Recent content by hardrain

Hey all, I can't find anywhere on the internet a calculator that will allow me to use non-boiling water for a step-up during my mash. For example, instead of 1.5 gals of boiling water to raise my mash temp, how much of 185F water do I need? I'm unsure if it's a linear dynamic, can I just...

Hey all, I'm on my second well water lab report (two different homes), one house has very hard water, the other much more balanced. In both cases the Sulfates (So4-S) are effectively zero, however it seems like all of the water profiles I'm seeing on Bru'n are in the 50-150 range. Most...

No treatment. That's the idea behind black locust & eastern red cedar, because of their rot resistance. I've seen people tar the ends before setting them, but that (1) defeats the point of using this kind of wood, (2) IS adding those chemicals to your soil, and (3) is more expensive & labor...

Hey all, photo below of yeast harvested 60 days ago. I'm attempting to determine pitch rate. From what I understand slurry is 1B/L. But "up to 5B/L" according to BF. WY says "40-60% solids is 1.2B/L", however my plan is to actually spoon out the already-settled solids, not pitch the entire...

Hey all, I'm not sure there's a good answer to this but I'm going through a month where I'm racking a lot beer onto some fresh->frozen (picked, frozen to break cell walls) beers... I see "racked onto fruit" and "refermented" at different times. Is the difference simply the temperature of...

Old thread time. I've noticed the recurrence of the same apple flavor (I get more of a brown apple, or weak apple juice, but it's somewhat 'green', the most common description of acetaldehyde) in a lager, saison and pale ale. I've just recently started pitching 2L starters with a stir...

Ha, interesting. So actually "ideal" depends on those starting variables. Go to that calculator and type in 100 grams above the pretty colored chart at the bottom. If your 'ideal' dry matter is 23% (as in the example you quote), then yes. If it's 20% (the doc you quote says 20-21% is ideal...

Ah, thanks!

Yep me neither, just pointing out some things to make sure you're rounded out. Happy you're doing your thing. One final thing since you seem science inclined -- I'd focus a little more on this section, since something is off (totally fine for home use, but if you're interested in...

Ha thanks. My biggest concern there is that I'm just splitting the plant in two rather than actually pruning to what I want...plus no cuttings for friends. I might try the army/spading fork idea, I can see where that would work.

Sulfates go up, and interestingly I've had a hard time finding consensus on sulfates for a saison. I've seen under 50 ppm (several threads) to over 100 (farmhouse ales book). I can get to 50ppm Ca and 110 sulfate at .75g/gal, which might be close. Better option is probably to delay until I...

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like I need to pick up some calcium chloride. The only calcium option I have is gypsum so I might add enough to get to the 50ppm area and leave the rest out for next batch and get what I need for the future. This leaves me with 6 mL of lactic acid to get to...

Hey all, just saw a presentation of a German hop yard where they have a special machine specifically for unearthing and pruning back hop root systems. I've been trying to come up with a good idea for trimming for 100+ plants and year five is quickly approaching, likely later than I should...

Hey all, doing my first water adjustment on a very light beer, and my variables seem high to me. Using "primo water" Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 Alkalinity pH 0 0 0 12 8 0 (HCO3) 8 (Very close to RO, frankly) Grain bill: 8.75 lb pils 0.5 lb flaked wheat So in breunwater I'm playing...

So I'm not really sure what the question is :) The math looks good to me except potentially your scale-down. Most pro growers in the NW are looking at (and of course this is dependent on a lot of variables) 1,000 plants per an acre, and 2lb dry/plant. Your phrasing could mean different...