Recent content by Tom_c

So since my doctor says I can't drink as much beer as I used to due to some meds he put me on, I've started kegging soda for me and the kiddo. I made a 2.5 gallon batch of Gnome Extract Cream Soda and put it in my 5 gallon keg to carb, no yeast added. It carbed up nicely, but it seems I have...

Rev, after a bit more research, it appears that there was a study done where 93% of a certain strain lactobacillus were killed at a temperature of 63 degrees Celcius, and I'm also finding 20 minutes at 80 deg C to take out the baddies, plus various pasteurization charts. Since I'd be taking the...

So due to an extremely tight schedule involving work and child issues, I'd like to steep my specialty grains this Sunday afternoon, and then do the boil on Monday after work. All I would be doing would be steeping the grains, and would be storing the pre-wort covered and indoors in the A/C...

You pretty much hit the nail on the head, and Kashue is exactly right. I've made several batches not varying anything, and I mean anything, from juice (same kind bought, which is where the variability comes in) to yeast to time to pretty much no variables at all, and they all taste different...

I ferment/let condition for a month at 73 degrees, mainly using Safeale S-05, then straight into the keg for carbing and conditioning. Unfortunatly, the conditioning rarely happens, as my last keg lasted 26 days before going dry... :) At least to my taste, and YMMV, the little bit of better...

I actually asked the question a while back, and the easiest and most reasonable explanation I heard was that as long as you don't let any more fermentation happen, it's just a ratio of volumes added. I ferment 4 gallons of juice, then backsweeten with 1 gallon of other stuff for flavor and...

I've cold crashed and kegged, and I keep my cider kegs pretty cool (37 deg), so no worries about any restart. Suprised the 20 oz of flavoring and the gallon of juice added 3 equivalent pounds of sugar to the equation. The 6.55*4/5 made the most sense to me. Thanks!

I'm probably having a brain fart here, and this probably ought to go in the cider forum, but this area gets more traffic, so forgive me in advance... Having issues determining alcohol content after adding stuff after fermentation. For example: I did 4 gallons apple juice, with an OG of...

Here's what I have done, and it has turned out pretty good for me. Assuming you know the basics...But you have to keg... Harris teeter apple cider 4 gallons. 2 lbs WHITE sugar Safeale US05 yeast. Let it get down to 1.010 Backsweeten with another gallon of Harris Teeter apple cider, a...

Actually, nothing like the first beer at the BEGINNING of a brew day. :) As I get older I can appreciate more the drawing out of a good day... :) Much better than the go hard or go home days of my youth. LOL Calling it a day now after a good movie, ready to start the work week tomorrow with...

OK, sitting here at the end of the brew day, and am very happy and content... Today was a good day... I got my Coffee Stout put into secondary, kegged my cider (first keg ever, thank you Santa Claus) and brewed an Irish red that I plan on making into a Spruce... My 4 year old stepson helped...

So the LHBS charging $24.75 for a 5# refill is a bit high? Price as of Jan 6, 2012. And is the date stamped on the bottle the expiration date or the date it was certified? (just got a kegging kit for Xmas, new to it)

Anyone got any suggestions for the best "base" extract kit to buy from Northern to use in an attempt to make a spruce beer? I'll already be ordering the bourbon barrel porter kit, and wanted to just order another kit from them, but am a bit torn on which to get. Based on the spruce beers I...

5 gallons apple juice, 5 lbs brown sugar. yeast nutrient, White Labs California Ale Yeast – WLP001 Started at 1.090, moved to secondary after about 3 weeks, just to get it out of primary so I could start something else... After about a month and a half I'm getting consecutive readings of...

been fermenting at 73-75. Had a brown I fermented at 85-90 for 3 days (don't ask), so have a good idea of that taste... LOL It took me a good two months of drinking that stuff after getting buzzed to get rid of it all. I let it sit for several months and it never recovered.... This is...