Recent content by guitarsophist

Fermentation started up right away, and it finished pretty dry. Did it taste like a Saison Dupont? Well, not exactly. Actually not even close. But it wasn't bad. It's all gone now I think.

I have a witbier that has been in primary for more than a week. It bubbled furiously for three days and then started to slow down. I didn't check it yesterday, but today when I looked at it the airlock was full of yeast, and some had bubbled out the top. The temp was actually cooler. When It...

Ok, I did it. I bottled the Belgian pale ale and then siphoned the Saison onto the yeast cake, which really wasn't all that much so I left it all there. This morning, the Saison is bubbling in the lock, so I guess it worked. WLP 568 is a blend anyway, so I guess I just added another yeast to...

Nobody has done this? I think I will try it today. John

I have a Saison that has been in primary for four weeks. It got to 1.020 in three weeks. I swirled it around and moved it to a warmer room, about 78 degrees, but it stayed at 1.020 and did nothing for a week. I used WLP 568 Saison blend. I don't have any dry yeast around, but I have a...

I use mostly the squat Sierra Nevada bottles and 22 oz. bombers that had craft brew in them, but I have also used the taller 12 oz bottles from Sam Adams, Mendocino, and others with no problem, all with my Red Baron wing capper. There is no indentation on the caps, and it is easy to work. I...

I just did a gravity reading of an extract Saison (my first) that has been in the fermenter for three weeks. It is at 1.014 or so, which is high for a Saison. I was expecting much hotter weather in California than we are having, so it has probably been at around 71 for the whole time. The...

Yes, Saison Dupont is the reference point. Very dry, lots of interesting flavors, but very different. John

I have a Saison in my other fermenter, and I did a starter for that. I will do starters from now on, except for dry yeast. Thanks, John

I am brewing a Belgian Pale Ale from a recipe and ingredients supplied by my LHBS. This is my third extract brew. My first was so so, my second quite good (an American Pale Ale). The yeast is Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale. I started doing the Belgian because I was expecting pretty hot summer...

You are lucky. My first batch was an amber ale made from a kit that come with the equipment. It had only one little bag of hops to add at the beginning. The weather turned cooler right after I made it, so I had a stuck fermentation for a while. It turned into ale that is starting to be just...

I don't think that you need to see bubbles when rehydrating. You are just making the yeast wet at that point. John

The guys at the LHBS I go to recommend straining the wort with a large kitchen strainer when you pour it into the fermenter. This not only gets most of the hop debris out of the wort, but also aerates it, which you want at this point. They also sell the kitchen strainer, of course. I think...

The guy at my LHBS said that he used to tell people to rehydrate dry yeast in 1/2 a cup of water at 80 degrees, but all too often they nuked the water in the microwave, guestimated the temperature and killed the yeast. So now he just tells them to pitch the dry yeast dry because it is more...

I am a newbie too, but I am sure someone will tell you to make a starter. John