Recent content by DaleWi

Thanks for the quick response and for pointing out that my math was off on the DME addition. Here's the recipe: Size: 5.28 gal Efficiency: 78.35% Attenuation: 78.7% Calories: 151.73 per 12.0 fl oz Original Gravity: 1.046 (1.045 - 1.060) Terminal Gravity: 1.010 (1.010 - 1.015) Color: 8.9 (5.0 -...

Today I brewed an APA with a target SG of 1.046, but for some reason my efficiency was off by about 20 points and I ended up with 5.25 gal. of 1.035 wort. I've never had to add DME to adjust the gravity before, so I was cocky and figured this would never happen to ME. In other words, I had no...

I did a mash out for the first time today in my cooler mash tun, using Beertools Pro to calculate volumes and temps, and while the results weren't perfect, they were pretty damn close. What I did was this: I mashed in at 152 with 1.25 qt./lb. After an hour my mash was at 151. I added .64...

I'm not crazy about overly-hopped beers either, a little goes a long way and I prefer my beers on the sweeter side. I also think some people are just more sensitive to bitterness. My wife won't drink any beer or coffee (my life's blood in equal measure), no matter how sweet or sugared, it always...

What, there's no one right way to do this brewing thing? Man, this is hard. I always heard to add grain to the water to keep the grains suspended and avoid a compacted grain bed. But then, if you stir, it shouldn't be an issue, should it?

I don't use a program, what I did on my first two batches was heat the strike water to 170F, use it to heat the tun for five minutes, then dough in, at 1.3 qt./lb. On both of those my mash temp hit 154F. I decided to play with my mash temp this time around, and shoot for a mash of 150F. I heated...

Yesterday I brewed my third all-grain batch. I overshot my mash temp, tried cooling with cold water, overdid it and dropped my mash temp to 140F. I gradually added small quantities of hot water to raise the temp, it took me an hour to get it up to 150F, and I ended up with a pretty thin mash...

I brew a steam beer with White Labs San Francisco lager yeast and ferment around 66-68 and the beer turns out great.

Out of sheer laziness and/or bad timing, I've pitched smack packs without starters, and while fermentation took a bit longer to start, the batches turned out fine.

Here's a potentially dumb question, but how do you avoid a nasty boilover mess with a flask? I tried the flask, but not only did I get a boilover, but had a ***** of a time getting the DME into the flask through a funnel without it gumming up the funnel. I know it has to be easier than what I...

Hi Kramman. Man, what is it about Hampton Roads that not only makes us want to drink, but drink our own brew? The beginner book that worked best for me, and that I still find myself pulling off the shelf on brewday, is Homebrewing For Dummies. It's a great, easy to understand starting point. And...

Thanks, Rich. So far all-grain is going disturbingly easy. I'm using a chest cooler with a copper manifold as my mash/lauter tun and another cooler with a spigot as my HLT. I thought the first batch was probably a fluke, I hit mash temps, pH, etc. dead on with my first try. But the second batch...

Hello, I've been lurking here for a little while, looks like a great board, so I just wanted to introduce myself. I've been brewing for 8 years and just recently jumped to all-grain. Extract brewing became too easy, I was missing the self-torture/anxiety aspects of the hobby. My first batch, a...