Recent content by JoshBlue74

Brew on, my friend! Lookslike you are further ahead than I was when I started. Keep reading, but more importantly, brew, brew, brew. Experience is the best teacher. You will make beer.

I have been drinking my pacific jade ipa all night, 6.7% and I am quite drunk. Use Beersmith!

Crack it! But not to powder, just crack it.

Underpitching is definitely the problem on the first batch. The second, too. You have to make a starter with the smack packs. I use two packs of dried yeast in my pale ales. The lack of flaor is just a function of your recipe. Add some steepnig grains in a bag, pulled before it boils for some...

Yes.

I just turn off my co2, pretty much let all of the pressure out, and use the picnic tap as almost a siphon. I you keep it below the level of the beer in the keg,it will pour... very slow. I fill them all the way to the top and cap them. You might need to crack the valve if you need more than a...

I'm with him. New hardwood bar type taps. Sell the tower for the money for the faucets and hoses!

Hot break happens whether you like it or not. Its all about the temp. Sometimes it just does not want to boil over. Don't worry, have a home brew!

Force kegging. Otherwise, you get yeast settling from the carbonation. Even then, to really filter, you need a two keg filtration system with a nominal, and an absolute filter. About 300 bucks for the whole deal.

Looks like you have a great british brown ale. Add 6 - 8 pounds liquid, 5-7 pounds dry extract.Chocolate, victory, maris otter steeped for 30 minutes. Tettnang for bittering, centennial for flavor and aroma. Not sure about metric, but 1.5 ounces of tettnang for 60 min, 1 ounce of centennial each...

Just kegged a New Zealand hop IPA. 8 ounces of hops. New zealand motueka, New Zealand hallertau, and New Zealand pacifica hops. 85 ibus, but turned out hoppier than the last IPA. Went for 105 ibus according to Beersmith, but I think my grain profile, half pound each of honey, victory...

Sounds good and hoppy. I have been having trouble getting good bitterness with high gravities. Simcoe should do it, though. Today I brewed a chocolate cherry stout. 1 lb crystal malt 1/2 lb roasted barley 1/2 lb black patent 2 oz cocoa nibs Steep for half hour. 7 lb light lme 1.5 lb...

Should be ok. You have a lot of pressure coming out. Not much can get back in. Hurry on the blow off tube though. I just stick my half inch hose into the hole of my stopper.

Add your DME before it boils. Off the heat if you can. It will clump and burn on the bottom if it's not completely dissolved first. Can you rack to a secondary before you add the hops? It will help with clarity, but don't sweat it if you can't. Otherwise, looks good. I don't dry hop more...

It depends on the final style you're looking for. I like an English porter. I prefer the WL-103 London Ale, or WL-005 British Ale yeast if you're going white labs. Adds to the maltiness and lets the hops come through. The British Ale yeast does make for a slightly clearer beer. Ask your...