Recent content by jeff

Joe is right, a protein rest with fully-modified malts will make your problem worse, not better. What temps are you mashing at right now? What styles of beer are you making? Without knowing I'd add 1/2lb of carapils for body and maybe 1/2lb of wheat for head retention. You could also try mashing...

My first pumpkin ale is just about ready for bottling. I mashed 3lb of the pure canned pumpkin. Made for a rather slow sparge, but never completely stuck. I then added the spices at flameout. Pumpkin flavor is subtle, but it's there, just how I wanted it.

I typically will add enough water to the tun after the mash so that I get the initial runoff and 1 sparge that are of equal volumes. Works well for me and I get around 80% efficiency most of the time.

Back when I used the mill at me LHBS, I would run it through twice. I don't know what their setting was, but if I only did it once, my efficiency would drop to about 60%. I now have a Barley Crusher that is at the factory default of 0.39" and I typically get around 80-82%. Try crushing twice...

We were out at Anchor Brewing in July and took the tour. At the end they take you to the tap room and let you sample a 375ml of all of their beers on tap, which was 6, and you can retaste as much as you like. Pretty sweet. Our tour was at 10am and by 11:30 I had the equivalent of 4 pints! Pretty...

Thanks Dr. Malt, and everyone for your help. I'm studying for the BJCP exam and am trying to wrap my little mind around some of the concepts. :mug:

I find this beer to be terribly inconsistant. The first time I tried it I loved it; good balance of malt and vanilla. Then I try it again a couple months later and the sweetness was cloying with way too much vanilla. It's been hit or miss every time since to the point that I won't risk my money...

I too got a Barley Crusher earlier this year and love it. I used the hand crank for the first couple of batches, then switched over to a drill...much easier and faster! My efficiency went from around 72% with my LHBS crush to 80%, all other things equal.

Welcome from another KY brewer!:mug:

I had this problem again yesterday when racking a pumpkin ale to secondary. I was having a hell of a time getting the bubbles to stop. I finally gave it a couple of additional "pumps" and it stopped completely. Don't know what to attribute that to, but try it next time and see if it helps.

No, the LME is fine at room temperature. In fact you'll want it warm when you go to add it to your brew pot. Soak the cans in some hot water for 10-15 minutes prior and it'll pour much easier. The Smack Pack will be fine at room temp also. Good luck!

Word :fro::drunk::tank:

I'm glad everyone else is confused. I though it was just me...and I'm completely sober:D

Hi all, What determines the diastatic power of a base malt? Is it inherent to the type of malt, or does the malting process and level of modification affect it at all? I understand that you have to malt in order to activate the enzymes, but is the number you're going to get pre-determined by...