Recent content by ssf

the diacetyl is likely being produced by pediococcus. i get the same butteriness when i bottle some of my sours, and like you it takes a month or two to dissipate. i reyeast with a neutral wine strain when bottling, and the wine yeast and resident brett seem to take care of any off flavors...

turbid mashing has a lot to do with gelatinization of an unmalted wheat component. i have had good luck doing a cereal mash on the unmalted wheat instead. check out my procedure at http://www.overcarbed.com/?p=2015

i would just primary the initial six gallons in the demijohn to avoid having to rack the beer. you can definitely utilize the demijohn with the solera method - I would replace 5 gallons every year or so.

Chad Yakobson did brett. you could do lacto or pedio, or the relationship between brett and pedio. maybe the effect of vessels (plastic, glass, steel, wood, concrete) on mixed fermentations?

i agree - you can whip up the 5 gal "starter" first and let it sit in a 5 gal carboy until the rest of the wort is ready. then rack the wort into hte barrel and top off with your 5 gal starter.

I've been playing casually for about four years, used to live close to golden gate park in SF so I got 18 in on a weekly basis for a while. just got back from park city, UT and played the most fun course of my life at solitude. lost my favorite champion beast on hole 18 - nailed the drive but...

fascinating. your write-up prompted a little research on my part, which led me to this beer hunter article: http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000103.html seems like the sticks were pretty sticky, so I would think they would be hung somewhere and not wrapped up... I also came across...

I had a similar (albeit less extensive) issue with a small leak around the perimeter of the head of my barrel. i just cleaned it up with a paper towel and some vodka and waxed the perimeter of the head. fixed the leak and all is well. i would be more concerned with over-oxygenation from aging...

great pics! your setup looks sweet too.

a local production team just put together a short video about the LA homebrewing and craft beer scene. I was interviewed as the "homebrewer," and my local homebrew club (pacific gravity) got some love too. I was also featured in an oversimplified "how to homebrew" tutorial. check em out...

you could also boil your cubes/chips/chunks in water for about 10 minutes and pour off the liquid to help neutralize them before adding.

I have used the opaque white version of THIS to ferment a sour golden ale - after 14 months in the barrel there were no acetic notes. not sure about the exact wall thickness, but these are pretty substantial. I would occasionally purge the headspace with CO2 after sampling.

well, I finally got around to a proper tasting here. see below for my notes: basque cider appearance – pale gold, great clarity, very slight carbonation aroma – earthy funk, sweet cooked apple, spice taste – clean, light funk up front with a lingering apple finish...

sounds like it might be lacto to me. i would check the FG and bottle as-is instead of embarking on a time-intensive experiment based on a contaminated batch, but if you really want to do it I would recommend pitching some brett and pedio or at least some bottle dregs from a beer you know has...

the sign looks great, congrats! great detail on the mug.