Recent content by shady oaks

I almost always rinse out my bottles. But some of the bottles used were bought and pretty dirty. I did use a non scented dish soap to wash the bottles. Some of the bottles had a 16mm opening, others 18mm. I couldn't get a brush down the 16's, so vigorous shaking was the cleaning method. I...

My first batch has been bottled for 5 weeks ( maybe 4, can't remember right off hand) and some of the time the flavor/taste is outstanding. And others, down right horrible. I can't think of how to describe the taste, other than I have to rinse my rinse my mouth out afterwards. Being it's not...

Wild Blue, by Blue Dawg Brewing out of NY. Yes, not that great, but not the worst. I will add my vote to Sam Adams cherry cough syrup, I mean cherry wheat!!!

I bought a kit from midwest supplies, so the amount of priming sugar was 1 package (not sure of actual amount). It was conditioned before and after bottling at 70 degrees F. It's been bottled for 3 weeks, 1 day as of tonight.

I popped the top on my first batch and didn't get any head when I poured it. Okay, maybe 1/4'', but that's it. I was pouring kind of slow to keep the yeast out, is this typical. The beer (an irish stout) tastes great though.

great, thanks everyone. I figured it wasn't major, but thought I'd ask. I've been reading a lot of threads on here and have picked up that beer can handle many things during the process. I did put a mark on the caps of the 6 bottles.

This past Wednesday I bottled my first batch (Irish stout kit). The last 6 bottles went less than perfect, with a lot of air bubbles and gurgling as the level got below the spout on the bottling bucket. Is there a great risk of oxidation, and if so, should those 6 bottles sit longer to try...

Researching dry wells, and wonder how much is too much for a dry well to "move". So far all I've seen is runoff and gutter runoff, but I haven't read that this system isn't for melt off and the occassional 6-12'' rain (yes, hurricane Ike created havoc every where last year). We're looking at...

Thanks for the info. Makes me feel better knowing I didn't mess something up. It's been in the primary just over 2 weeks now. I checked the gravity Sunday morning, and again today, and both were exactly the same.

Makes sense Revvy, didn't put the no rinse into the factor. Thanks for the responses.

Does 1.013 sound rather low for an Irish Stout. I don't have an accurate OG, but it was around 1.040. I did a 3 gallon boil, lost about 3/4 gallon to evap. and added water in the primary to a total of 5 gallon. I have tasted it and it starts off a little watery, and finished with a good stout...

So today I am bottling my first batch. I have washed all bottles to be used. I am about to sanitize them. My question is after I sanitize them, how long to let the bottles air dry to get rid of the moisture inside? Or sanitize, empty as much as possible and bottle right away? As far as the...

I just recieved 3 cases of bottles (only $6 on craigslist) that are really good shape. I brought them home, soaked them in luke warm water before putting in hot water with non-scented dishsoap. Half the bottles have a 19.5mm opening in the neck, the others have a 17.5mm opening. The problem...

yeah it is the ESB. Great stuff. It would be an extract.

So I just found a beer that I love, and want to brew a batch for spring/summer. I haven't got it all figured out yet, so what info is needed to come up with a similiar recipe? Here is the info I did get from Sierra Nevada's website: alcohol content 5.9% by volume yeast Top-fermenting Ale...