Recent content by BarberSurgeon

I tried this last year using Deception Sweet Stout as the base. I split off one gallon from the main batch and added natural orange extract. It was not a good match. The orange gave it a medicinal quality that highlighted all the wrong parts of the malt flavor. I hope yours works out, because I...

Yeah, from what I understand, the protein content (~40%) would be pretty goopy. There is probably some way of filtering this though. Where there's a will, right? Anyway, I thought it would be neat to make an all-bean "beer" without any grain (hence the scare quote). Add some coffee and...

Conversion of starch from dry common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to ethanol I was trying to find some information on HBT about mashing and fermenting beans (black, specifically), but found there wasn't much on the subject and the few people who tried it didn't report their results. Ever...

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was thinking it might take a while to filter the trub because I'm picturing a funnel with a strainer over it with the wort slowly percolating through. I only say this because I did just that yesterday with the remainder to freeze and save for starters. No...

These are all good tips. Thanks, guys. I'm feeling better and a lot less discouraged after the initial disappointment. I'll probably go with duboman's advice and just up the recipe to account for the extra loss. It's already pushing it on my 4-gallon kettle, but I think I can squeeze another...

I started the brew day feeling great and enthusiastic, but now I feel like screaming. I've been brewing for about a year now, and throughout all of my progress, one aspect of brewing has continued to haunt me from day one. I cannot for the life of me finish the boil with a dependable volume...

Wow, lots of support! This must be a common problem. I'm sure I'll stick with it, but I've got a beer that's been in the fermenter for over a month and it feels like a nagging chore I have to do.

I just started AG brewing a few months ago and had good results in the two batches I made, but I can't seem to keep it up because of the tediousness of cleaning. It's such an important step that it can't be skipped, but in a small apartment kitchen, I find it's just impossible to get a...

Thanks. That does make sense. I left the electric burner on high, so perhaps just maintaining a rolling boil on a medium setting is all I need (and what I normally do).

Okay, is this even possible? I just measured a 33% (1/3) boil-off in 30 minutes in my one-gallon system test. I am no expert on the physics behind this stuff, but does that mean I'll lose 2/3 of my starting volume over an hour? That seems crazy. This is by no means my first boil, and I've never...

Definitely looks like a good start. This calculator suggested I strike with 3.53 gallons (assuming no sparge), with .53 going to the grains and 1 gallon to boil-off. I'm boiling up a gallon in my kettle now to see how much I lose in a half hour. The first link claims that if I multiply the...

I'm sure your advice is sound and great coming from your situation, but I've been making 2 gallon batches of extract for months and love it. It's practical, fast, and I get to try a lot of different recipes in quick succession. I started on 5 gallons and just hate the maintenance, cleanup and...

I'll be brewing up my first AG BIAB tomorrow. I'm making a two-gallon batch with 4.2 pounds of grain. Beer Smith suggests I use 6.56 qts of water for the mash then sparge with 1.37 qts (I may not sparge). I understand that boil-off will vary with temperature, climate, and altitude, but how much...

Good point. I usually like to respect style guidelines. Maybe I'll just call this a Belgian Blonde "inspired" ale.

The BeerSmith software will do this, but it relies on existing recipes and anything you may have created.