Recent content by BuddhaK

Hey vegasbrew1, What is your source for info on water chemistry for beer?

That's the kind of thing I want to learn.

It must be subjective. I can't explain any other way why this batch came out the way it did. All things equal, it makes sense to me that if natural additives are removed through distillation, they need to be added back to get back to the original (or close to it) state.

Thanks. I'm brewing an extract and grain stout this event. I bought 5 gallons of Arrowhead spring water. I'll see how that works out.

I used distilled water for a Holiday brew this year. While the top end flavor of the beer is mostly right on, the flavors don't seem to blend, and the finish is rather lack luster, described as "watery". The head dissipates too soon. 6.6 pounds of liquid extract make up a good portion of the...

Are the pots all aluminum? As a beginner, it's my understanding that aluminum pots don't do well for brewing. Am I misinformed?

Thanks again, Bplastic77 I'm still a rather new brewer in terms of number of batches. That 1 gal all-grain is still actively fermenting nearly a month in. On 11-19, a hydrometer reading was 1.026, down from 1.053 on brew day (11-7). I'll take another reading in a day or two. Happy Holidays...

I bottled a Holiday brew, (well, technically last night) but had a hard time getting the siphon going. Ended up being a clog on the bottle filler stop mechanism, put there from gunk when I transferred to the bucket from the carboy. Any suggestions on a good system for setting up the siphon tube...

Thanks again for the input. 5 days later I'm still getting fermentation bubbling. Tiny bubbles in the wine may be fine, but just give me lots of them from the fermenter!

Good luck with the competition! Tiny bubbles in the wine may be fine, but just give me lots of them from the fermenter!

Well, here it is November 2014. Today I purchased some extract and other stuff for a recipe called Dark Sleep Stout. I read up on hop characteristics because this time I want more hop aroma in it. 'Also checked up on my first all-grain brew, one gallon batch. This recipe was different than any...

Cool. Thanks. I started at 7% on the hydrometer. I'll likely wait the two weeks because, as you noted, the batch is small. I realized after pitching that the half pack was proportionately large compared to pitching for 5gal. Tiny bubbles in the wine may be fine, but just give me lots of them...

For my first all-grain brew, I used a one gallon recipe. 2lbs pale malt 2 row, and 1/4 lb caramel malt 2 row. 1/2 package ale yeast and 1 oz centennial hops portioned six times throughout the brew. I cooled it quickly, and had fermentation bubbles in just a few hours coming from a 2-1/2 gallon...

I've not used Irish moss. What does it do?

Thanks folks. I really like the paint strainer idea. It seems every time I brew, I use different fine procedures. The basics stay the same, of course. Cheers!