Recent content by JGF

Thanks all! Intrigued by the idea of an electric brew system. So of course, some more questions... If I do BIAB in a single kettle, do I have to worry about keeping the bag off the heating element? Can I use the element to keep the mast tun at temperature or do I need to insulate well enough to...

I've been brewing - on and off depending upon free time and where I've lived - for 25 years so. I started with extract many years ago and have done all grain for about 15 years. Brewed sub-4% beers to about a 13% barely wine. Done a few sours, parti-gyles, multi-step mashes, etc. So, I'm no...

I'm sure I'm not the first to say it but I'm not reading through the entire thread to quote it... You know you're a homebrewer (wine/mead/cider maker) when your choice in sparkling wine for New Year's Eve is because this bottle has a nice ceramic flip top that I can use for beer, mead, or...

22,073.5 + 5 gal of Oktoberfest = 22,078.5

There aren't a whole lot of styles I don't like, or at least that I can't or won't drink. Anything with cranberry or grapefruit is disgusting to me (and not just in beer). I want to like blueberry beers because I love blueberries but I've never had a blueberry beer that's been very good...

19,750 + 5 gallons of a Vienna Lager =19755 gallons

19996 + 20 gallons (5 gal each of a pale ale, IPA, Belgian Pale Ale, and a Bier de Garde...haven't checked in in a while) = 20016

Not sure what units you're using for measurements but I assume specific gravity which simply doesn't seem right. 1.004 would be exceedingly low for an apple cider. 1.004 is not far from the gravity of pure water. I'm thinking that your initial measurement is off. If it were 1.040 to start, it...

Subscribing... I prefer the 3068 Weihenstephan yeast over the Bavarian but both will work.

It just means that your efficiency is a little lower than the recipe assumed. It takes a few batches to dial in what your typical efficiency will be. So long as you don't change the process, efficiency should be pretty consistent. We brewed our biggest all grain beer to date this weekend (OG =...

Ain't Wisconsin great! The worst, by far, was Oklahoma. Only liquor stores can sell real (non 3.2) beer and they can't serve it chilled as God forbid someone want to drink a beer sooner than it takes to cool it down. Really odd distribution and brew pub rules as well. Pennsylvania has...

Partigyled this weekend. +3 gallons of Wee Heavy +5 gallons of a Scottish Ale = 16,953 gallons

There are still a few options. Swamp cooler type setups can lower the fermentation a good number of degrees. Finding a cooler place in the house might be an option. Otherwise, a better option is to do what many breweries had to do historically, change what beers you brew over the course of a...

Well it's official - overly hopped beers have officially jumped the shark.

Cherry Mead - honey from a local orchard and cherries from Door County, Wisconsin. Nice desert.