Recent content by rwberne

Brewing first AG batch after years of partial mash. SWMBO requested Thunder Hole Ale from Bar Harbor Brewery (now made by Atlantic Brewery). They would not share recipe with me, but their website says 5.8 ABV, Nottingham Ale yeast, and pale malt, crystal malt and chocolate malts. I came up with...

So, my family used to spend 2 weeks each summer on Mt. Desert Island in Maine, and one of the highlights of the trip was drinking (and bringing home a case of) Thunder Hole Ale, from the Bar Harbor Brewery. The other night, clearing boxes in the basement, I found an old case with two bottles...

I have been brewing for a few years now, generally partial mash. I use a bottling bucket, and I put my dextrose (boiled in water) in the bottom, and siphon from the fermenter into the sugar, assuming this would adequately mix it. I have had occasional flat bottles, or overcarbed ones, but...

SWMBO has asked that I try to make a clone of Sapporo. Best looking recipe I have found is an extract with grains recipe for a fairly high gravity version of Premium American Lager. The recipe calls for the addition of 2lbs of "Rice Extract Syrup". My LHS carries Dried Rice Extract. Anyone...

Darwin - I don't keg, I bottle, so I have to have that 4 week or so period in the 30s. That's why my thought is to rack to secondary, drop temp in my freezer to 38 or so, and let it sit.

Revvy - Thanks - seemed to make sense to use the secondary, but I feel better hearing about it from you! Happy New Year! RBerne

Ever since reading Revvy and crew's recommendations I have skipped the secondary, and all of my brews have been great - and clear. But now I am planning to try my first lager. All I read on lagers suggest that the long cold lagering is done in a secondary - but is that because they are from...

It was 4.8 oz. by weight (I use a digital scale). I can't think of anything I did that would have killed off the yeast. I used two full packs of Wyeast American Wheat yeast, had a very vigorous fermentation, let it sit in primary at about 66 degrees or so for 4 weeks plus, then boiled my...

Recently brewed a partial mash batch of Witbier - somewhat Americanized to get a bit more like Blue Moon. OG was 1.054, FG was 1.018, it is delicious. BUT, it is somewhat flat - not at all fizzy like I had hoped. When you pour, it does form a head, but it doesn't last long, and no...

Well Wheayat, I can't say what this will taste like on a hot day on the bayou, but I am hoping it will cool me down sipping on my stoop in Brooklyn! I think I'm inclined to introduce the honey at flameout - I want to be sure it ferments - I'm really using it for dryness and crispness (and a...

Okay, experimenting (finally) with recipe formulation rather than following recipes. I like Blue Moon (yeah, I know, have read all the critiques, I know it isn't a true Wit, it's just a nice refreshing brew on a hot day). I have to admit, SWHBO and I are not huge fans of the classic Belgian...

It has SS flat bottomed "legs" that rest flush on the bottom of the kettle. The false bottom sits just above the spigot. The only gap is around the outer rim of the FB, very small, but not flush.

Walker - Funny you should suggest that. When I got the false bottom this morning, and saw the gap, I suggested to SWMBO that I do exactly what you suggest. I posted the question to see if anyone had actually tried this approach - glad to see someone has! I was a little concerned that the...

I just got an 8 gallon kettle with thermometer and spigot from SWMBO. I purchased a false bottom so I can use the kettle as mash/lauter tun. It sits just above the spigot, as I intended, but there is a small gap around the outside between the false bottom and the kettle wall (I would estimate...

Have been reading this and related threads for some time now, and have finally drunk Revvy's Kool Aid - or maybe it was Sweet Stout. I'm going to retire my secondary for awhile, switching approach to primary for 4 weeks or so and then bottle. So here's my question - I know that the same stuff...