Recent content by jyda

The pickling lime was decidedly less salty in taste. It actually made quite a nice difference. While not ideal it certainly was much more drinkable EDIT: seems less soluble than banking soda however

Hmm I really like the idea of using Bru'N Water to get me in the ballpark then do a really small test batch to refine. I thought I was making it easy by using DI/RO water but I seem to be struggling still. My meter being a bit unreliable hasn't helped much. I guess it's time to get a better...

That sounds familiar from my last chemistry class 15 years ago... getting old I guess. When you do your tests for a new grist to figure out what adjustments need to be made for pH, how do you do it? Just a super small batch or do you do a different procedure?

Hi all, I have been dealing with a rather unpredictable (unstable?) pH meter lately as I work to refine my water adjustments. In my last batch I think I've added too much lactic acid as there's a slight, but noticeable, sourness on the tongue. In a fit of desperation I added a very small...

If I concentrated and looked for it, it was there. It wasn't anything overpowering or distracting but because the grain bill was not very complex I imagine it did nothing to hide it. Also, the fact that there was only an ounce in there, and not a massive amount like an IPA, probably contributed...

Belgian Triple

+1 I really liked it. First beer I've tried with juniper berries and really piqued my interest.

Beautiful. Id like to see more pics, I'm thinking of moving to a full 3 vessel system. Edit: your linked thread is what I was looking for! I'm using BrewTroller as well which is a large part my wanting to upgrade to 3 full vessels. Thanks for posting some inspirational material :)

Upgraded to some Blichmann pots

Doh. Very good point, welcome words of wisdom.

+1. Though I would say step one is to get a pH meter, step two is to read the pH calibration sticky, step 3 the water chemistry primer sticky. ;)

An interesting side note. As I have been working to get my mash pH in the right area, and taking boil pH (15 mins into boil) as well as hot break, I've notices the closer I get to a proper mash pH the closer to under 5.3 boil pH and a very noticeable difference in hot break. My mot recent...

I don't fly sparge so my advice my be off and I hope a more experienced brewer will chime in. 3 gallons of sparge seems low to me. If I were you, I would mash as you are, direct fire to mash out (168 F), then fly sparge until your runnings are 1.0xx or pH is x instead of volume. A more...

Queue Revvy to drop a "do not throw beer away link" ;) Glad it turned out for the best. It's interesting to see that even something like a rubber taste can age out. Thanks for the update.

Yeah, he picked it up off the table so I showed him how to use it. He thinks everything is 15 though.