Recent content by HolyKrausenBatman

I love Tank 7. Such an easy drinking beer. I think in this case, it's the hops that are really flavoring the beer. They list it at 37 IBU's, which is on the high side for a saison, and note that Amarillo, in addition to Bravo and Magnum are used. A trappist yeast fermented on the low side...

I have a Saison with 3711 ready to bottle in my garage as we speak. I pitched at 68 F, let it rise to 75 over the next 24 hours then let it go at 75 for a week. Great smell and flavor. One thing to be aware of with 3711 is that it attenuates very dry. The beer doesn't taste dry, as the yeast...

One thing to consider is that the yeast will metabolize the components from the oak that contribute the vanilla flavor to the beer, as well as other components added by the oak. If you add the oak during active fermentation, you may not get some of those characteristic flavors that we attribute...

A variation of this is referred to as a Forced Fermentation Test. In this test, the sample is kept at a higher temperature than the main batch (say, 80 F or something). The higher temperature sample, in addition to finishing fermentation faster will also give you the maximum attenuation for...

+1 for the water chemistry primer. I do all my brews with RO water now from the machine at the grocery store. I stared with the base suggestion on the primer and have adjusted a little here and there with each successive brew of the same recipe until I get it to where I like it. I'm waiting...

Everyone has their own opinions on this matter, and developing a philosophy that works for you is best. I taste throughout the entire process and starting at 1 week in the bottle. With proper yeast preparation, fermentation control and sanitation practices, I have found that most beers I brew...

Sorry to hijack, but care to share your recipe for chicken cassoulet? I have a naval orange tree in my back yard and am always looking for ideas.

I've used the White Labs equivalent of 1727 for a porter that has been well received. It is neutral, will throw off some smokey hints a lower temps, which is nice for porters, scotch and scottish ales, etc, but that take time to develop. It should give you a nice malty beverage. That being...

A close friend of mine, up to 3 years ago, practiced DUI defense here in CA. He has since left the law to pursue other interests. We got to talking about how this all works out here, and the $10,000 in total fine + fees sounds about right. His take was there was no way out of this if you took...

You might try WLP 006 if you have access to White Labs yeast. It's the Bedford Ale strain, which is Well's strain. It's a seasonal release, and I think it might be near the end of it's run right now. It still has the distinctive English character, but is not as overpowering on the esters as...

Are the purple leaves from your mite issue or from a lack of fertilizer? That creates one heck of an effect for a photo either way! Hope the mites didn't get to your cones.

Someone should print up some tee shirts that say something like " I read the entire 5 pages of this thread and all I got was blueballs." I'd also buy one that said "I was on homebrewtalk.com when bwarbiany drank the hemlock hefe." Well done dgez.

I had a low efficiency problem with Marris Otter on my last brew with it. I was half expecting it, as the malt has a funny look to it, like the shoots were coming out when it was malted. I think this is what's known as "Over Germination". If this were the case, then the amount of malt extract...

Ok, I'll bite and play a little devil's advocate. As much as I'd love to be able to sell my homebrew, wouldn't any law that that allows such sales to home brewers also place an unfair restriction on commercial brewers? Mind you, I'm not worried about our dear friends at BMC, nor am I worried...

That's funny because that is exactly what I was thinking. I remember in Bert Grant's book (I think it was called The Ale Master), he describes a run in with Feds on this exact issue with respect to cider. The feds has classified hard cider under a different license than beer and made him stop...