Recent content by WhatsOnTap

Okay, so I tried the KY Common and I have to admit, it is turning a bit but I am still conflicted whether I like it or not. It has a complex nose now - hops and deep malt with a little vomit, but now I have some parmesan creeping in. The flavor is pretty sour, with the parmesan, malt, hops...

12 habaneros, wow - how hot is that relish? I guess if you take the seeds out it will tame it a bit, but I would imagine it has some punch. I think I will make it, though - sounds fantastic with the cukes. I have 30 lbs of sauerkraut going as I write this so my starter is made. Thanks!

That sounds fantastic, do you mind sharing the recipe?

Cool, that makes sense about the starters. I will try that for my next sour mah. I am actually buying the 5335 single strain Lacto for a Berliner next week as well, so I may keep a "stock strain" of pure lacto starter in the fridge for a time like this. What do you guys know about using apple...

I have read about consuming these beers young as well, but if it still smells like this after clearing it might have to turn into an accidental Oud Bruin... Of course I had to make a 10 gal. batch.

I just racked a Kentucky common to secondary and there seems to be some butyric acid presence in the nose, but the taste is relatively clean. I did a sour mash for 2 days at 90-120 F, and it smelled/tasted clean, as well. The boil seemed to smell vomity though. Anyway, my question is: will...

You could go with a wheat beer too. Always cheap but very flavorful. 5 lb. 2-row malt 5 lb. Wheat malt Rice Hulls .33 oz Magnum Hops @ 60 min. WLP Hefe IV yeast Mash at 150 for 1 hour, Boil, pitch, ferment, bottle, drink in 2 weeks for freshest flavor!

It's funny - last night I "dry-hopped" a belgian wit with cilantro in the glass. That is, I crushed some cilantro leaves and drew a beer on top of them. It complimented the beer tremendously well. A little taste of heaven....

Wow, you guys weren't supposed to answer like that. I had just convinced myself that I wasn't crazy! I have some acreage that gets a lot of sun, and I tend to be overly-ambitious when it comes to beer related and outdoor activities. I'm actually splitting the rhizomes between my dad and I: 70...

I was at a sustainable hop conference in December, and they found great results with white clover as a companion. FWIW

I'm relieved to hear the good reports about them. I just ordered 100 rhizomes: 25 each of Sterling, Nugget, Cascade, and Willamette. Couldn't resist the price, now I've gotta figure out what to do with them all! Good problems to have, I guess.

Personally, I'm the kind of beer drinker that prefers hop flavor/aroma over massive bitterness. That being said, what I would do is move your 40 minute additions (maybe except for the magnum, which I would move to 60 for more bitterness) to 20 minute additions or less. I would really...

Hey guys, I've been running a direct-fire system that has worked fantastic so far (and I feel guilty now for not posting on it sooner). I heat my mash in a 21 qt. enamel coated canner, then found that it will conveniently fit in a large, very thick walled styrofoam cooler that I got from...

You'll want to steep the grains in 155-160 F water, 2 gallons or so, then rinse (sparge) with 1 or 2 gal of water at 170. If you leave your grains in the grain bag and sparge through a collander it helps. Good luck and have fun!

The roasted barley doesn't have to be mashed, just steep as you would any crystal malt. The same goes for blk. pat. or choc. malt. The reason for using light malt would be that you would get more control over the flavors imparted by your specialty grains, as you don't know what they used to...