Recent content by phenry

So Bell's is saying one thing and Innovation is saying another? What a conundrum!

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Just wait until bottling/kegging time to see if it tastes good enough to package. My guess is it will be.

:rockin:

What does he ferment in? Plastic? You can have good sanitation practices and still end up with lifeless nail polish of beer if you have a wild yeast or bacteria taking up residence in your plastic. You could also try bottling a batch and see the results from that. If his beer still ends up...

If you're looking into adjusting your water chemistry I highly suggest using the Bru'n Water spreadsheet. If you're worried about variable water quality due to the number of sources your municipality uses, you could look at past years' water reports and see if they report similar values. If the...

I switched on my third batch. My first two extract batches were pretty awful, but likely for reasons other than being extract. That first AG batch wasn't anything to write home about either, but it at least gave me the encouragement that I could actually brew something I (somewhat) enjoyed...

I lost a few batches due to some wild yeast or bacteria taking up residence in my equipment. No pellicle or anything aside from normal krausen, but the taste was acrid and sour and like I was chewing on a piece of antique furniture. You can either bomb your equipment with caustic or bleach or...

In my opinion, cold conditioning for strong Belgians is unnecessary, especially if you don't have the capacity for it. Extended bulk aging may have some benefits, but you'll still end up with good beer if you bottle directly after primary fermentation. Even better beer (usually) if you're able...

I don't have any firsthand experience with 051, but since it's supposed to finish higher than 001 that's probably a good idea. Let us know how it turns out!

Looks really good to me. If I were to tweak that recipe to my own liking I might add another half pound of C60 or C80, but that's just me. What temp were you planning on mashing at?

I can drive a microwave like nobody's business.

I feel like with any amount of sanitation this really isn't much of an issue, especially considering I've pitched a single packet into a 5 gallon "starter" (1.038 Belgian singel) with no adverse effects. Step starters could be considered "dangerous" given that you have to pour slurries...

This right here. None of the proud "country" folk I know would be caught dead with PBR. That's also out in the middle of nowhere Missouri, so who knows.

What would we do without lists telling us what we should buy? Without these kind of articles I'd be sitting at home with an empty fridge.

Just so you know, I started my own homebrewing forum. I'm the only member. I never once wake up in the morning to opening my browser to one of "those" threads anymore. Sure, the wealth of information may be a little bit biased and conversation dry at times, but it sure does beat having to scroll...