Recent content by OBecian

A couple of months ago, I presented the forum members with an experimental recipe (see below) and I took advantage of last night's black out in San Diego to share the first few bottles with my neighbors, who are reliable for honest feedback. Wow! This is my best homebrew to date! Here are...

In an ideal world, it would be nice to cool the wort to 70 degrees, but I ferment in my garage without temp control. I pitch at 85, then overnight, the wort cools down to about 75, and then ferments the next few days in the low 80s / high 70s depending on ambient temp. The warnings of ruining...

Sounds like I should expect a sweet beer. No worries, though - I enjoy my beers on the sweet and malty side. "Red Beast" - I like the name! I've pitched about a dozen batches straight from the vial at 85 degrees and never had a problem. "Undrinkable?" I have yet to meet a homebrew I didn't...

Yesterday, I gave it my first shot at brewing an all-grain beer without a pre-established recipe or ingredient kit. I'm excited but not really sure what to expect. I was hoping some of the experienced homebrewers on this forum could help me out. Here's the recipe: 10 lbs 2 Row Pale 1 lb...

I will start by reducing my whirfloc usage. I don't use rinse-aid and I allow months for bottle conditioning. I use a blow-off tube on a 6.5 gallon carboy. I typically get a lot of blow-off and lose quite a bit of krausen. But, I think you may be onto something, Bowiefan. Now that I think...

I've been having no luck getting a big frothy head on my bottle conditioned beers. Typically my beers have large bubbles that leave the liquid immediately upon pouring, and have the mouthfeel of soda pop. On the rare occaision that I do have a good head, I notice that the bubbles are quite small...

The recipe calls for White Labs European Ale yeast (WLP011), which has a medium flocculation level. Your suggestion of a low flocculation yeast gives me something to think about. However, aren't altbiers supposed to finish clear and 'crisp' like a lager? Would a low flocculation yeast make the...

I'm planning on brewing an all-grain altbier with ale yeast, but I'm confused when it comes to cold conditioning the beer after two weeks of fermentation at 65 degrees. I was planning on putting the fermentor in the fridge for a month, but wouldn't this cause the yeast to precipitate to the...