Recent content by chef123

I made a 1.131 Russian Imperial stout on July 22. I made a yeast starter with 2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME, and a packet of Safale 05 the day before. It was at high krausen when I pitched it. I took a sample on July 7 and it had a S.F. = 1.050. I know just watching the airlock is not a good...

I decided to use some oak on most of it. I only have American house toast oak cubes, so I boiled them in water for 10 minutes. Then I soaked them overnight in a some Chardonnay, poured that wine out, and added .75 oz oak cubes and 1/3 cup fresh wine to the beer. I've never boiled the cubes...

How much oak would you use/ how would you prepare the oak for it?

I brewed a saison at the end of January, used the French saison yeast which took it to a gravity of 1.006 by the middle of February. I racked it onto 3 pounds of apricot fruit puree at that point and dumped in bottle dregs from an Orval and a Fantome strange ghost. I took gravity reading on 4/2...

I've been using these forums since I started brewing, it's been a great resource. I just got a gallon of Ohio maple syrup from my folks, and I want to make a relatively strong brown ale with it. I am thinking something along the lines of: 1 gallon maple syrup (added at 10 minutes left to boil...