Recent content by forkmantis

Yup... no problem. But I do want to eliminate variables from my process. I did purchase some starsan the last time I bought supplies, since it's no-rinse, and I won't have to worry about the possibility of rinsing introducing an infection. After 2 spoiled batches in a row, I'm determined to...

OK. To follow up, the red ale has not gotten any better. Furthermore, the batch I had started brewing just prior to my first post in this thread is similarly ruined. In all of the reading and thinking I've done since them, I'm almost certain that it's related to a big misunderstanding on my...

Yup, Homebrew HQ it is. Nice guys. I've only been in the store twice, but both times their guys spent a lot of time w/ me and were super helpful. I may take you up on your offer. Not knowing any local homebrewers, I don't get to talk about it very often. And, of course, I'd love to do some...

Thanks, Drunkensatyr. Why didn't I think to use the dish washer to dry the bottles??? I'll try that next time. So you're from Dallas, eh? I'm 2 hours East of you, but I order my supplies from the Dallas area.

BierMuncher: Thanks for the feedback. After doing a little reading, I've seen a few people claim that rinsing w/ water is not necessarily unacceptable. That's reassuring. I'll be sure to post back to this thread later as I give the bottles more time and taste them again. malkore: I had...

Thanks for your response. Points taken. I think I may need to brush up on my knowledge of sanitation. I'm going to go read the appropriate areas of the wiki and the howtobrew online book. The guy who taught me several years ago used bleach to clean, and would rinse w/ tapwater. The way...

Well, I'm hoping it's not infection. I did clean my bottles and caps w/ betadine for the first time. I soaked each set of bottles in the betadine solution for >= 3 minutes, gave them a quick rinse w/ tap water, and then let them air dry for 30 min to an hour before bottling. I heated my...

I still consider myself a brewing n00b. I just started my 12th batch this weekend. I'd say that batches 4-8 ranged from acceptable to almost good, but then batches 9 and 10 dropped in quality, and batch 11 is what prompted me to write this message. I took one bottle each from batches 9 and...

Excellent. Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I will now proceed with confidence.

This will be my first attempt at dry hopping. From reading this thread, it sounds like the use of a hop sock and/or weights is optional, but should be sanitized if used. Only one person mentioned sanitizing the hop pellets (what I'll be using). Should I boil my hop pellets, or would it be...

Yeah, it's awesome to have her support and interest. Rather than "Don't tell me you ordered more beer stuff again!" I get "Did you remember to order ingredients for our next batch?" How can I complain about that? EdWort: She actually enjoys brew day. We've even discussed making hops-based...

Awesome. Thanks. I will certainly check that out. I also need to dig out my Joy of Homebrewing book and reread it. I read through it once when I started several years ago, but I wouldn't want to take a pop quiz on it right now.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Rhoobarb: I'll probably start by lurking, since I'm sure most of the questions I have have already been asked by others. I hate asking questions that have already been asked and answered. EdWort: Yeah, that's a bonus. I didn't find out about it until...

Hello, everyone. I got a homebrewing kit about 5 years ago, made 3 OK batches, and got distracted for several years. 3 years ago I got married, and a few months ago we bought a new house and moved. My wife questioned the need to move a bunch of empty beer bottles, and I had to convince...