Recent content by jcp

Man, I dunno. We'd probably need to know what the flavor/aroma profile is for each of these hops. If I had a pile of unknown, experimental hops, I would probably just do a small Single-Malt Single-Hop for each of them to get to know them. Once I was familiar with them, *then* I would start...

Are you sure it was a bubblegum flavor? That sounds like what you would get from a belgian / saison yeast at higher temperatures. I vaguely remember Yooper saying that below 66-68F, US-05 was peachy and gross; I would assume that it behaves the same way above that range, as well. I've...

I go with the "life's too short to drink bad beer" philosophy. Maybe keep a sixer of bottles, for the heck of it, but dump the rest. We're making beer, here -- you should be enjoying what you make, not taking it like medicine :) EDIT: Whoops, didn't realize that you hadn't bottled it, yet...

Regardless of whether I'm using dry or liquid yeast, I still shake my fermenter for 5 minutes to oxygenate. There's no way anyone can convince me that dry yeast has some magical ability to not-need oxygen (unless you can convince me, in which case I will be convinced).

Boil your arm for at least 15 minutes! :P

Okay, warning: follow the recipe exactly, otherwise you will end up with a Lemon Pledge / dill pickle explosion. The BU/GU ratio really doesn't seem to matter; my latest batch is still a bit too overwhelming on the Sorachi Ace / lemon rind flavor. I'm cold-conditioning the bottles, in an...

Sixpoint's The Crisp. Wonderful lager. Stone fruit, good mouthfeel, delicious lingering bitterness.

Hey, I'm in Storrs and would love to take a peek at your 10gal system! Are you going to be around, this weekend? EDIT: Whoops! You said send a PM.

Dragging this thread out of the dead. I ordered 8 ounces of whole leaf hops, last week. They arrived, quickly, and were well-packed; I was really excited to brew with what I was hoping were great, fragrant hops. Unfortunately, my excitement was misplaced. While the two ounces of Zeus smelled...

I've made this three times, with the most recent being today's brew. The first time, I followed the recipe, exactly, and it was an excellent summer beer. It was the kind of beer that made people want to say" I love your Lemon Party!", to which I would just snicker. The second time, I added...

I think, at this point in time, mine would be Sixpoint. Their stuff is just so consistently interesting and delicious; I've even come to like the 16-ounce can format. I'm sure next year I'll have a different one, but that's what trying out different beers is all about!

Yeah, while some of these are kind of neat, they really don't seem like *innovations*. At best, they seem like "slightly more convenience for a great deal more money". We all already store our bottles in crates, which are perfectly stable. Buckets are plenty cheap and effective (maybe not for...

I've done one fruit beer, which used 3lbs of frozen peaches in secondary. I wasn't too fond of that one, as a) it had a dry tartness to it, b) had very little peach flavor or aroma, and c) was pretty high ABV from the yeasties eating all of the sugar in the fruit. The only way I could see...

Thirded. I made an all Mosaic pale ale and it's right on the verge of being too sweet -- someone previously mentioned "Fruit Loops" flavor, and I think they're right. When I try to brew with Mosaic, again, I think I'll be trying to find something piney/resinous to try and balance the fruity...

Out of curiosity, can you guys say how much these wonderful, over-engineered boxes cost you? I'm getting the hankering to build one, and I wanna know if I need to know how much cash money I need to put aside.