Recent content by mdtwnj

How have you reyeasted? With what kind of yeast.

I have my first imperial stout and barleywines in secondary right now and have been aging them since may. I'm planning on bottling in October and letting them bottle condition until December. Should I add any extra yeast (like champagne yeast) when I do bottle to carbonate these high abv beers...

I'm relatively new to brewing. The intro video from Northern Brewer says to leave any sludge in the bottom of the brew pot when pouring into the fermenter. However, after a few batches, I feel my beers are lacking some flavor. Should I really leave the sludge out of the fermenter? Wouldn't that...

Awesome! Thanks for all the input. This is now on my calendar.

How would I convert this to an extract recipe?

I couldn't wait for spring/summer to get here so I brewed up the extract version on Saturday. Still strong fermentation, so I'm giving it another day before adding the limeade. How did everyone calculate the abv? I took an OG, but the addition of the limeade will throw the OG - FG calculation off.

Any update on the basil addition? I'm planning on brewing this in mid march so it's ready for the summer warm up, and the addition of basil (or mint) sounds interesting. Almost like a mojito. Also, for those that have brewed this, I normally do 5 gal batches and use a 6.5 gal glass carboy for...

I'm on my first lager as well (5 gal Maibock with wyeast bohemian) and pitched my starter at 46 degrees, which is the same temp as the current fermentation is taking place at. When I do my d-rest, how high should I raise the temp and how long should I keep it that high? Also, can I continue to...

How did the basement lager turn out? 50-55 degrees is achievable in my basement.

I live in Minnesota and am new to home brewing. Does anyone living in a cold climate have tips or tricks to lagering over the winter without using a chest freezer? I'd like to get some lagers going and I'm wondering if leaving the fermentor in my garage would get too cold, and if it will, will a...

Great. I was planning to do just that, but wanted to make sure it wouldn't kill me.

I have a batch of black/blueberry wheat beer fermenting and ready to be bottled. However, there is a sludge on top of the beer. I broke through it to measure the SG and taste it and it tastes fine. Has anyone else ran into this? Do I remove it prior to bottling?

Has anyone tried adding fresh yeast along with the priming sugar at the time of bottling? I have a batch that seems to have stopped fermenting but has a higher SG than I'd like. I heard that a fresh yeast addition at bottling would address this while also carbonating the bottles. Any advice is...

Thanks guys, that was my original plan.

I'm planning on testing out a double IPA recipe, but I've seen conflicting advice. Should I age it for 6-9 months, then dry hop, or should I dry hop right after primary and drink while it's young?