Search results

Thanks everyone! I definitely can't wait to try some of these places. If any of you are ever in Central Texas, I can give you a full beer agenda as well.

SWMBO and I got ourselves invited to a wedding in Santa Monica in mid-July and we decided to make a vacation out of it, rent a car and drive up the coast a bit. We plan to stay 2 nights each in Santa Barbara and SLO and I know next to nothing about either place (other than they look really...

I think that was the case. All those guys are nice enough but I get the feeling they are mostly familiar with traditional ag. That and they look like extras from Whisker Wars :) Thanks for the stirring advice. I'm now on a mission- to get a 70% efficiency out of all grain.

Thanks Ramarok. I will try to force the issue next time. I did mention twice that I was going to biab and he still tried to get me to buy rice hulls. Just to be clear, when I ask for double crush, I am asking him to run the grain through twice, right? I really think this might be my issue...

Thanks for that note Fatnoah. I did pretty much just dump in the grains, stir, cover and let it sit. Next time I'll try your method.

Does anyone know what a suitable cycle time is for a chest freezer?

So last year about this time I had a brew so frustrating that I had to put it down for a while. I was attempting my 1st all-grain batch (BIAB) and ran across issue after issue. First, the smell of the mash process overwhelmed the house so bad that SWMBO left a very unhappy camper and was not...

I brewed a Hefe yesterday. I can only hope mine comes out looking like that!

I BIAB in an aluminum pot with the strainer basket. I drape the voile bag over the basket for mashing. The basket keeps the bag off the bottom of the pot. For sparging, I lift the basket (heavy but doable) and place a BBQ grate on top of the pot. Then I set the basket on top of the grate for...

Ok, the brewstand is nice and all, but this deserves some serious high-fiving right here.

Thanks for this. I'm getting ready to give BIAB another try in a couple of weeks (after a disastrous 1st try). How did your mash temperature work out? Did the calculator do a good job with that too? Also, how did the quilt technique work out for insulation? Were you able to hold temp for...

Where do you buy your Simcoe? I've been wanting to try it, but everywhere I've looked has been sold out forever.

Where'd you find the Simcoe hop pellets? I haven't been able to find any.

My dog has been known to happily scarf down rotten birds, colored nylon rope as well as other animals' vomit and feces, but now I find out that chocolate, grapes AND hops are potentially lethal. Funny creatures.

Nice marmot.

Thanks Arc. That's reassuring.

So I had my Saturday planned out to to brew my first Oktoberfest (AHS Oktoberfest/Marzen) and I smacked two packets of Wyeast 2633 (Oktoberfest Lager) at about 3 p.m. Well, shortly thereafter SWMBO decided that we should go out that evening for dinner. My Sunday was super busy, so I wasn't...

I brewed Saturday, so it was about mid-way through my planned primary. Airlock activity had already slowed.

It's been my experience that you want to heat to ~5 degrees above your steep temp and dump in your grains. That will lower it to about your steep temp. You want to maintain that temp as best you can for the duration of the steep. Different reactions occur at higher/lower temperatures that you...

I have never hit my target OG, but I've never stirred for more than about 30 seconds. That will change for my next batch. Has anyone ever rigged up a drill powered paint stirrer (sanitized of course) for mixing the wort?