Recent content by bbarclay

Thanks! I did take a temp reading and the liquid in the barrel was 1.5° cooler. I put a heating pad on the barrel for a couple hours and the the levels started equalize.

Has anyone had an issue where oxygen is being taken into a barrel via the airlock, rather than spitting CO2 out? Backstory: I had a 5 gallon barrel filled with a 65% Belgian Two Row 35% Torrified wheat mash/wort that, last fall (35° night), I put in the window overnight and got some really great...

Recently, I bottled my first 100% brett beer. A golden ale aged 9 months on brett...sour as a lemon - almost too sour, if such a thing be. Anyway, I didn't use any bottling yeast before I bottled, and it's super flat after being in the bottles for about 3 months. I have another sour beer in a...

Roger that. Good plan. Could run another red through the barrel, maybe a cab sauv. That would be interesting and give a bunch of cool fruit flavors. I appreciate the feedback! I'll figure this brewing stuff out eventually. :drunk:

Absolutely agree with it being a long way off. I bough a new 5 gallon american oak barrel for this, that I've been aging a Pinot Noir in, specifically so this can impart that red wine flavor to this beer. So, I was thinking more along the 18month mark including barrel time. I'm just novice with...

So my hydrometer is reading in at 1.015, which puts me roughly at 4.2%, I'm comfortable with that, though was looking for 6%... not a huge deal though as the beer is tasting fantastic. That said, I will take recommendations on how to push that up if there is a safe way to do so. Thanks for...

My OG reading was roughly 11brix. 11.6 would likely be accurate, it's just hard to read the points on the brix. I landed at roughly 8 brix, which is the 2.8. I will take a hydrometer reading and report back. I did a Pinot 2 weeks ago and my readings were spot on coming up with a 13%, for my...

I did. I use http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml, to calculate the SG, as it adjusts for alcohol. I've had accurate results on other beers and wine that I've recently done.

Hello, I have an amber ale in the primary for over 5 weeks now. The OG was 1.047, my refractometer is telling me that my SG is at 1.038 now... giving me a 2.8% ABV. Seems quite a bit low at 3 weeks out. I pitched just one package of wyeast American Ale along with one package of Brett Brux...

From a slightly different perspective, this seems like a good (albeit expensive) tool for novice brewers to learn on...and for the record, I'm novice. :) Seems like an opportunity to experiment with grain bills, learn temp controls in mash and boil, and play with hop profiles without killing...

Just wanted to reach out to the forum and see if you have any advice for bottling a barrel-aged stout with an 11% ABV? This is my first experiment in Barrel-Aging, so I'm looking for any direction. Thanks!

I've used Trappist High Gravity Yeast 3 times now in stouts, and it does seem to be fickle. I've had 1 start 12 hours after, another start 48 hours after, and the other I had to (and I'm sure I'll get shamed for this) stir the cake at the bottom. When I did stir it, it went ballistic. I can't...