Recent content by XombieDeath

I need some math help. I'm sure there's someone that knows the right formula for this that would keep me from having to trial and error it... If I have 5 gallons of water at 154F. I want to add another 5 gallons to it with an end resulting temperature of 174F. What temperature does the...

last one of these got drank last night (7/19). You could taste the full plum flavor profile and the tartness was just right. The raisin was discernable but quite faint. It blended excellently. All the SWMBO's (wife / sister-in-law / mother-in-law / friend's wife literally stole my glass)...

SWMBO appeasement. Chilling the wort to pitch temperatures. Be careful when cooking on the porch, in the summer, at night with the light on. Moths and JuneBugs don't ferment very well and leave funny aftertastes.

I use Xylitol to backsweeten my ciders and haven't had any complaints from anyone. It's a non-fermentable sugar. It's sounds chemical and unnatural but it is completely natural. You should be able to pick some up at the sweetener aisle of your local supermarket, just look at the ingredients...

for fear of being labeled a "brony", I do have a 2 year old daughter. She loves the horsie show. And as far as kids shows go, it's not horrible. It's the same art style as the powerpuff girls. From a purely, "forced to watch kids shows" perspective, it's definately not the most annoying...

For Hop Utilization, you reach peak bitterness at around the 60 minute mark. You reach peak Flavor at around the 20 minute mark. You reach peak Aroma at about the 7 minute mark. Hops boiled for 20 minutes yeild max flavor but all the aroma has dissipated. By 40 minutes, all the flavor has...

you could just wing it. Slap together what you have, call it GreeneTiki's Leftover Ale, keep good notes and see how it turns out. Just pick your favorite hops and yeast and you're in business.

check your local walmart for the spring water bottles. They have 1, 3, and 5 gallon plastic bottles that work just fine. You'll need a stopper/airlock for it, but you'll need that anyways.

Bottled on 6/21, checked carbonation level last night (6/24). I waited too long and they are overcarbed. Lost half a case trying to pastuerize due to carbonation breaking the cap seal. Still managed to come away with a case though, just gotta remember to open them over the sink due to the...

Add a chinup bar to keep the SWMBO happy.

Remember to make sure SWMBO is contented and unlikely to maliciously disturb the beermaking process. Loving and/or presents the night before the brew is always useful.

honey is a natural preservative. you shouldn't have to do anything special

Most common question on cider forum is how to make a sparkling sweet cider. There are lots of posts about how to do it, here's one way... If you purchased the juice from the store, it is pastuerized. Pastuerized juice does not need to be boiled before fermentation begins. Add some...

don't pitch your yeast till the wort is at the right pitch temperature. If you are doing a 5 gallon batch with a 2 gallon boil, put those 3 gallons of water in the fridge and get them GOOD AND COLD. Then dump the cold water in the fermentor right before you put the wort in. It should get the...

If you put the extract in late, know that the gravity of the boil is used to determine hop utilization. The higher the boil gravity, the lower the hop utilization (i.e. how much water and how much extract are in the pot when you are boiling the hops determines how bitter it is going to be.) If...