Recent content by kopher

Huh, cool, thanks. Not sure why I didn't find that myself... I'm pretty sure I tried a poison oak mead a while ago at a homebrew meetup but can't remember which or any other details other than that it was delicious and kinda woodsy tasting. Well maybe I'll try and report back

Hmm, that's a point. Do you mean more allergic than most? I mean most (all?) people get a rash from touching it, right? But the honey is definitely a thing and somewhat different...

Can't really find any info on this, has anyone ever tried making a mead with poison oak honey? If so, any tips, tasting notes, etc? Thanks!

I dunno, do you really want to use brew equipment that isn't rated food-safe? Again, I don't know if it's something that we should worry about, just asking.

I had one of these bucket heaters I used to help do a full-boil on my small gas stove-top. After 4 or 5 brews it stopped working. I was about to just buy another one but was looking at some of the amazon reviews and saw one where the guy emailed the manufacturer to ask if it was safe to use for...

That's a good idea, thanks. What kind of wood do you use? Do you need to make sure it's not treated with something poisonous? And do you not worry about it getting infected? I mean even if you only use it during the boil I wouldn't want to stick a really funky stick right into the wort...

I've only done a few all-grain batches and my efficiency is still all over the place. I like to calculate efficiency when I start the boil so I know if I should add a little extract or maybe change IBUs if it looks like I'm gonna miss my target OG. I've got a refractometer to measure the...

reply!

Ya, and ever eaten plain, cold barley? Probably not so good either :) That's awesome! Do you know if it's an all-quinoa brew or is it mostly barley? Can't find the recipe online anywhere.

Well, right now the sour mead's got an odd sharp garbage flavor, so not a big fan. It went through a stage of dirty diaper but that cleaned up so maybe it'll still improve. Recently bottled his brothers the berliner weisse and cherry berliner weisse. They have the same sharp flavor in the back...

count me in

Yep, tasted it a couple of weeks ago. It's super sour -- undrinkably so -- but I imagine it will improve, or at least change with time. It's hard to detect any flavors other than the sour but there seems to be a bit of honey character still. Has a terrible aftertaste, but again, hopefully it'll...

I think for a small beer like this you could do 1-2 week primary and 2-3 weeks for bottle conditioning/priming. Probably don't need a secondary (make sure it ferments fully before bottling!), but it'll probably peak ~5 weeks after bottling I imagine, so 6-8 weeks would be best. Wide range of...

From http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/82/nm/Booster_trade_1 Could use DME, corn sugar, or this: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10137

I wouldn't add that much to the boil. Best way I've found to add spices is to macerate a bit in vodka for a few days and then add to secondary to taste. If you have a pipette or fine scale you can add drops to a glassful of the young beer until it's perfect. I added "a bit" (maybe a teaspoon?)...