Recent content by jfolks

Thanks - can’t wait to try these!

Cool! Can you give us step by step instructions for those too?

Yes, it can be that slow!

Can’t argue with that!

I’m just confused as to why a homebrewer in Reno is unable to easily get Chico yeast. Is the home brewing scene really that bleak in Reno? I’m sure you can reuse it, but I seriously doubt ANY homebrew store would be out of this strain (WLP001, WY1056, US-05, Imperial Flagship - the list goes on...

As long it’s a 5 gal batch or greater, you can pitch the whole thing with no ill effect. Pitching active yeast (that hasn’t been chilled) is probably better than “watering it down” with spent wort

Lager strains are pretty versatile/generic - any strain is fine and will floc well. 34/70 is a fine choice

Use 2-4 lb per gallon - just rinse them with water and slice them in half - take out the pits if you’d like (which I probably would in a kettle sour). After a week you can go ahead and keg it (for quick turnaround sours, no need to wait)

Saaz sounds like a great mild/appropriate choice to me. My guess is 2oz will help stop souring, but you’ll definitely pick up some dry hop flavor no matter what variety you use. Could always try a neutral high alpha hop like magnum - maybe .5 oz would be sufficient?

Perfect timing then!

Are you in the US or Australia? If you’re in the US, I’d wait until the overnight temps get closer to just above freezing - they say summer wild microbes aren’t well suited for spontaneous fermentation (they can make gross beer). I’d just add the stave straight from the last batch (no hot...

Traditionally, lambic brewers are not adding any extra yeast at packaging for gueuze - they use young lambic and hold the bottles for a year. (Note - some fruited blends may get bottling yeast though I think). I’ve been making “cheater” lambics for a while now using built up 3F and Cantillon...

A ipa without dry hops is not an ipa (pale ale instead). Double your flameout additions, add 3 oz dry hops with yeast pitch to avoid o2 ingress via dry hopping)

Finally did a smash with Idaho 7. Don’t love it - kind of earthy/green tea on its own. Think it’s more of a supporting actor than a lead role

I have a brew jacket - it works great, I love it (but it can only do about +/- 20 of ambient, so while you can ferment at 50 if your inside temp is under 70, you won’t be able to lager/cold condition in that vessel unless you keep your studio thermostat at 55 degrees! Problem is you can’t do...