Recent content by supermoth

SFGiantsFan, just one article of many the last couple days: http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28071395/taste-smell-water-is-about-change-ebmud-customers The source reservoir is the same, just from a higher-up valve where the water is warmer and supports more algal growth.

I know there are a lot of people on this board that live and brew in the EBMUD water district. I'm sure you've all heard the news about how they're changing the tap water source and how the taste will be affected. What do you plan to do to treat your brewing water?

You might be perceiving the fruity yeast esters as sweet. Also, how well carbonated is the beer? Saisons are usually pretty bubbly, which contributes to the perceived dryness. 30 IBU seems like a good level of bitterness in my opinion, and your final gravity is good for a saison.

Nope just a standard 5 lb tank that I recently received in exchange at Home Depot for an old beater tank I had. This is the first time I've gotten it refilled. I'll just burn down some gas and see what it does after that. It'll probably be fine, and if not, at least I'll know what to expect...

It was just the regulator and hose freezing, not the tank itself. I also thought it was impossible to overfill a tank, but I saw the gauge click to 5.25 gallons, which would be 22lbs. Maybe their gauge is a little off. I've only used the Blichmann burner about 5 or 6 times now, so I'm...

Thanks for your comment. Hopefully I can burn down enough propane on the bbq to satisfy the Blichmann when I switch back the tank.

I actually fired up the BBQ to try to use up some of the excess gas in that overfull tank. My BBQ regulator has no problems freezing up. Does anyone else have issues with the Blichmann regulator being super touchy? Their website has nothing in the way of troubleshooting help.

Hi all… I just got my propane tank refilled and I think they overfilled it a bit. I'm having a problem keeping my Blichmann burner going. The regulator gets frosty and after a few minutes the pressure goes down and then out. I switched out the tank with the one that was on my BBQ and that...

Fergsbrew, it sounds like you're teaching at college or community college level if even some of your students are over 21. I'm sure you could find lots of equipment in the biology and chemistry departments that could be repurposed for brewing, assuming they're pretty clean.

I've been doing two-step starters. What I end up with in the vial looks like about one quarter of what you'd get in a new vial from White Labs. I figured that would be around 25 billion cells, so I worked out the details on yeastcalc.com. It's a little more work to make the starter, but it's...

I clean and sanitize them, then pour a little bit of each starter back into the vial before I pitch. I also use one to store my hydrometer. I have a little 1.06 hydrometer that fits perfectly inside a vial, which I can then just toss into my kitchen drawer.

I have a gas stove, and I can get 5 gallons of strike water up to 170-180 in about 45 minutes with the pot spread over two burners. Doing your boil in the house will result in a real steambath unless you open every window in the house, and considering you're doing this because of a tropical...

I cultured Dupont yeast from a bottle we drank last Christmas, and used it for a saison the next week. The yeast starter grew vigorously after just a couple days and produced a nice beer. I've also made two batches from yeast I got from a bottle of Pranqster. I wouldn't describe either one...

I just converted a Danby DAR044 and wanted to share. You don't need to cut out the shelving if you cut the door panel flat. The two cornies will fit, with one sitting a little more forward than the other. I decided to make mine pretty, so I got a yard of vintage wallpaper and sandwiched it...

And Triple Rock and Jupiter, both in downtown Berkeley and both kid-friendly.