Recent content by WenValley

When it comes to sanitation, there are no shortcuts.

Renaveg: I wouldn't hesitate to throw the bleach bomb. I've been brewing a long time, and I was pretty sure my sanitation procedures were up to speed. But when I did a "fresh eyes" review I was substandard in several areas. Just cut too many corners. Oxyclean and Starsan are your friends...

Your situation sounds almost exactly like what I went through a couple of months ago. I ended up dumping out over 20 gallons of beer that has that "astringency". Mine was sanitation and I know you have considered that issue. But I gotta tell you that what you described fits my recent...

Thanks to all for your kind remarks. I was a little hesitant to post my findings, but I've gotten so much from this forum over the years that I felt I needed to use my misfortune so that others might "do better". I'm not lazy, but it seems like I'm always squeezing the clock. The...

Dumping out four (4) five gallon kegs of beer! That's right, twenty gallons of home brew down the drain. Two kegs of Oatmeal Stout, and two kegs of Centennial Pale Ale. I've been brewing all grain for about five or six years, and have brewed several hundred gallons of beer. Our beer is...

Thanks to everyone that's offered opinions. I took a half a cup of oats, and toasted them under the broiler in the oven. Just as I had for the actual batch. I then ground up the oats, added some hot water and I couldn't detect the same off astringent flavor. I was hoping that I could...

Thanks Quaker. The gravities were all where I would expect, I don't have the brew sheets here to refer to, but they were within specs. The first mash was too thin, and if I could do it over, I would have milled the second batch, and added it to the mash tun and extended the mash time. I'm...

I would consider putting out some type of rodent control if you're going to store grains in your garage. It seems like no matter how careful your are there will always be enough spilled grain to attract pests. We use mouse baits, and mouse traps. We have no kids and no pets so factor that...

JonM: What's your opinion on the split mash issue? I've made this recipe several times in the past, with out this flavor issue. This flavor won't go away with time. Thanks.

I have ten gallons of oatmeal stout that is undrinkable. See my post in General "Oatmeal Stout Rescue". It was brewed three weeks ago. I've kegged one carboy, chilled and hit it with CO2 and the off flavor is very pronounced. The taste is a harsh astringent flavor that hits the roof of...

I've done this ten gallon recipe about four or five times in the past. I've toasted the oats in the oven, then ground them the same day with the rest of the grain. No off flavors. It's been a very popular beer. This last time I did use the broiler and the oats got pretty "toasted". I'm...

The oats that I purchased at the brewshop were not toasted. The oats that I added at home were toasted in the oven. I toasted them in two large pans. One thing I did different this time was to use the broiler to speed up the toasting. I'm thinking of making another 5 gallon batch without...

I'll do some searching on cold steeping. I was looking at three pounds of Munich Malt extract syrup. Wonder what that would do if I dumped the container into a five gallon keg?

So, Yooper. How would you "fix" this problem. Love your recipe, when it's done correctly... Thanks.

How can it ferment at 38 degrees? Thanks.