Recent content by henrychinaski

i looked around a bit but couldn't find the answer to this question: if you add sugar (as you would with a tripel) can it still be considered a smash?

cheers on the trippel! i just brewed one too. but i had a distinctly different experience with my partner. i fermented the 10 gallon batch with wyeast 3787 in one of those blue 15 gallon extract containers... in our living room for two weeks at 64 - 72 (o.g. 1.077). last night i drew off a...

no, you're right there, it sure wouldn't be "hard", assuming that you have full use of all your appendages and at least the mental capacity of a typical 8-year-old, but like i said before - it is something extra that you need to pay attention to. i personally have multiple things going while i...

doesn't the "cup of warm water" need to be sterilized as to not introduce any unwelcome competition for the organisms on your team? this is the main reason i don't bother. if it involved just running some warm tap water and throwing the contents of the packet in there, i would definitely do it.

i've used sa-04 and sa-05 about ten times now. not wanting to bother with the extra step of rehydrating (whether it's considered troublesome or not, it definitely is "extra"), i've always just pitched it straight onto the wort, and it's performed outstandingly every time - quick starts and...

10g of tripel on saturday. 5g of northern english brown on monday. and kegging/bottling 10g of belgian dark strong.

26# at a 1 qt./# ratio is the max.

decoction is fun, and i would totally recommend it. i too marveled at kaiser's video. and i would never discourage one from experimenting and brewing "out of bounds", but personally i don't think this particular style needs it. i did a northern english brown recently that turned out nicely malty...

i did a stone ipa clone recently, splitting the 10 gallon batch and pitching sa-05 in one and sa-04 in the other. they are both great, but the sa-04 is slightly better. it has more malt character that results in a better balance between it and the face-full-o-hops. i guess i could mash higher to...

personally, if you use fresh pumpkin and don't puree it, i don't think you need rice hulls. i made a pumpkin ale two days ago. first, i roasted three pie type pumpkins at 325 deg. for about a little over an hour (until they're soft and easy to peel). then, i mashed the meat somewhat (it was...

i just doughed in a 10 g batch of spiced pumpkin ale in my 10 g igloo cooler with a false bottom. there's 26 lbs of grain and pumpkin, 6.75 g of water (1:1 ratio), and a little room to spare.

i've pushed it and done 30 lbs. (not sure what the water to grain ratio is there). i only got about 65% efficiency though, and it was full to the brim which made sparging awkward. 26 lbs. is about as high as i'd go now.

man that's weird. i've had trouble with strong belgians not finishing out, but never that badly. i doubt that it was the yeast, from the sound of things, but for the next one why don't you try wyeast 3787. i've had great results with it. as far as the star san goes, maybe it's time to take...

looks good. i didn't see this post before i just wrote a thread on the same topic... i would use a hydrometer or refractometer if i were you. when you're doing batches like this and collecting the third runnings, it's likely that you'll start getting under 1.010. at this point you start getting...

10 gallon definitely. see my thread titled "parti-gyle file"