Recent content by wildactbrewer

It doesn't taste too dry to me. It just doesn't have that typical "belgian" flavor. I'm missing the maltiness I think. There is a very clean very subtle bitterness which is nice and a slight banana/bubble gum too. It's not overpowering by any means. I kept my ferm temp set at 68 to start then...

I just did a Belgian Tripel that I feel like finished a little low. I'd like some feedback to see if I may have botched this one... 4 gallon batch Single Infusion Mash @ 150F 90 Minute Boil Wyeast Trappist High Gravity 9# Belgian Pilsner 1# Munich 1# Belgian Candi Sugar (Clear) 1oz Hallertau...

I don't see anything wrong with it from the photos provided. Keep in mind that there are very few bugs that can grow on a beer that would harm you. Granted, some taste pretty nasty. I don't see any pellicle forming yet and the oily residue could be from either starsan or hops. I would say...

I harvested some yeast out of a commercial Saison once. There was a thread on here about culturing yeast once but I can't find it. Basically, here was the process (Keep in mind that you literally have to sanitize everything when you do this. Sanitation is insanely important when harvesting and...

I had this same thing happen on an IPA I did last year! I had no idea, and still don't, what happened. I attributed the sweetness to the proportion of crystal malt I used as the beer also came out a bit darker than I expected. Still a good beer, but like you described...not quite right. I know...

As far as the grain bill goes I think your okay there. I usually try to keep my Pales a little simpler but that's just my preference. The only thing you might want to look in to would be working in a hop addition somewhere in the 25-15 minute range for a little flavor. English pales aren't...

The green sludge is a mixture of cold break and hop pellets. I usually try to leave this behind as much as I can. It's not really the hop material you want to remain in your beer, it's the oils and flavor compounds that are extracted during the boil. I may be wrong on this, but I seem to...

I went back to the same store today and we told me that he got in some Hopslam. $18.99 for a 6-pack. It was hard to turn down, and I know I will be destroyed for this, but I got some Tim Smith Moonshine instead. lol

I'd go ahead and bottle it. This is a personal preference, but I like my dry hopped beers young. On my palate, you lose a lot of hop character after about 30 days or so. At least that's my personal excuse for drinking a whole batch of beer in 2 weeks ;)

I'd say bottle it up. As long as your done dry hopping and your gravity is stable then go for it. The secondary wouldn't improve anything at this point in my opinion. Some people swear by the secondary...some (me) think it's unnecessary. Did you dry hop for the last week?

HOLY CRAP SOMEONE KNEW WHERE CYNTHIANA WAS!! This calls for homebrew :) If you ever make it to Georgetown, check with Derek at Blurgrass Liquor Box. The guy is really knowledgeable and really tries to bring in the rare stuff. :mug:

Whichever method you go with, just make sure you purge the keg with CO2 before the aging period. If you are setting and forgetting you'd be doing this anyway. But, if you plan to age it and then force carb, be sure to get the O2 out of there to minimize oxidation.

The 90 min was better for me as well. Honestly, with the 120 I was expecting a hop bomb but it actually tasted really balanced and even a little on the sweet side.

Yeah, I noticed my ears getting hot about halfway down. It was seriously different from anything I've every had.

Just had to tell this amusing story about my first Dogfish 120 experience. I live in a very small, very rural area of Kentucky about 45 minutes outside of Lexington. Needless to say, craft beers are hard to come by without driving to "the big city." In my small town of Cynthiana, you can't...