Recent content by gio

Found the podcast: http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1776/ I think this is the slide show that goes along with it: http://www.theilenphotography.com/old-hbc/Inside_Rochefort.pdf It doesn't have an interview but they recount their visit to the brewery. Also, definitely check out "Brew...

I last brewed it a few years ago. It was pretty close but not exact. And not quite as good as Rochefort 10. I once hosted a Belgian beer tasting where my friends and I tasted about a dozen different Belgian quads. My favorite was Rochefort 10 (I did not have a Westvleteren 12 at that time)...

Nope, these are actually very close to the grains they use. I made the recipe after listening to a podcast where they interview one of the brewers at Rochefort (maybe even the head brewer). I feel like it was on "Can You Brew It" but it was a long time ago (5+ years). I'll see if I can find the...

I just came across this thread and coincidentally just made a very similar beer this past weekend. The only difference was I use 65% wheat and 35% german pilsner. I also added 0.25lb melanoidin malt because I did not feel like doing a decoction mash as I have done in the past. Has anyone had...

So, I designed and built a HERMS system recently. I have yet to use it for an actual brew but plan on trying it out this weekend. One thing I am confused about is the proper way to sparge. It seems that most people fly sparge with a HERMS setup but I only have one outlet from my mash tun so I...

My room is typically very cold, about 65 degrees or so, lower at night, slightly higher during the day and I pitched at 65. The heat generated by fermentation alone was enough to raise to the temperature to about 80 degrees or so. Once it began to drop, I'll helped keep it up with a space...

My recipe looked something like this: 13.5 lb Belgian Pilsner 3.0 lb CaraMunich III 0.3 lb Carafa II 0.15 lb Chocolate Malt 0.15 lb Coffee Malt 1.0 lb Flaked Maize 2.0 lb D2 Belgian Candi Syrup OG: 1.099 FG: 1.025 Boil Time: 90 min Batch Size: 5.5 gallons Spices: I have to...

I just found this thread. I attempted a Pannepot clone a couple of months ago (it's still in secondary and I'll probably bottle in a week or two). Although it's not quite done, I plan on brewing another attempt next weekend. I'll post more tomorrow but here is what I've learned (at least what I...

I always check the gravity. The 2-6 days and bubbling thing I quoted from Palmer. It is useful to watch that to know when you should be checking your gravity though.

Thanks, this is very informative and seems to be in line with my experience so far. It explains why my first IPA had diacetyl (racked too early) and why my second IPA had some (fermented too warm and tasted too early before the yeast was finished cleaning up). The second IPA will be 3 weeks old...

Yeah, I know how he repented for his sin of recommending a secondary. I still usually have a reason for using a secondary though because 90% of my beers fall in one of these categories: - I add fruit - I dry hop in the primary and need to get the beer off the hops to age it in the secondary -...

My understanding has been that diacetyl is typically produced by yeast at the beginning of fermentation and reduced by the yeast towards the end of fermentation. I've read that it is possible to miss your opportunity for diacetyl rest if fermentation is too far along (from Palmer and others)...

I tried to do some research and find out whether diacetyl tends to increase or decrease and the results were very mixed. It seems the consensus is that it ultimately will increase as time goes on although it might decrease if the beer is stored at cold temperatures. I find that beers definitely...

I've done that test many times actually but I've learned it really isn't necessary. If there is any appreciatable amount of diacetyl in there, you can tell if the beer is even slightly warm. In other words, the diacetyl might only be slightly noticeable when the beer comes out of the fridge at...

I don't think I've ever bottled too early. Every beer I've made has had a minimum of 3-4 weeks from pitching to bottling. The IPA I made had 5 weeks. The hefeweizen had 3 (2 in primary, 1 in secondary) but hefeweizens taste better young and you don't typically secondary them at all. The lager...