Recent content by Mykel Obvious

I'd advise reading "How To Brew" by John Palmer... the online version can be found here: http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html This will help you gain a much better understanding of the all grain brewing process... he also posts to http://www.brewboard.com if you have any questions you would...

Here's the post from the link listed... had to cut the first 2 IMG files, but they were simply the session file and the recipe file in that session (if you have ProMash, you should be able to figure most of this out from the text) HTH, mikey Q: I use ProMash and I batch sparge but ProMash...

Rohanski, Give us a little more info on your batch... recipe, OG, current SG, fermentation temperature, type of dry yeast used, fermentation vessel (glass, plastic, etc.), type of aeration used, and anything else you can think of (describe your process to us)... the more information you give...

I vote you try a batch sparge or two... some setups work better with a fly sparge, some with a batch sparge... I regularly get 80-85% efficiency with a batch sparge in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler using a bazooka-T screen If doing a batch sparge increases your efficiency, then most likely...

I agree with david about the color difference... the fact that they are 7 degrees different makes me think that one of them is fermenting stronger than the other, as yeast activity builds some heat... How did you pitch the yeast? If one got a larger dose of yeast, more 02, etc. then it is...

Alabama is beer HELL!! We are one of only 4 states that have a ABV limit on what beers can be sold and THE only state that has a 16 oz maximum on bottle size!! I have to drive 1.5 hours to get to the over-6% beers in Tennessee!! FREE THE HOPS!! http://www.freethehops.org/index.php And I...

Belgian first... German second... British third... American never!!:rockin: :mug: later, mikey

Ok, just to put this in perspective... assuming a 5 gallon batch: Total cost = $18.31 cost per ounce of beer = $0.028609375 cost per 12 ounce bottle of beer = $0.3433125 cost per 6-pack of beer= $2.059875 hmmm... I don't think you can buy a sixer of BudMillerCoors for that, can ya??? I say...

Ok, it didn't take as long as I thought... here is the word from on high!!! And it makes sense after thinking about it a bit (seems I was OVER thinking the process :drunk: ) John Palmer's reply: So there ya go folks... I stand corrected :mug: mikey

Will do... it may take a few days to hear from him... As to the sparge... the reason to use plain heated water is to remove the most sugars you can from the grains... the wort that you draw off the first time (your "tea") is fairly well saturated with sugars (call it near the maximum for that...

Hey Tommy, I read that after I posted as well... I'm gonna have to talk to John and ask him to explain that to me versus what I posted... until further notice, go with what he said, as he has MUCH more experience at this than I do!! I'll report back with what he said later, :mug: mikey

Remember, if you put a pound or two of grain in 3 or more gallons of water you will NOT get the same pH drop that you would from an all grain mash... this is one of the most misleading parts of the typically over-simplified "extract plus specialty grain" instructions IMO... The grains should be...

I've never made any of the recipes, but John posts to the Brew Board in the Beer Forum... I'd post a question to him if I were you, as he likes to help out people using his book... http://www.brewboard.com/ It's a thought anyway later, :mug: mikey

Evan!, Have you been making starters and properly aerating you wort before pitching the yeast?? I've been using White Labs yeast for 13 years now and I've never had a batch fail to ferment... I HAVE had a batch take 3 days to reach full fermentation because I didn't make a starter and...

You are on the right track for sure... I'd suggest a nice American Pale malt and a tiny bit of Victory or Vienna to give it a bit of toasty/nutty malt flavor (though this is totally optional for the style)... maybe for the first batch just use the Pale malt and then if it seems like it needs a...