Recent content by HeadyKilowatt

In.

The Wellhead

Old Rasputin RIS. Preferably with a shot of good bourbon. Birthday tradition.

No need to pitch. Just add priming solution and bottle. There are still plenty of yeast in there- they're just asleep. A little priming sugar will be like the smell of frying bacon for them- they'll wake up hungry and get at it. And don't worry about the stuff in your carboy. Looks like yeast...

Iron Maiden beer?! Excellent! (*does air guitar*) :rockin: http://www.ironmaiden.com/trooper--a-new-premium-british-beer-from-iron-maiden-and-robinsons-brewery.html

Build your own for about 1/2 the price of buying one. Make a coil (lots of info out there on the details of the how-to), slip silicone tubing right over the inlet and outlet ends, and secure with a couple of hose clamps. Barbed garden hose fitting on the other end of the inlet tube to hook it up...

There are no inherent downsides to well water in general- it just depends on the mineral content. My well water is great for drinking, but I don't use it for brewing because it has a high iron content which seems to affect the flavor of the beer after aging in bottles for a few weeks (took a few...

Splashing is okay pre-fermentation, as in while transferring to the fermenter, which is what I assume you mean. In fact, it will help to aerate/oxygenate the wort, which is good for your little yeastie buddies.

Avid collector here, and not just morels. There are a handful of species of wild edibles that will keep you eating mushrooms from April to November if you know what to look for. With all the moisture we've gotten here in the past few weeks, I'm looking forward to a good year of collecting...

Exactly. And that's the point of the research- that under "normal" conditions, nothing harmful is going to infect beer, and that fermentation can in fact make water of suspect quality potable. It's certainly possible that you could make a beer with a harmful pathogen, but you'd pretty much have...

No, he wanted to do a taste test, but apparently the folks in the biology lab he was using get all weird about people drinking stuff that's been used in pathogen experiments.

We've all heard it and read it, many of us have said it ourselves- your infected beer will not hurt you, as nothing pathogenic can live in beer. But I have never seen any hard data to back this up. Which is why I was exited to see a paper being given at a regional archaeology conference this...

I'd say just leave it on and have it as a dedicated blow-off rig. That's what I do. Airlocks are cheap- just buy a couple more for "regular" use.

Sure, if you're willing to use that much vodka. Starsan is way cheaper.

Nodding Head, on Sansom between 15th and 16th, has good food and great beer. And they do a killer brunch (with some interesting Bloody Marys!) if you are so inclined. The breakfast burger is amazing.