Recent content by ophillium

Most exciting time of year?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here: mash temp matters. If you mash at ~150 F the sacch will be able to break down most sugars, leaving less for the brett to chew on. Your batch would therefore exhibit more strictly-saison characteristics. Mashing higher (~160) will add dextrins to your wort...

I've been given the opportunity to harvest a few hop vines and wonder if anyone has suggestions on how to proceed, as I'm coming at this quite loosely. First things first: I intend to use them fresh to dry-hop a (4% abv) table saison currently sitting in secondary. My plan is to pick them in...

That's wicked. I'm a long way off from any kind of temp control on my carboys. Next on my list is a second brew pot, which will help shave 2 hours off my double-batch days.

According to this article you can use Beersmith work out the conversions post-fermentation.

That's huge. Yeasties and pitching rates are high on my list for areas to zoom-in on next. Were there any resources you found particularly helpful?

I've always heard refractometer's are inaccurate / unreliable. It seems I have some research to do.

To phrase it another way: what's your most recent upgrade or addition to your brewhouse, and what in what way specifically did it improve your product or process? The more details the better, for nerdery and knowledge :D

I'm attempting my batch using spelt this weekend and have very basic questions about the grain. First, some context -- I'm brewing a spelt saison loosely inspired by the Saison d'Epeautre recipe in Phil Markowski's Farmhouse ales (p. 142): It's Spelt Saison Yeast: WY3724 Belgian Saison...

Thanks for the opinions folks. Today I learned: bottle early and let sit.

Hey folks, I'm hoping for some insight into the fermentation and bottle conditioning schedule for a belgian-style dubbel. I brewed a 5.5 gallon batch on June 5th, racked it on July 3rd and have left it sitting in the shadows ever since. I know it needs extended time in the bottle, so by the...

That's a great lead, thanks kindly. The original has a clear amber glow to it, so this fits the bill. To add some more detail to my question (now that I'm home): As mentioned, the bottle lists Pale, Pilsner and Carapils malts for the grist. I harvested dregs from the bottle, which I know...

Another thought \ question: I'm assuming "pale malt" means an American two-row. What else could it be?

I'm working on cloning a beer that lists pale, pilsner and carapils malts plus flaked wheat for the grain bill. My first attempt came out decidedly lighter than the original beer though, so I figured that obviously I need to increase the darker grain - problem is, they're all 1 or 2 SRM. Any...

Quick update -- I added the full pound of candi sugar since that was the packet size and I didn't want to waste the last 1/4. Also f***ed up by mashing at 155 instead of the desired 150. I don't think that's a problem though -- the final product should just be a bit sweeter than I'd intended...