Search results

I have never used 007 before, but have used dozens of white labs vials. This one seems diferent, and I'm concerned if it is bad. Made my starter last night. Pulled the vial out of the fridge to warm up...it looked weird. Not the creamy yeast sludge I'm used to. It was more like curdled...

On December 16th, we had 4 shipments delivered to our house. Some Ass hat decided he wanted them more than us, and stole them. I got really pissed about this, rightfully in my mind. All I knew about them were: 1 box was from a 3rd party reseller via Amazon (present for me) 1 box was from...

Just got a new hop rocket from the wife as a late xmas present. Seriously stoked about this. Out of the box the band clamp is tightened down with a regular nut, and the T bolt is in a separate bag. Is there any reason to use that nut, or should I not use that and only use the tbolt to...

I picked up a roughly 5 cu ft chet freezer for free. IT was sitting on the street a couple blocks away with a free sign on it. Take it home...it doesn't work. The compressor runs, but never cools. It is an old one, and probably not worth repairing. I realize the whole get what you pay...

I kegged my smoked porter yesterday. I decided to take half and make it a chipotle smoked porter. I didn't have dried chiptles, only powder and chipotles in adobo. I opted for the ones in adobo sauce. I rinsed them real good and patted dry with paper towels. I used 3 in a muslin bag...

I'm going to do a split boil experiment tomorrow. 5 gal of simcoe pale ale and 5 gal of Jamils evil twin coming from a single mash. I'm thinking of not mashing the chocolate malt during the mash, and just steeping them in the evil twin batch. That will lighten up the pale ale a bit. Any...

I'm hooked on yeast washing. It isn't hard, and can save a lot of money. The only downside has been the wife saying, "MORE mason jars of yeast in the fridge!" Oh well, it's a money saver. I was wondering if the below would work, or cause any problems: Instead of boiling the jars in...

I know the possible contamination risks that the grain pose to fermenting beer. I have several hundred pounds of grains stored in lowes buckets with gamma seal lids. The two places I can store the grains are my basement (where I ferment), or my garage (where I brew in winter / rain)...

At the LHBS today I needed WLP028 (edinburgh) for a smoked scottish 80/- I'm brewing this weekend. He had 3 vials left. All were dated best by 5/14/2011 (today is 5/26/11). He told me he wouldn't sell them, but he would GIVE ALL 3 to me for free. Woo freaking hoo. Almost $24 in free...

I added a new keggle to my lineup today. Looking at it, the coupler was welded right next to the vent hole (see pic). The shop must have realized their mistake, as they welded a piece of stainless steel over the vent hole, sealing it up. The stainless patch is just below, and to the left of...

I'm looking at purchasing either the whirlppol fitting or side pickup from bargainfittings.com to replace my current pickup tube. The current fitting I have is the copper pickup tube from bargain fittings. I got the straight one, and bent it around my pot in the same shape (roughly) as the...

So I'm trying to be all green and what not, putting my spent grains into my compost bin. The problem is that for a few days after putting the spent grains in, it smells like Jeffrey Dahmers kitchen. We actually thought the first time that something died behind the shed. It took a couple...

Took a beercation last week, and thought I'd share... We started in Cooperstown NY, touring fly creek cider mill, Cooperstown Brewery, Brewery Ommegang, and Bear Pond Winery. Then we headed up to Troy NY, where we went to Browns brew pub. Next was Pioneer brewing in Sturbridge Mass. Then...

This is the 2nd year brewing this recipe. It is based on Yuris thunderstruck pumpkin ale. This beer has won 2nd place in two competitions, scoring a 38 in the 2009 HBT competition, and scoring 39.5 in the 2008 Lancaster Brewers Showdown. I used 73 oz of pumpkin in the mash, that was roasted...

I have an IPA that I brew that I put 3 ounces of chocolate malt in it for a little different flavor. The first time I brewed this, it was fantastic. I have tweaked the recipe and brewed it several times since. The 3 oz of choclate malt hasn't changed. However none of the batches after the...

I brewed my blackeye IPA today. It uses S-05. I also kegged an American Wheat today that used S-05. I took advantage of this opportunity to pitch onto a yeast cake. 32 batches, and I hadn't been able to do this yet. So I finished racking into the BB at 5:35. I just went downstairs (7:30)...

I was attempting a quick turn around mild, and it has not worked out so far. I hit my OG on the nose at 1.035. Pitched a pack of S-04. Day 3 of fermentation I woke up and found that my carboy had slipped to 60F, and the krausen had dropped. I didn't know if they were related or not. I...

So I have my system dialed in pretty well at 75% eff. That has been my standard on my current equipment. So the last two batches I brewed I had 83% and 89%. 83% was on a new mill, but from a store Ive gotten 75% regular. 89% was from BW, who always gets me 75%. The only change to my...

So after many near misses, I finally lost my refractometer pipette during a brew day. I can find them online at some places, but shipping ends up being three times the cost of the pipettes, unless I order 500. Does anyone know any HBS that sell them? I checked several but couldn't find...

I'm fighting my pumpkin ale right now. 11.5 lbs of grain, 73 ounces of pumpkin, a full pound of rice hulls... I couldnt get a temp to stick to save my life. Twice added a quart of boiling water. The mash finally stabilized at 153 (shooting for 154). I get done with the mash, and I'm...