Recent content by MrHadack

I agree-- I've already dumped it.

I had about 12 pounds of pilsner grain left in a 55lb sack. I dumped it from the sack into a different container and noticed the bottom of the bag had mold. Sifting through the grain I see some of it is dark and moldy, but only a small amount of the entire 10 pounds is visibly so.. like only 1...

At what temp did you add the late additions?

Once back 20 years ago I thought I was adding cleaner to a sink full of water for sanitizing bottles but it was actually priming sugar. The bottles exploded during the carb process. Anyhow, I bet it turns out fine. Beer was made in much worse conditions hundreds of years ago.

I brewed a Yuengling clone one time for a friend of mine which, side by side, came out fairly close. The key was to use corn as part of the grain bill. I suspect you could start with the base recipe for a Yuengling clone including the corn, and then modify to include more crystal / munich malts.

Seems like a sound procedure! I'm definitely interested in hearing about the results.

Unless I'm misreading this, it seems from your first statement that your new well water is LESS acidic than your previous water because you're adding more acid to get it to the same pH. Also, it doesn't matter how much acid you're adding if the end result is 5.2 pH in both cases-- by definition...

Hello! It depends on the type of yeast that came with the kit. Do you know what strain it was? If Nottingham was the yeast, you should be fine. The temp range on that one can get as low the temps you list; however it may take longer, and it might not start quite as quickly. Another thing to...

In your first example it seems like your water to grain ratio is over 2.5 quarts / pound of grain. That's really thin. I'd recommend 1.5 quarts of water per pound and see if that helps. In your second example (the very first overnight you did and got 80%), do you recall how much grain was in...

In most people's experience it's not uncommon to see anywhere from 5 to 10 degree temps above ambient, depending upon the OG and the yeast strain. I typically can make a judgement on ambient temps required based on style / yeast. For example, I have a favorite recipe for a Belgian Strong Dark...

Is it bottled already or in primary still? Either way, I'd suggest keeping it for a month and see if it mellows any. If not, dump at that point. But some of the flavors you describe can age out.

I had a similar experience with a beer lately. I brewed 4 lagers in the span of two weeks: Czech Pils, Maibock, California Common, and an IPL. Similar ambient conditions on all brews, same process, same equipment used to crush, etc. All four also sourced from the same sack of Pilsner malt...

No worries! Let me know how it turns out. One final note: if you can't find the pale chocolate malt at 200 L and have to use the more common chocolate malt closer to 350 L, you may want to cut back a bit on the black malt as a trade-off.

I had this one not too long ago and really liked it. After reading the description on their web site ("An English pub-style ale with a roasted, coffee aroma inviting you into a smooth caramel, and chocolate finish"), I suspect the closest style categorization would be a Dark Mild. For a 5...

Ugh, now I'm having flashbacks. Late last summer I had to get a couple batches done for some people; I had promised them before the end of summer I'd make them. I did two 5-gallon batches in parallel in my garage, and the temp in there got up to 97F. Just not a happy brew day. I still plan to...