Recent content by foxyaardvark

I brewed Northern Brewer's Imperial Stout recipe about 11 months ago and have struggled to get the final gravity below 1.040. The initial gravity was around 1.086. Recipe contained 12lbs of Dark Malt Syrup, 0.5 lbs of English Roasted Barley, 0.5 lbs of English Black Malt, and 0.5 lbs of...

I did notice that the carbonation on the gusher bottle disappeared from the beer very quickly. It now tastes flat, which makes me think that the CO2 had not been adequately absorbed into the beer yet. However that seems strange after 3 months of bottle aging. I did only have this one in the...

I recently brewed a beer based off of the northern brewer bourbon barrel porter kit. I have a few bottles that are gushers, and the remainder of the bottles do seem overcarbonated by a bit, but not to the gushing level. I am perplexed by this. I am very careful with sanitation and the beer...

I do not plan to add the oak and bourbon during active fermentation. My plan was to add the oak in a sanitized brewbag AFTER about 3-4 weeks. Active fermentation will be nonexistent by then. I don't see how the yeast will negatively impact oak flavors as there is still yeast during the bottle...

Ok. My question is: what advantage does a secondary have over a primary in terms of reducing oxidation. The only other vessel I have is my bottling bucket which might have slightly less head space but not much. Wouldn't i risk more oxidization by introducing oxygen during the siphoning process...

I'm making a variation of Northern Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter and I was wondering if it is absolutely necessary to use a secondary to add the oak chips and bourbon. If I waited for fermentation to be mostly finished and then bulk aged in primary would that cause any problems?

I bottled a spiced porter about 4 weeks ago. Now I have overcarbed bottles that make an explosive "pop" sound when I open them after refrigeration and mild gushers if I open them at room temp. I used about 4 oz of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. The beer tastes fine, just really over...

I have an assortment of ez cap and swing top bottles with the rubber seal. I've heard that in the case of overcarbonation ez cap bottles will vent prior to becoming dangerous and creating bottle bombs. Is this accurate? Has anyone ever had easy cap bottles explode? I have a pretty overcarbonated...

I made the northern brewer st. paul porter kit and have had it sitting in primary for about 6 weeks. I moved my carboy to bottle and suddenly it started bubbling again. There is a thin layer of foam on top of the beer now. I measured the SG with my hydrometer and it read 1.01 which is within the...

It is the 5 gallon brew. I was leaning toward trying about 1 tablespoon so I think I'll give that a shot and add more if i need to. Thanks for weighing in all.

Back for an update. This one is tasting great 6 months down the road and has mellowed quite nicely. Now I plan to let it go a year + to see what happens.

I'm making a pumpkin porter for the fall based off of the NB St. Paul Porter Recipe. Here it is: KIT INVENTORY: SPECIALTY GRAIN - 0.5 lbs English Chocolate Malt - 0.5 lbs English Dark Crystal FERMENTABLES - 6 lbs Dark malt syrup - 1 lbs Dark dry malt extract HOPS & FLAVORINGS...

I use iodophor to sanitize at 12.5-20ppm to sanitize. I know it says its a no-rinse but i can't bring myself to not rinse my equipment. If I don't let the equipment dry, could trace amounts of chlorine and chloramine be getting into my beer from the rinsing and creating phenolic and medicinal...

I have a Belgian Dubbel that spent 1 month in primary and is currently bottle aging. I tried one after 1 month and the initial flavors were relatively pleasant, however the finish and the taste it left in my mouth were pretty awful. Overwhelmingly bitter clove taste at the finish. Will this...

I just made an experimental one gallon batch using a gallon of store bought apple juice and red star Montrachet wine yeast. I'm hoping to be able to try it this summer. What's the shortest amount of time I can keep it in primary and how long will I need to bottle age after that. I've read...