Recent content by happycrabster

Hi Kevin, No carb whatsoever, and the film seems to hang together, almost like a grease spot on water rather than bubbles. Give it a shake and it breaks into flakes that float back to the surface. The smell is like a very dry white wine, with an under taste that I can't quite put my finger on...

Here are a couple of pictures of what I was describing above. Out of 12 bottles maybe 3 have exhibited any form of this, the rest are clear. No bad smell, tastes fine, no hissing when opening the bottle. https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40209&cat=recent&limit=recent...

Hi all,About a week ago I bottled about three gallons of straight cider (just yeast and juice) in a dozen wine sized bottles and the remainder in a half gallon jug. It was in the 3 gallon jug for two days short of a year, very dry, and by all reports, quite tasty. I've noticed looking back in...

I've heard that there are actually those who suffer from arthritis who whack their affected joints with bundles of nettle (the process is called "urtication"), to help with the arthritic pain. The beer sounds better to me. Thanks for all your answers/replies! HC

Hi all, It's been about a year since I had a chance to look in (moving, two separate computer failures, etc.), so pardons if this is already covered... I just came across a recipe for "nettle beer", not using nettle as a hop substitute, but as the primary ingredient. The author claimed it had...

Sulfur is just what it *did* smell like! I just couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks!

A couple of questions... First, I'd mentioned above that my first beer (extract) always smelled and tasted like beer, even if not good beer, while my cider tasted sort of sweet and smelled reasonably awful. Is the peculiar odor of green cider something I should just expect from cider? (I see...

Had to go ahead and sample, even though it's only been 45 days or so... Not too bad! Still a little green (does that term apply to cider too?) but definately not like it was at bottling (which of these smileys is for "teeth set on edge, eyes rolling back...). Sweetness is about like straight...

"Enkidu knew nothing about eating bread for food, and of drinking beer he had not been taught. The harlot spoke to Enkidu, saying: "Eat the food, Enkidu, it is the way one lives. Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land." Enkidu ate the food until he was sated, he drank the...

Whenever I go through the U-Scan line in the store with alcohol the machine beeps and says "Please show age verification to clerk". I just peer over my tri-focals and my foot long gray beard at the 21(?) year old clerk, who grins like she just heard the funniest joke ever.

Whew! That's good to hear. My first batch of beer never *didn't* smell or taste like some kind of beer, even during transfer to the secondary. The cider was very sweet smelling when I mixed it up in the primary. As for the patience thing, I guess I'll just have to do what everyone suggests...

Greetings, I've been learning the benefits of leaving beer alone(!) to condition till it gets good, and I'm starting to see how it (the brew) changes over time. My question here is, Do the same rules apply to cider? I just bottled my first few bottles of pear cider from a kit, was especially...

A Christmas beer in January? The noob card is all I got, and I'm playin' it.