070. I was shooting for around 38 IBUs. It will be interesting to see how it comes out, but I don't think I'll stress too...

Just finished a brew day, and finished with something of a rare occurrence. I hit my mash temps, my pre-boil gravity, and my pre and post-boil volumes. However, my OG reading registered about 8 points higher than expected (estimated 1.061, measured 1.0685-1.069). I could have held back some...

There are already a few all-grain recipes on here for Edmund Fitzgerald, but they don't seem to match the profile published by GLBC. (https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/uploads/Beer/WEB%20Profile%20Edmund%20Fitzgerald%202012.pdf) According to that, the grain bill consists of two-row, crystal...

I'm in.

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Got the judging sheets back today, scored a 30. It was marked down for showing some signs of oxidation. I can't imagine the trip downstate in the back of a UPS truck did it any favors, and apparently my bottles were filled a touch on the low side. In any case, 30 is still the tail-end of "very...

In. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Update: back in June I sent in two bottles of my clone to the Ohio Brew Week homebrew competition in Athens. The winners were announced yesterday, and mine (now hastily renamed Hedge Clipper Pale Ale) was unfortunately not among them. I've actually really started to like this beer, as a few...