Recent content by HemlockHomebrewer

Hey Yossarian - I'm having some tannin issues in a spruce beer. (It tastes like lemon juice!) I read through this thread . . . just wondering -- how did it turn out, now, ten months later?

Update on the maple-spruce beer. I wound up following the Euell Gibbons recipe reducing maple sap boiled down to about 1/3 its original volume, then adding about 1/2 peck of spruce new growth. (I used blue spruce, because it was easily available.) I strayed from the recipe and added some...

Whoa! Those prices for a 55# bag are WAY cheaper than what I've been looking at! (NSM is selling 55# bags for $40, while I was looking at bulk prices of about $130 for the same thing. I guess I needed to shop around a bit more.) That's a great resource. Thanks.

I had a similar issue recently. I'm no expert on keggerators, but this seems to be working for me: I use priming sugar to carbonate the beer in the keg (about 3/4 cup for 5 Gallons). Then I set the keg's PSI to less than 5. I leave the CO2 tank open fully for the first couple days, then I...

I guess I'm crossing a threshhold into a new era a brewing here. I went into the brew store and realized I could only afford a couple packs of yeast and a 5# bag of priming sugar. I'm thinking through a new approach to beer, namely, brewing from the backyard. I'm trying to figure out how to...

Just wanted to update. I've continued to look for a recipe and found this really simple one from Euell Gibbons (the wild edibles guy). He says to take 20 gallons of maple sap and boil it down to 4 gallons. Then pour the hot liquid over a half a peck of new growth spruce branches. I still want...

I'm trying to come up with a recipe for a maple porter using spruce and maple sap. (We're tapping our own trees.) I've never used maple sap or spruce before -- any advice? Here's my idea for a recipe: Boil: 2 gal. maple sap 6 lbs. light malt extract 1 lbs. black patent malt 1 oz...

Cool idea for the baby shower brew. Three thoughts: 1. Maybe try to get some Sierra Nevada bottles. They are short and squat and look smaller (even though they hold about the same amount of beer). 2. My wife is pregnant and I just brewed a "Post Partum Ale." I used a lot of ginger in the...

I've re-used Corona bottles before with success. (Success = cap stays on and it carbonates.) Regular caps fit, but I usually have a higher screw-up rate of bent caps This is an interesting thread. It's making me realize how little I know about bottle color and how it affects beer. Any...

How about that -- rocking the bucket worked almost immediately! Thanks for the tip. It's bubbling away . . .

I'm trying to brew a ginger beer. Here's the basic recipe I made up: -3# x-light malt extract (dried) -3# corn sugar -1# CaraHell barley malt (toasted and crushed) -2oz whole-leaf Cascade hops (1.5oz to brew, 0.5oz to finish) -2oz fresh grated ginger (added last 10 minutes of...