Recent content by danmdevries

Iron is no secret in my raw water. The softener with iron reducing salts takes care of it for home use but I've had quite undesirable effects using softener water for brewing. Guess I'll just have to stick with dark beers (which I prefer anyway) Any issues with the report when used for...

pH 7.9 TDS 551 Conductivity 0.92 Cations/Anions 10.8 / 11.4 Sodium 34 Potassium 3 Calcium 81 Magnesium 62 Total Hardness CaCO3 461 Nitrate 0.2 Sulfate 37 Chloride 2 Carbonate <1.0 Bicarbonate 552 Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 456 Total Phos 0.02 Total Iron 1.13 I ordered this to help me guide...

yup

Thank you for confirming my suspicions. I had high doubts when I saw it considering the patent on Amarillo hops and like you said, what we use are all female only and seeds would only be from contaminated specimens. I did have a little hope that Amarillo gold was a separate, non patented...

I got an email from a friend with a link to an Ebay auction selling "amarillo gold" hops seeds. Now the uncertainties of m/f growing from seed aside, what is amarillo gold? Is it similar in flavor/aroma to Amarillo? Worth a shot? Here's the link. Not mine, no association, just shopping...

I'll share the recipe too. I think this is what I used, it was meant to be a one time brew so I didn't write anything down either. So this is mostly from memory. I know the 1lb flaked barley and handful maltodextrin was sitting on the shelf when I was pouring in the mash and on impulse I threw...

TL;DR at the end Wife and I had a kid last August. She was stuck in the hospital for a while due to C Section and the weekend (weekend covering physicians rarely discharge on the weekend fyi). I took the opportunity to catch up on a few things since I took FMLA and didn't have to cover my unit...

I did at least a dozen batches before I got sick of dropping $5 on ice for brewday. Realized for the $60 I'd spent on ice, I could've bought a good amount of copper tubing and made a chiller. So I did. About a year ago I bought a 25' coil of copper tubing and bent it to fit my kettle. A few...

And this is 100% true. If you've got the ingredients on hand, BREW IT! I've made some good beers that were "leftovers mash" brews. I've made some awful beers that were "leftovers mash" brews. Either way, brew your normal rotation and when you've got enough leftovers, toss em...

I'm not THAT familiar with fuggle but I know someone that experimented with a fuggle IPA and it did not turn out well at all. That strain doesn't have the flavor/aroma of the hops normally used in IPA's. Again, I personally have not experimented with it but did toss around the idea of...

I transferred the wort out of the bucket and into a carboy. Not even calling it secondary because that wasn't my purpose. Excessive trub in the fermenter left what looked like lingering high krausen. I sanitized a spoon and scooped some out, it was just a "shell" of mixed krausen and trub with...

I usually do 2L starters and unless it's a lighter style, I pitch the whole flask. I'll cold crash a 2L starter for wheat, belgian, american pales. Most of what I brew is in the 1.080-1.120 OG range so most of the time I just pitch the whole thing. I pitched a whole 4L starter on my last brew...

Basement is pretty much a constant 64 year round. Even with a vigorous fermentation like this, it rarely breaks 74-75f. Usually they're between 68-72. I've never had any issues as far as I can tell with fermentation. Maybe I'll get on board with temperature controlled fermentation someday but...

Background: 1.128 OG Belgian/English Barleywine with my first 4L starter. I was already nervous about this brew: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/critique-my-recipe-please-358847/ I last saw it just start bubbling a little before I went to bed around 230-3am last night and when I went...

Do you think my "choice" of adjunct grains is sufficient for adding body? They were all leftovers so I just tossed em all in. My wife's favorite beer is 3Floyds Behemoth and I've never found a clone recipe nor have I been able to get my hands on enough bottles (usually 2-3/yr) to attempt a clone...