Recent content by Hoppybeav

I have three kids. All have been involved over the years, but ONE loves anything science-y. He likes to understand the processes of extracting sugars, fermenting, carbonating, etc. He's 13 now and did a Science Fair entry on the "Art & Science of Homebrewing" last year, receiving lots of...

The very first BIG brew I ever did was an AG Barleywine w/ a similarly sized grain bill as yours. As a matter of fact, a lot of your notes sound like mine did, including a crazy (and long) fermentation. The one thing I can say of value is be patient. My barleywine was good early on... and...

I have a 10g Igloo Round cooler w/ a copper manifold I made. It was my first go at mashing, and I've never had a stuck sparge or channeling that I could observe, so I let it be. I've considered the screens a few times, but just never got around to it.

Denny Conn's is the technique that I originally tried to mimic. Until I started trying to improve efficiency recently, I would set the grain bed w/ the valve maybe 1/4th open, then one it ran clear, open it up to maybe 3/4ths to drain the tun. Now, I drain the mash the same way, but take...

Baby steps.... :D

I just wanted to take a moment and say thanks to all you forum gurus for the various tips and tricks posted in various stickies and other threads throughout these forums. I've been AG brewing for several years but I only brew about 30-60 gallons a year, 5.25 at a time. Slowly adding to my...

Put me in, please!

Great prizes! Put my name in the pile!

Regardless of the length you use, try this trick... After I soldered a solid wire around the outside of the copper tubing, it was TIGHT in the hose. In the first try, I couldn't get the last 6-8 feet through, despite using soapy water, and had to pull it apart. Second try... I fed a fishtape...

Update on my first kegging experience: After a week, my beer was coming out as pure foam. I spent a couple weeks dorking around with the pressure, down to 6, up to 12, back down again to 9. tweaking around there by a pound at a time. At times it got better, but either it was foam, or...

Duck Blind

she crab

I ordered mine and it arrived intact and looking ready to crush... except it has a tacky machine oil residue or corrosion resistant film all over. Did anyone clean theirs off first or just start crushing?

It was the Kenmore White 7.1 cf model. It was $181 out the door (no tax in Oregon) and the State offers a $50 cash rebate on this one (18702, I think) for being an energy efficient model. :rockin:

I will look into gelatin as a possible solution, thanks. Whitehause, I was assuming the same thing, that's why I'm confused by what I'm tasting. Instead of sweeter and fuller-bodied, it's thin and astringent. I didn't dump it (yet) so I may try cold crashing it and/or trying the gelatin. I...