Recent content by loneoak

So I came across a garage sale selling some sweet 19th Century ceramic beer bottles but I cannot figure out how to cap them. The mouths are not all precisely the same size (thus the charm), but with the entire lip diameter included, they are too big for a regular bottle cap. But the mouths are...

I think my efficiency is low becuase my gravities are always lower than the recipe indicates it should be. And the beer is lacking in body and alcohol for the style. The fermentation always goes well, so I just sort of guessed that it must be the efficiency. One batch that is in the second...

Our local water tastes awful, thus the RO from the water store. Has nothing to do with a brewing decision, really. SWMBO decides on water issues. The water store guy says the mineral report on the water is "there is as close to nothing in it as possible," so my LHBS says "add gypsum."

What is the dough-in? What is 5.2 buffer? Is there any reason to NOT add gypsum to completely soft water? And while I would happily give a disposition on the merits of organic (I am actually a professional philosopher, so don't get me started with the disposing), I actually don't...

I say this in all sincerety as a lover of beer and pumpkins: the two ought not be combined. It strikes me as part of the fruity cocktail trend -- a scam to get people who wouldn't know a proper whiskey if it hit them in the head to plop down $$$ on the bar. I've tried a lot of the pumpkin...

I'm pretty new to AG (only 4 batches under my belt ... literally, they are now under my belt), but have extensive history with extract brewing. I keep getting a OG a few points below the bottom of the recipe's estimated range. I feel like an idiot saying this, but even though I'm asking an...

So, The Google is rather unhelpful with finding an AG reciped for a Lion Stout clone. I believe Lion is a Foreign Extra Stout. Good notes of coffee and chocolate, low on hopiness, slightly sour, slightly sweet, and does not have the character that SWMBO calls "stinky foot beer" that might...