Recent content by BrewMeThatBeer

No one else has had these issues? It's alright though, I'm switching over to BeerSmith 2, a much nicer interface.

I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there that has noticed significant errors in how ProMash calculates the SG. I just recently started creating my own recipes, so my knowledge of how much pppg each malt contributes was severely limited. I brewed 5 gallons of brown ale last night and...

I'd tend to agree. If there's a big difference in the temperatures of the sugar solution and the beer, they'll obviously separate out (assuming similar densities). In the past I've always cooled the sugar solution down to roughly the beer temperature and poured in and then stirred. Never...

Has anyone ever used vanilla beans and/or toasted coconut in their pumpkin beers? I was considering adding one or both and would appreciate any tips on the matter. Obviously I would add these in secondary for about a week before racking to the bottling bucket. Thanks in advance.

good point!

Standard 150-160F for ~30min. I was under the impression that certain grains require mashing to start the sugar conversion process. Without this step, you'd get very little fermentables.

I think it's a problem with my Java, maybe I don't have the latest and greatest version?

If you're looking to use malts that require mashing, but are only steeping them to provide body/complexity, would you change your ProMash recipe to show no fermentables given off by the malts? Specifically I plan to steep some biscuit and wheat malt, which is traditionally mashed. Right now...

This is slightly off topic, but as an experienced brewer, I'm sure you could offer guidance. Assuming you're using brewing software to come up with a recipe (Promash), would you suggest changing the recipe in the software to show these malts as giving of no fermentables? Right now I have them...

Does doing a full boil really add anything? I know it affects your hop utilization and your color, but both those things can be accounted for if you're using brewing software. I currently do 3 gallon boils for ease. When you're doing an AG batch is your wort volume always your batch volume?

@Jsamp: The plastic has a lot of give, so it expands with the ice @ajosin: Couldn't use the program in your link for some reason.... Thanks for the feedback everyone.

@ajosin: I stuck it in a quick ice bath in my sink while I got the ice cut out of the jug. The wort was sitting almost exactly at 3 gallons. I threw the ice in around 190F and stirred until completed melted. I then topped off with refrigerated water and at that point it was almost exactly...

Just wanted to let you all know about a very cool (no pun intended) method I used to cool my wort this past weekend. I had originally built a wort chiller, but after moving to a new place it turns out the faucet doesn't accept the fitting I had originally used. Anyway, I froze a gallon of...

Yuri, regarding the biscuit and wheat grains. Can those be steeped even though they're usually mashed? I'm assuming we're steeping them just to get body/complexity/etc. instead of fermentables. Is this right or am I missing something. A few of the different malt resources I've read say that...

If I'm steeping grains to be used in an extract recipe, and have for example, two different types of grains, can I/should I steep them both at the same time in the same pot? Furthermore, could I mix the two in the same grain bag? I'm not sure whether I need to steep them separately or...