Recent content by OldWorld

One of our brew shops just discounts the yeast half off with no guarantee. I've never had a bad batch but only doing five gallons I presume the risk is low.

Not having cooled tanks is going to be your biggest problem. Dropping the temp might help, but what do you do when God decides to have a warmer summer? My best advice is to utilize the phenolics you are given and adjust recipes to compliment them. It's not a flaw if you can make it house...

I got a bag of old malt and stale hops...i'm thinking of doing a bakers yeast low gravity prison hooch style ale.

I get champagne bottles free from a few places. I don't care that the glass is green. They hold more volumes of co2 and are far less likely to explode. If I get a bottle bomb from a champagne bottle I know it's time to quit brewing.

I think the subjectivity greatly depends on the freshness of the hops. It's not that one is better than the other. It's which hops have the fresher preserved compounds.

Rice is actually fine. I've done it with good results. It will lighten the body of the beer, you may also want to add 1/2lb of oats. They'll amplify the spicey character a bit. It will also counteract the effect of the rice. The oats can add spice and you won't have a beer that tastes like a...

Drink less beer and more exceptional beer. Brew the beer you like to session away at and purchase the bottles you intend to share with close friends and family. Homebrew tastes better when shared...blockbuster beer taste better when friends are boasting about it :)

I think the ad is great. Bud is a no frills drinking beer. Lot's of people just want a light lager with less hops. Bud isn't that great. But I think it's rather absurd that craft brewers are going out of their way to make "different" but not necessarily better beers. The "easy way." I think...

How much sugar did you add? Sometimes you can simply put the bottles in a warmer area to rouse the yeast. If you shake the bottle and see gas bubbles, I wouldn't sweat it. How long has it been?

Yeah use a bit less priming sugar if you bottle...I think 1/4 cup table sugar. I did with a stout I made which only came out to be 3.0 ABV...but it was full bodied and not all too syrupy...Just slightly viscious with nice bubbles. You are fine. Just let it carb up. Stouts and Porters take...

Try producing a keg of the stout with regular gas instead of nitro. I used to get Old Rasputin from north coast on CO2 at a local bar...The brew master argued with the owner about it, but the owner insisted he found the beer to be much more bold on CO2... I gotta say nitro stouts are great but...

The easy way to avoid it is to use aluminum foil wrapped around the neck with a tiny hole poked...if enough pressure builds up the foil will just be pushed off. A gummed up airlock can build too much too fast. After a few days you can switch out to a regular old airlock.

Bottling is a pain but a bottle conditioned beer is a thing of beauty. Especially when you pour it and get exceptionally good head retention. Today's craft beer from the shop are largely over saturated with anti foaming agents. I like the natural wonder of a beer that has a lemon meringue like...

Sculpin is cheap compared to MIkeller. How about 18 bucks for a single twelve ounce bottle. I absolutely refuse to drink Mikeller beer. I don't care if it is good. I'm not paying for it. Sculpin is alright but I'd never buy one again. It's just another good beer among many. How about Russian...

Start brew in a bag to get familiar with grain profiles. Each person has individual tastes. Some people like using more than others of various specialty grains. I personally love smoked malt and special b.