Recent content by boodyrischous

If you are going with raw wood, you will want to clean it well and you'd probably want to toast it. Most homebrew shops have a nice selection of different toasts already made for you.

Avoid boiling as that can cause harsh tannin extraction. Heat the oak in some water up to 150 (I usually go to 160) for 30 min. That should take care of the bacteria. The wood flavor will come from the selection of oak. Medium toasts have much more wood character, and heavy toasts present...

I am mainly looking for ideas on the hopping schedule and oak blend. The brewery does not give out ideas. Any help is appreciated. On a related note- if anyone has a Wooden Hell recipe, that would also be helpful.

Anybody? <crickets>

Anyone have a good recipe for this? Thanks!

I have reused yeast cakes with delicious results. As long as it isn't a super low gravity beer or from a beer with excessive trub (tons of pellet additions), I don't think you'll have any issues.

Many people use the terms interchangeably, but yes, true kraeusening is done with actively fermenting beer.

I just thought I'd mention that you can also prime with unfermented wort (i.e. don't add yeast to it). You just figure the amount you need, pull it from the kettle at the end of the boil, keep it in a jar in the fridge, and at priming time, boil for 10 min, then cool and add to bottling bucket...

We had our kegs at ambient temp in the basement for a while (prob 65 degrees). The beer coming out was great, but lost too much CO2 in the transfer to bottles, causing undercarbonation. But it was just fine for serving.

An 8,000 or 9,000 btu portable A/c unit would do the trick, right? I have access to either for a low price, so I am thinking of using them instead of a window unit (that way all the noise is contained in the well-insulated cabinet). They have tubes to dump moisture that I would have to seal...

Good point. My other option is a portable a/c unit that I can get on the cheap. Anyone know if 9000 btu would be enough (with a temp controller) to get a well-insulated cabinet down to 35 or so degrees?

I have experienced that, but lately I noticed that it was only on caps that were extra. Caps we sanitized and then had to dry and use again developed the brown spots. Our solution was just to pop in a handful and replenish as you bottle, so they don't sit in the solution for as long, and we...

Here's a method we used- Make a pitcher of extra-strong cold-press coffee to be ready about the time you are bottling/ kegging. Strain out the grounds, and boil the amount you anticipate using (to sanitize). It no longer has the grounds, and so doesn't make it harsh. Then you can pull a sample...

I've used both, and Nibs provide great Chocalate flavor. Make sure you sanitize them thoroughly, as they definitely have the ability to infect a batch. I think soaking in hard alcohol is one of the better methods.

This item would be from craigslist (thus at a very cheap price). I just figured a freezer would work better than a fridge for keeping kegs at the proper temperature. However, i contacted the manufacturer and they claimed that coolant lines run throughout and so no cutting should be done (they...