Recent content by calpyro

FYI. The following is a re post that I wrote a while ago: I work as a fireman and I know first hand the effects of CO. I have been subjected to CO throughout my 25 year career and I have become sensitized to the cumulative exposures. In short, the more that I have been exposed, the more...

I am a huge fan of my Cream Ale. Straight up they are great. I recommend that you make it from RO water and build it up with a small amount of Calcium Sulfate and Calcium Chloride. This way you can really control the softness of the final beer. A moderate to low bittering is essential. If...

I did a Cream Ale six days ago that is going to be a starter for a Bo Pils. This afternoon, I increased the temperature from 65 to 69 degrees and turned on the stir plate for a few hours to finish off fermentation. It has now been five hours and the blow off tube went from no activity to...

I have been dry-hopping in a Corney Keg for several years with the Surescreen from Northern Brewer: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/surescreen.html Essentially it is a stainless steel screen tube that fits over the pickup tube of the keg. It is $8 and lasts forever. I see it as the best...

I was looking for a way to make big starters for lager beers. Well at NHC Seattle I decided to ask the good people at Wyeast if making a small beer +/- 1.040 in the ten gallon-ish size would work as a starter for a 12 gallon lager. After a bit of head scratching and calculating, they said yes...

The yeast activity of natural carbonation has the benefit of scrubbing out the Oxygen contained within the Dry Hop addition. I have found that my Cask Conditioned beers that treated in the manner have a much longer shelf life and better long term hop flavor.

Put the sanitized sugar/water in the keg before racking the beer in.

My favorite is to add pumpkin pie spice. I makes a great cider that taste like apple pie. I add around two Tbs to a cup of vodka and let is sit for a couple of days. Then pour the vodka off of the spices into the keg. I then add honey/water to the keg to sweeten it to taste. Give it a force...

Here is a good Youtube video which provides a proven recipe and instructions for using the brewing system:

You will probably have a difficult time making 100' of 1/2" tubing fit without splitting it into two coils.

Good point. I have a 70' combination HERMS/Immersion coil that ran too slow. I split it in to two-parallel coils and it rocks. I think that a 1/2" would be nice. Be careful to not have it too long. When the coil is really long, they often have all of the coils stacked upon each other and create...

Please explain what is "bottled beer taste" I don't exactly agree to the premise that artificial carbonation is somehow superior other than it is faster and leaves a little less sediment in the keg. However, using sugar to carbonate can actually improve the flavor of the beer. The renewed...

You can use sugar to prime a keg. I use 1/3 cup boiled in water. It works better than DME. The yeast may be a bit tired and simple sugar will be easier for the tired yeast to digest. The exception is Krausening...

I attached mine to the lid and it serves double-duty as an immersion chiller. The threaded fitting on the camlock fittings with a couple of stainless steel washers holds it nice and tight. No leaks.