Recent content by John_Trappist

I agree with you in that I don't like fake stuff in my beer either. Fruit extracts can add a lot of fruit "kick" to your beer, but they don't have the depth of flavor that real fruit has. Real fruit offers acidity that you can't get from extracts. A good option, depending on the type of...

I really like all of New Belgian Brewing Company's beers. :mug:

It is extremely easy to make sour dough starter. You simply mix equal amounts of standard white flour and water. Let it sit at room temperature for a few days and it will bubble up. The bubbling is a result of natural yeasts fermenting. Store the starter in glass or plastic - not in...

We have a really good kitchen stove and it boils five gallons or more very nicely. But as was already mentioned, it comes down to your particular stove.

I dump the spend grain and feed it to the deer handing around our house on brew day. They love it and it's fun to watch them.

I am raising my glass of German lager to Pope Benedict the XVI. :mug: :mug:

Thank you for the advice. The last smack pack I added seems to be fermenting the remaining sugars. I have high hopes and plan to move it to a cool closet in my basement tomorrow. Thank you again! John

Thank you for the advice. I'll see how this yeast I pitched from a smack pack two days ago does before I do anything else. Anyone else have any thoughts? Thank you, John

The batch is a mini-mash, where I used some extract and some grains. I guess the temp is a factor for sure, but it did ferment really well and it tastes good now. Also, I mashed at the temp called for which was boiling for an hour like every batch I've ever done and they all finish at about...

I’m brewing an Einbecker Ur-Boch Dunkel that is a Beer Captured recipe. I started it the first week of November and got lazy, so it only had one fermentation. It fermented for 9 weeks and I was worried about some off flavor because of single stage fermentation, but it was no problem. I...

That is AWESOME! Thanks for all of the responses. WOW! I need to pull my head out and get with the program. I live on 5 acres in the country, so neighbors are deer, turkey, elk, etc. They woudn't think anything of me brewing. In fact, the deer love the spent grain. We have a cool...

Maybe I'm crazy, but I use my house stove burner for starch conversion and wort boiling. But I've noticed in the picture section that a lot of brewers seem to use exterior propane burners. I have one that I use for camping and it is capable of big time BTU's and can burn HOT! Should I be...

I've never thought of using the oven, but personally I think it would be fine. I mean, as long as your temp. is high enough and your duration long enough. I know Papazian in his book "The Joy of Home Brewing" say's you can sanitize fruit by steeping it in your wort at a 180 degrees for 20...

Thanks Brad! I'll check out the liner deal. John Trappist