Recent content by EmptyH

If it was skunked you would know, it will litterally taste, and smell like a skunk so I doubt that was you problem. What was the recipe you used? That might help everyone figure out where the problem lies.

If I remember right, vanilla is not water soluable and needs alcohol to extract the flavoring, since beer has relatively low alcohol content I wouldn't think just putting the bean in the secondary would give a very pronounced flavor. If you soaked the bean in 3 or 4 oz of Vodka or Bourbon for a...

How long was it in the bottle before you tasted it? Are you sure it was fully fermented before you bottled. The gusher could be from still having too much fermentable sugar in the beer at bottling time and the strange smell could be just young beer. If it tastes good I would think it is...

I hear ya on that one. I have dislocated my shoulder several times as well. Once quite literally from a sneeze.

I definately want to get into kegging but right now its a time(set up time)/money thing, and my next purchase is going to be a setup to do partial mashes. I will probably end up getting a new wand this weekend. Well at least I don't have to worry about the bottle blowing, if its under-carbed...

I would think the biggest factor would be the amount of water. If you were a little over 5 gal that would dilute the solution and lower the gravity, if you were under 5 gal it would be a higher gravity. Also when using the LME some of the extract sticks to the sides of the can, so if you got...

Thats the way it is *suppose* to work, however the wand was leaking, when I removed it, it did not stop dispensing and over-filled the bottle. I had to stick it into another bottle quickly because it was spilling onto the floor and by that time my assistant had already capped the completely...

The hops won't affect the color of the beer. If you just use a couple of ounces of something like chocolate malt and don't steep very long it should darken the beer without affecting the flavor too much. I would take two or three ounces of Chocolate Malt, put it in as soon as you turn on the...

The second beer I ever brewed was an Engish Brown kit from Brewers Best, and I thought it tasted a lot like New Castle.

I have a very cheaply made spring loaded bottling wand (will be upgrading this weekend) that has a tendency to stick in the open position. I was bottling my Hefe yesterday and the wand got stuck, so I am trying to fill the bottle, hand it off to my assistant to cap and move the wand to the next...

liquid yeast can take a while to get going sometimes. The little yeasties have to multiply enough to start making a serious dent in the wort. I had one batch take almost 3 days to start bubbling. Give it some time. If you don't see activity after 3 days then there may be something up, but...

Suggestion on the sanitizing liquid in the airlock: I always use cheap Vodka. The alcohol content is high enough that nothing will grow in it but if any gets spilled or sucked back into the beer all it does is boost the ABV a tiny bit:drunk: no off flavors or chemicals to worry about.

I live right across the river in Kentucky I will try and pick some up. What is it like? What style or what is it similar to?

Now that you guys mention it I think it was Leinenkugel. It was... different. I just don't want my beer to taste like a sugary kids cereal, I would constantly be looking at the bottom of the glass to see if I could find the toy prize:drunk:

Story of my life. I keep trying to get moved up to the top shelf but they just keep sticking me with the 1/2 price discount label.