Recent content by EDS2K

I bought a "stainless steel" brew infuser from a well known online HBS. Turns out the small chain attached to it is anything but stainless. It rusted on second use for dry hopping. In the beer it went black slimy. Afterwards I cleaned it and put it in plain water to test - it rusted orange...

Nylon bags for me - last forever (4 years so far). One for grains, one for hops and Irish moss. Stainless infuser for dry hopping.

Clarification. When pitching on the yeast cake, my personal max is twice in a row (three total batches). I don't get too excited about under or over pitching. You can drive yourself insane trying to measure and analyze everything. Most of the time I brew variations on a pale ale /...

The easiest way to use yeast more than once is to dump the next batch of cooled wort onto the lees of a just finished brew. You just have to coordinate your kegging/bottling with brewing and do as much as you can in the way of not letting anything jump in. I use a drum tap and tube off my...

Mutation will occur over time. But that is not necessarily a bad thing - you could end up with something good (or bad) - a unique house style - that will reflect what you have done to it. Quite an exciting prospect actually. I am planning on doing the same myself. I keep three strains...

Marbles! Fantastic. I am a fan of nylon bags for steeping grains and for hops - the floating hops issue drives me nuts. Why did I not think of marbles? Thanks!

Another thought. Since you can get WLP002, 005 and 007 at anytime, a good one to pick up for harvesting and keeping is WLP006 Bedford. It is only available July/August, so keeping some back allows you to have "strawberries in winter". I have really liked the "session" beers I have made from...

From the makers themselves: WLP002 English Ale Yeast A classic ESB strain from one of England's largest independent breweries. This yeast is best suited for English style ales including milds, bitters, porters, and English style stouts. This yeast will leave a beer very clear, and will...

For Britsh ale styles WLP002, WLP007 and especially WLP005 are hard to beat. Plus they are easy to recover and keep. I just brought nearly two year old 002 and 005 back to life with great effect. I think 005 is one of the best yeasts there is.

I have not used Amarillo, but grow Chinook and use it routinely. Unless I offset its Pine-O-Sol floor cleaner tendencies with a lot of caramel type steeped malts, I will not use more than 1oz (28g) for bittering (assuming a 60 minute boil). If you are using the pre-hopped LME like Coopers...

The fallibility of my infallible brewing system just exposed itself. I hastily put down a brew midweek before heading off for a business trip. Literally pitching and running. I use a Fermwrap with a digital temp regulator to hit a perfect 67°F fermenting temp for my preferred type of ales. I...

If you steep grains first for half hour or so at 150°F, turn the flame off at that point and add all of the malt. Stir until dissolved. Put the heat back on and bring to a boil stirring all the while. Add your bittering hops once boiling begin the timed boil. If you don't steep grains (and...

Add 5 1/2 pale or extra light DME, forget the lime (that's a personal thing - I hate fruity beers - use a little if you want), use 4oz of the chocolate malt, and 4 oz of the black malt, 1/2 lb of the caramel. Steep the grains in a grain bag for 30 mins at 150°F. Dissolve the DME. Boil. Use 2...

You'll own them forever, so an extra $20 - $25 now per faucet is nothing over time. (That's how I explained my purchasing decision to my wife anyhow.)

Just bought and installed a pair of 525SS faucets. They are a thing of beauty and supremely functional. 5 stars so far....