Recent content by PaloAltoMark

I used 9lbs of honey for a five gallon batch. The final specific gravity was just under 1.0, so it was fully fermented and dry. The only ingredients were raw wildflower honey, yeast nutrient, WYeast dry mead yeast and water. The batch had completed its second fermentation. I let the mead...

OK, so I just finished the second fermentation on my first batch of mead. This is a dry mead (9 lbs of honey for a 5 gallon batch). The honey was from my bee hives and I used a dry mead yeast from Wyeast. I bottled it but the mead had a very medicinal smell. Similar to cough syrup. Is...

Thanks Insomniac and Biochemedic, I appreciate the guidance.

Need some advice from the forum as I may have accidentally overheated my Mead. I'm using a fermentation heater and controller to keep the mead at temperature since it's brewing in my garage. The temperature probe accidentally slipped off the side of the fermenter and the mead temp shot to 87...

Hi All: Hoping some of you may recall the name of this company.... At one point, I believe there was a company that let you brew beer using their equipment. It was positioned as a party service where a bunch of guys could get together and make a batch of beer and then come back at a later...

Hi Impatient: The hygrometer reads 1.000 in water. I did make an adjustment for temp when I calculated the specific gravity. I think the water was 95 degress which called for an upward adjustment of .004.

Hi Folks: I went back and reviewed my notes and think I found the answer.... I fly sparged but the water temp was probably lower than 170 -- maybe 150 or 155 degrees. Let me know if you think that would be the cause of the problem. Here are the basic fact: Grain bill was about 13...

Hi Folks: I'm new to all grain and tried the "Pliny the Elder" clone kit from Austin Homebrew. I followed the instructions in the kit but when I took the OG of the wort it was way too low. I should have had about 5.25 gallons of wort at 1.074. To achieve that gravity, I needed to boil...

Norwegiangeek, thank you for doing the work to create a chart on grains but please include a legend to the chart so I can understand what each color band means. With regard to hops, perhaps the group can build a library of information on hops used in commercial brews. I'll make the first...

Wow, this is a great chart. I'm new to HB and would be interested in better understanding the flavor profiles of various hops varieties. Has anyone put together a resource that details the hops used in various commercial beers? this might allow me to taste my way through the chart shown above...

Hi Wayne: Do you recall the amount/gallon of wort of Birko Patco 376 to use in the boil kettle. Thanks in advance.

Hi All: Fermcap is a anti-foaming agent that can be purchased from a variety of brew shops, but it contains silicone and I've heard you need to be careful using it. Birko sells a product called "Patco 376" which is safer to use because its made of using vegetable oil, but I can't find a...

Thanks much gents. There are coils on the back, but I'd rather be safe then sorry, so I'll try the starch method. -Mark

I am converting a standard size Frigidaire refrigerator into a kegerator. I want to drill holes in the side of the refrigerator to run gas lines from the regulator to the kegs. I'm concerned about drilling through wiring or some other important component. The manual doesn't provide specific...

I'm building a kegerator with 4 taps to dispense 4 styles of beer so I want to keep each batch to 5 gallons. Do you think a 15 gallon primary or secondary fermenter is going to be OK?