Recent content by SticksBrewer

I may take the advice about the abs as I definitely need to lose plenty of weight. Perhaps this is my wake up call. Of course, prevention would have been the best plan. At least I now know what I shouldn't be doing. As for the cool down, I currently use an immersion chiller and routed the...

Lesson learned: Get a kettle with a valve! Or at least use a racking cane! Here goes my story. I was brewing up my fifth brew this last sunday. I was all excited to finally brew outside and try out my new 10 gallon stockpot over my old outdoor propane burner. I brewed a Ferocious IPA...

First off, thanks for the advice so far. I have an update on things. My first batch (Amber Ale) has been sitting in the primary for almost 2 weeks. Batches 2 & 3 (Sierra clone and Red Ale) are in primary for just under a week. I have been very strong and I haven't even peeked in any of...

Thanks Revvy, you have me LMAO right now. (I am glad I didn't mention the hazmat suit I was wearing on brew day. And I was really hoping for another reason to justify to my wife those night vision goggles I picked up!!!) :p

Not to take this off course, I think my thoughts are related. I have yet to bottle anything so far, but have concern over beer being exposed to light when bottling. I like the idea bottling right over the dishwasher door. But if your kitchen is like mine, it gets lots of sunlight during the...

This is very reassuring. So depending on time to bottle condition, I could be looking at 6 weeks minimum before I should even try the brews? And likely longer is my guess... So maybe some late summer homebrews will finally be pouring. I am paying for it now as I only got about 2.5 hours...

I was planning to go this route until I got lucky and found a great deal on craigslist for bottle tree and serious number of swing top bottles. http://www.campfirebrewery.com/?p=24 If you have some plywood, some wood planks, etc. You could drill a hole big enough to fit the nose of the...

The kit came with 2 oz Perle for flavoring and 2 oz Cascade for aroma. I added the Perle at beginning of the boil to a large nylon hops bag. Then added the Cascade at 2 minutes before it was done. I left the hops in the wort until I had it down around 65F. I start with 3 gallons water and...

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking I would give it at least 2 or 3 weeks. I have waited this long to make my own homebrew. So shouldn't be too bad waiting a a little longer.

I boiled my 2nd beer last night. A lot less of the second guessing. It was a Sierra Nevada Clone extract kit from Midwest. I decided to upgrade the yeast a little and went with the US-05. I pitched at 62F and just sprinkled it on top and gave it a mix up after 30 min. Was gone all day...

If I remember correctly, Midwest also sells a Pumpkin Ale kit. Check their website, they are very forthright about what ingredients are in their kits and they freely allow you to download the pdf version of the kit instructions. You could easily see how they are different and make whatever...

So far it seems it has gone well. I pitched dry yeast at 68F. At 24hrs, I had lots of bubbling so I was excited. But that led to higher temps by the next morning.. around 72/73F. Not too worried, that is on the higher end from what I read, but for my first brew, I will take it and pitch at a...

Bones

And YES, BEER IS AWESOME! :mug: