Recent content by ctalbot

Upon further tasting, I'd say the cinnamon isn't subtle. It's definitely evident. I think it actually needs to mellow a bit. A few of the bottles will get opened and consumed over the summer, but I plan to put a few of them away for longer-term aging. Chris

I'm not sure, but I'm hoping with some aging, everything about the mead will improve. Chris

I finally bottled the mead last night, and I was disappointed with the results. It's not terrible, but it ended up very dry instead of slightly sweet (I'd hoped for some sweetness). It ended up at ~12.5% ABV with a FG of 0.994 (which may have been slightly off because the mead was probably...

Ah. Sorry. I need to be more specific about that here; it would create less confusion when I ask questions. Sorry about that. I've been using those so far, but I think I've done my last one. Next up is switching to non-hopped malt extract syrup and steeped grains/hops. If I'm understanding...

Thanks. And apologies if my last post seemed a bit defensive. I'm mostly asking right now so I understand better how the dextrose the kits suggest adding really affect the beer and how to guess at ABV when I start experimenting with steeped grains in the future. Thanks again. Chris

I did read it, and if I'd been able to find my answer there, I wouldn't have needed to come here. Palmer's book covers only the basic "how to" questions, and none of the questions of "why am I doing it this way?" Granted, I may have missed something and am simply not capable of finding what...

This is probably just a dumb newbie question, but here goes: If I wanted to increase the ABV of a beer, is it really as simple as just increasing the amount of sugar I mix into the wort? For example, if 1kg of dextrose is needed for about 4.5%, would increasing it to 1.5kg give the beer a...

I use bottled water, so I don't worry about boiling it first. Chris

I live in Canada. Does anyone know if Austin ships outside the U.S.? Chris

I'm still confused on a lot of things, but all of your answers have actually helped me understand better how to read the recipes I see here and elsewhere. :) Chris

No argument there. ;) Alright, so this sounds like it should be fairly easy and should improve my extract-based homebrews tenfold over the kits I have been using. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any grain/extract kits around, so I guess I'll be choosing ingredients on my own and going from...

I've read through much of it, but I'm a bit concerned about steeping grains at this point. Many of the recipes call for certain malts, and I'm somewhat confused as to what I'll need to do to prepare them -- or whether I'll need extra equipment like a grain mill. If it's something simple, then...

I apologize if this belongs in the beginner's forum, but since it's directly related to extract brewing (even if it's beginner questions :o), I thought I should post it in here. I started brewing this summer with basic extract kits -- the 1.9kg liquid extracts from Coopers and the like that...

...and a long wait, no doubt. ;) Thanks again for all your comments. I've made a list of things to do differently/better next time. Chris

All that worry about lack of fermentation was apparently for no good reason. I just poked my head into the storage room, and it's begun. The airlock doesn't have a lot of activity, but it's definitely got some going on now. :) Chris