Recent content by GrainWhisperer

Yep, my experience as well: darker, maltier ales seemed ok with S-04 but i made a pale ale with it once and tasted like it was mixed with cider.

Sounds awful.

My SWMBO says it smells like a wet ferret rolling around in warm grape nuts. So after about 8 batches, I finally got my propane burner in the garage. Just brewed Saturday. If you're a stove top guy, you really should consider a burner. Not sure what I'll do in the dead of winter, but for...

KB: This beer is fantastic. Thanks for the recipe. I did a 2.5 gallon batch halving your recipe (with a full pound of store-bought amber candi syrup because...well what else would i do with the leftover half pound?) and it turned out great. My fifth batch of beer and head-and-shoulders above...

You can buy bulk grain and save money. But you have to be able to crush it yourself.

Bottles from Lagunitas practically hop out of their labels.

There's loads of advice in this forum about temp control. Use the search function in the upper right corner of the main page (in the beer mug) and search for 'swamp cooler'. Temp control can be as simple as putting your fermenter in a plastic tub of water that's cooler than the air temp.

My first beer was a porter that started in the low 50's and ended at about 19. It was extract plus steeping grains. It turned out fine. S-04 doesn't attenuate quite as much as some other yeasts. 70-75%. I think your beer was done.

True, but they also had to do things like drink it quickly before it spoiled. There were some countries and times where brewing in Summer was prohibited due to the inevitable spoilage. They just managed it and dealt with it.

Casey, even thought it wasn't intended, I'd still try the beer. You might like it. Apparently, people really do intentionally put this into their beer (people who know what they're doing and want sour beer).

From Wikipedia: The term Brettanomyces comes from the Greek for "British fungus." Yummm!

It's Vinator, not Vintanator. Could affect google searches.

Thanks Revvy. I'm pretty relaxed about my procedure now and the results. My other two batches I did very gently stir (because I forgot to get the sugar ready before racking the beer over, so I added on top. Duh.) So I woke up this morning with that nagging feeling, going over what I did. I...

I put my priming sugar solution in the bottom of my bottling bucket last night and racked on top of it. No stirring. I probably should have put half in, racked, then put the rest of the sugar. Any worries about under/over carbing?

The water is just there to make a solution of the sugar, so it can mix up easily with the volume of beer. 2 cups of water won't dilute your beer. The important part is how much sugar you use. DO NOT use 2 cups of sugar. Rule of thumb is apx. 3/4 cup of sugar for a 5 gallon batch. The sugar...