Recent content by rinhaak

Really appreciate these opinions; thanks everyone! Definitely leaning towards it!

I've been brewing for about 8 years. Been doing gas stove top brewing the entire time and having excellent results. Just bought my first house, and my new kitchen won't have a gas stove (and I refuse to do brewing on an electric stove!). Though I want to convert my kitchen to gas eventually...

Yay!! Great to hear the recipe has worked well for you! Cheers!

Does anyone have any experience with the "Cultures for Health" Kombucha starter? I've read some forums online that suggest this style of SCOBY isn't good. Any experience here?

Just to clarify: when you buy it online, you do not get the retro-fitted carboy and the cleaning solution they provide is enough for one or maybe two cleanings. I bought extra cleaning solution which I never used and the carboy is $25 on their website.

I've got a BrewJacket (homebrew lager tool) I'm looking to sell. I'm selling the whole thing: the immersion tool, the insulated jacket, the carboy, and the cleaning solution. I've only used it once and it works great. I just realized I don't use it all that often and I'd like to try upgrading a...

First Parish in Brookline (MA) is hosting their second annual homebrew festival on October 17, and homebrewers of all levels are welcome to participate. The registration period is now open. Interested participants should fill out the online registration form to register their beer...

First Parish UU in Brookline, MA is hosting their first ever homebrew festival. Five of the city's best homebrewers will be pouring over ten beers. The event is November 29, from 4-8pm, and the $25 suggested donation helps fund youth scholarships. Besides the beer, there's free food, live...

I have an all-brett beer that's been sitting for about six months in 2ndary. It's pretty close to bottling time. I have read various reports on how to bottle all brett beers, and I'm curious if anyone here has a proven method that consistently carbonates for them. Sounds like some people add...

Last night I racked a black saison into secondary, pitched Brett Lambicus, added oak, and some of my favorite dregs. I thought I had three gallons of beer, but in actuality only had two (don't ask why!) I racked the beer into the only fermenter I had: a three gallon better bottle carboy. But...

I'm curious if anyone has had success in pitching the dregs from various sours, lambics, wild ales, etc into secondary. I'm thinking about pitching some into a dark saison that's about 7%abv. Would this impart any sour flavors and introduce wild yeasts, or would the primary yeast be too strong...

I thought I'd try to culture some yeast off my apple tree in the front yard. It's been four days and I see no yeast activity. I'm curious what I may have done wrong or if I need to just wait longer. I boiled up 1/2 cup DME in 2 cups water for fifteen minutes. I chilled it, and then I added...

I brewed up a Petite Saison which finished fermenting yesterday. Before I threw it in the keg, I pulled aside one gallon and pitched some brett on top of it. I plan on letting it sit in this nasty 101° Boston summer heat for a few months. I was super careful pitching it, even going so far as...

Finally published my blog post about my experiences of brewing with sap. I really got no maple flavor in it, but the beer was pretty darned tasty! http://churchyardbrewery.blogspot.com/2013/06/maple.html

If I'm going to be using some Acid Malt in an upcoming all-grain recipe (about 5%), can I mash it as normal? I seem to recall I'm not supposed to, but now I can't find any sources that say otherwise.