Recent content by gawine

Right, good point. and the beer would just become a little more bitter i suppose, which since I like IPAs may not be to big of a deal anyway.

I've been doing Brewer's Best kits and just got a MidWest supplies and am getting contradictory information concerning the boil. BB tells me to only boil with 2.5 gallons as hops are measured exactly for this amount and using more will give me more IBUs, or make the taste more bitter. MidWest...

If you are doing kits I'd recommend making several, saving a few bottles and then taste testing them. I did B.Best hopnogg and have the IPA going now. B.Best seems a littlre limited as far as selections go so I just bought two kits from Midwest, Ferocious and octane IPA. the octane uses oak...

My B.Best IPA fermented for about 3 days and stopped - no bubbles for 5 minutes or so, looks dead. I found that odd as my last batch went for 6 days at least. The temp in my furnace room is a little cooler since furnace isn't running as much this time. If i stick a brew belt on there is it...

Does extra time in primary really make a difference? I have my 2nd BBest kit and the guy at the LHBS said one week is fine since it's done fermenting and nothing else is happening in there. I plan to go to 2ndary for 2 weeks after primary. i've done the hopnogg and the IPA is coming up. The...

I just bought 1oz of each Cascade and Columbus to dry hop my IPA with. Looking fwd to it. I smelled several of them, amarillo, citra, Simcoe. Cascade blew the others away as far as the pellets smell,so am optimistic about it. I heard there are some problems with the pellets breaking up in...

I did primary 1 week and then 2ndary two weeks... any difference?

Man, great questions. I did the HopNogg as my first brew and stuck to the instructions and it is pretty good, nice and bitter but don't have the great hop nose. I plan to dry hop my next one big time to get more hoppy nose and flavoer. thinking cascade and columbus or centennial. I thought...

Yeah, thanks for the info. i'm fairly new to brewing so this could get interesting with all the different varieties available!! that's the fun part to me really. different yeasts, hops, etc. can do an ounce of one for two weeks or a blend of several. lots of possibilities!

So i plan to dry hop my next pale ale or Ipa, i was going to use cascades but just read about some other very attractive sounding hops: Citra, Columbus, Centennial... I want a nice big hoppy nose. What is everyone's thoughts on these dry hops? I could brew 4 batches with them all over the...

I think i used a California Ale White labs yeast for my first IPA. has anyone done the Pacific Ale yeast? that one seems better. The Calif V yeast seems okay too, any tried the Pacific?

Beer Necessities/Brew Depot in Alpharetta is very nice. I've been to two LHBS in Atlanta and this one put the other one to shame. perhaps because the other one looked pretty amateur. Know their stuff, good prices..

I too just did my first brew, a IPA "hop nogg" Brewers Best, it's not bad, but nothing compared to some of the great IPAs out there. Victory, Dogfish Head, Sweetwater, etc. The one thing i really miss is that big hoppy nose. Love that grapefruity, citrusy nose from Cascade hops. So i plan to...

My LHBS guy told me dry hopping just imparts the hoppy nose, is that true in your opinion? I just did my first brew a BB hopnogg and it tastes good, but i do miss that hoppy nose which i'm sure i can get from dry hopping. will likely try that next time around, so just put the hops in the...

Is your beer tasting any better Dapozer? I have about a 1/2 week of bottle conditioning to go on mine. then i'll throw a few in the fridge and see how it is.