Recent content by BilboBrewin

Grats! Honestly being 1.5° off on your first all-grain brew day is awesome :mug: Hitting temps gets easier with time but is never exact - I aim to hit or slightly overshoot, as if I overshoot a degree I can just stir longer!

Liked a batch (Belgian-style Tripel) and decided to re-brew it. It had the same: - grain bill - water source (distilled) and profile - strike/sparge water volumes - LHBS source - mash and boil time - equipment It was different with: - mash temp; 1 degree lower - amount of times stirred...

Wow, something I didn't think of! It is electric. I think I would need to talk to my building's property manager to know if it is on the same circuit. I know the two outlets next to my sink are on the same circuit and that the outlet between my stove and fridge is not on that circuit, but that...

I actually have that already, I'm just a bit nervous about using it, though I do have a GFCI outlet within easy reach of my stove. I have two friends who have a nice system with all the equipment (minus the fermentor I fill up and bring back home) already there. However, getting our...

I clean my kettle the night before and have the grains crushed at my LHBS (aim for same day crush). This is what a smooth day would look like if I were making an IPA: Heat strike water - 1h Mash while heating sparge water - 1h (total 2h) Vorlauf/collect first runnings in kettle and start...

I believe I have a dryer outlet available, but it is in my living room. Right now I am heating my strike water in two pots and have considered using two pots to help reach a boil. My other thought is to use a heat stick, which I already own but have not used yet. Edit: Oh and I've bought...

I do believe I have one (would have to investigate in more detail to be sure), but it is in my carpeted living room... I dunno...

I have done that for four batches - I called it gypsy homebrewing :mug:

Funny, I thought a lot of people would be balking at a 7 hour brew day... the one reason I don't mind it much is the time it takes to reach a boil (over an hour) gives me a break towards the middle... though a shorter day may mean I could brew more often, such as on weeknights... thus my...

Agreed, most of my batches are "half" batches, around 2.5-3g. I did buy the heat stick and have a GFCI outlet close enough to the stove, but am a little intimidated to use it. Likely brewing with a friend tomorrow, which reduces the stress for sure...

I have been brewing on my weak apartment stove for 30+ batches and it has made some delicious beer. I have no outdoor access for brewing (live in a city) and have just dealt with it. In the case of 5-gallon all-grain batches, this means a brew day that lasts 6-7 hours. I figure I can either...

I'm pretty close to and/or in your territory - my last 5g batch had 18oz total hops and my current 2.8g batch will get 4oz over two dry-hops :mug: :mug: :mug:

I fully agree. Some styles are easy to clear, some are not. Big, juicy IPAs - where an extraordinarily large amount of hops are added late - are often hazy for multiple reasons: the sheer amount of hops, the yeast used, how fresh it is served, etc. A great example is this video where the...

This is super, super useful and completely explains why my amount of wort plummets when transferring to the fermentor. I am considering dropping the straining. It is a fine mesh screen and I have to keep moving the hop sludge around with a butter knife for wort to go through, which adds a...

I'm not looking to reduce the haze as I don't see any flavor benefit to it. This was from Craft Beer & Brewing, Feb-Mar 2016 issue, page 69: "One of the characteristics of the so-called New England IPA is the haziness of the beers. Traditionally, IPAs are clear beers, but many of the more...