Recent content by fishnwhistle

Looks fine to me. The chance of whatever was living on the snail out competing, what I assume is, a pack of dry yeast enough to cause anything visual or even off flavor or aroma in 3 days is unlikely. Once those short chains get eaten up, maybe something will show up. But, all things being...

I've found I get some complexity just splitting base malts. 50% American 2 row and 50% maris otter for example, but there are all kinds of base malt combos to play with. How about 2 pounds of vienna or even light munich? As for the hop schedule, maybe find a commercial beer you like of the same...

This. I feel like almost 30% crystal anything will be a little cloying. 100% maris otter mashed a little higher may be similar in flavor and mouthfeel but might attenuate a little more complete. That said, I'm on the no crystal bandwagon as of late.

I would think that if the crush from Northern Brewer's and More Beer's mill was that off, coincidentally at the same time, there would be several complaints aired. I would wager that, with some calibration of your system, you weren't far off of your projections if at all.

You'll get more bitterness at 15 to 20 minutes than at 5. Bitterness and hop flavor aren't the same thing. That said, the only way to find out what you like best is to experiment. For example, brew your current recipe twice. Once replacing the 1/2 oz of cascade at 15 minutes with he citra...

Sour beers are pretty much the only commercial beer I buy. Aside from one lambicish per year to mess around with blending, I'll leave the sours to the guys with square footage for enough barrels to produce something I'd want to drink.

I started with a turkey fryer and quickly gave it away and purchased a 15 gallon ss kettle and a bayou classic burner. The safeties on the turkey fryer burner I had were a pita and, though I normally do 5 gallon batches, the ability to knock out 10 gallons is nice. Not much boil over chance on...

I'd just scale down to 2 or 3 gallon batches. Brew the experimental stuff when bigger batches outside aren't feasible.

I just kicked a raspberry cream ale. I split a 10 gallon batch into two carboys and let them both sit in primary for about 3 weeks. When I kegged one carboy I racked the other onto about 3 lbs of frozen raspberries I picked this year and let that ride in secondary until the gravity stabilized...

I'd see what mrmalty says, but when I plan a big batch or even a really big beer I usually make a small beer first and harvest and clean that yeast to re-pitch.

It's just chalkboard paint, but my wife uses chalk ink markers on it to get a lot cleaner lines. It also won't wipe off without a wet rag. She's the only person I know that gets excited about a kicked keg so she can write the next one on the keezer.

The faucet on the side is hooked directly to the manifold to purge growlers with co2 and the freezer next to the keezer serves as a lagering chamber, commercial beer fridge, or extra ferm chamber as needs be.

It's been several years (I'll have to look in my notes) since I've brewed a graff based off of a recipe on here and a brewing tv episode. I've never tasted it next to a Redds, but as I recall it is a similar taste and overall feel. Maybe not, it was a while ago. That may be another option...

I would probably kill the yeast after fermentation and back sweeten with whatever you want to use for the apple flavor then force carb. Don't bottle.

I make my simple APA with marris otter and about 2.5% crystal 60 and 2.5% crystal 20. I've used 5% crystal 40 and I feel I get a little more depth of flavor with the 60 and 20 combo. ymmv.