Recent content by Drackean

Yes, of course! Excuse me for overlooking that. Agreed. Is there some way to predict if it will be enough? If not, what will happen? Reduced BTU?

Hey guys, been searching the forums for a while and can't seem to find an answer. I thought my question may deserve a new post. I salvaged a manifold from an old BBQ (see pictures) to control gas flow on my upcoming "Brutus" build. The said manifold would be bolted on a stainless control...

I'm using US-05. Let's hope that peach character doesn't come too strong.

Thank you guys, I feel a little better. I aim for a fairly clean pale ale though : could this stress the yeast enough to cause unacceptable levels of esters ? Will all this shaking cause some oxidation in the final product ?

Title says it all. I started my freezer-converted fermentation chamber without noticing its probe was hanging outside of it yesterday afternoon. I came back late in the evening to realize the thing kept running for about 8-9 hours, chilling my precious brew all the way down to the 32F range. The...

Someone in PM pointed the green catterpillars could be hop/cabbage loopers, which looks a lot like what I occasionally have under the leaves. It seems no more than a few of these can do quite damage. Thank you for the input on the beetles. Let's hope I'll get some harvest anyway !

Hey guys, I know this has been asked numerous times, but I just can't find a satisfying answer no matter how I search. My 2th year hops have been taking a lot of abuse lately and I just don't know what is feasting on them. I suppose it is game over for now, but I would like to know my enemy...

I force carbonate at about 15 psi. I have a cream ale on tap which has been in keg for three weeks now, on the line my irish red was. It is light, crisp, clean and tasty. No off flavor as far as I know. Here's the recipe, so you can imagine there is no place for a flaw to hide in such a beer...

Duh ! Didn't read that part. Though I don't understand why it takes so long to become noticeable...

If you put it that way, my lines haven't been cleaned with a proper cleaner since I bought new ones last year, which is a while. I'll take care of that, thank you. As important as it is, however, I don't think this is where the problem I notice comes from : how could it not affect the beer in...

Thank you for your help. 2 to 3 weeks is the time after it has been racked to a keg and put in the fridge. The beer is still drinkable at this point, but you start to feel nice malt flavors are fading to something "flat tasting" and a little harsh. I clean my lines at each keg change with...

pdietert : You got me thinking... I did "keg condition" once an amber ale last year and, as I remember it, it didn't have the flaw I am finding in my other brown/red type beers ever since... I might just have to pay attention to oxidation, as you and the article you mentionned say. So I either ...

Clever, I didn't recall that bottle conditioning had this benefit. I do purge headspace after filling, but I never "keg conditioned" or filled an empty keg with gas. I might just try one way or another next time, as you do. But I still doubt it will settle my issue : I am noticing a significant...

Thank you for the link. I don't flush my kegs with CO2, so it is surely something I could improve in my process, but I can't imagine it to be the cause of the mess I actually have to deal with : if so, everyone would NEED a kegging system to brew a drinkable beer ! BTW, excuse me if what I...

My oxygenation practices are maybe somewhat deficient, but I doubt I'm doing significantly less than most people who brew great beer. I'm doing something like : 1-Rack from kettle to carboy and intentionally splashing 2-Shake the heck out of it for 5 minutes or so I use orange carboy...