Recent content by irishvermin

After several years of brewing I found my first bottle bomb last night: Obviously went off when no one was around (I wonder if it still made a noise?), and appears to have been a while back as it is definitely all dried up. Was contained by the case that I stored the bottles in and thus went...

Entering a braggot into a small open category homebrew contest hosted by a local distillery. They have a People's Choice award in addition to the blind taste judging, and I'd like to see what the hive-mind can come up with for a creative name. Braggot brewed with OB honey, Vienna malt, and...

So randomly I put a gallon jug of block ice in the dead keezer a few nights back after I came home from Costco and ran out of room in our actual food chest freezer. I typically keep 4 or 5 large block ice containers and a few small varieties in the freezer as they are much better for trips...

I typically follow the original recipe and don't rack to secondary and leave in primary for 3-4 months until it's crystal clear. Well, I should say that my first batch I didn't have the patience for that, but since then I typically keep one batch in the works while I still have plenty in the...

My wife loves stouts and porters, and recently started a gluten free diet and so I'm thinking of how I can get the same flavors into a GF beer. Currently have a sorghum Pale Ale in secondary, and next I'd like to try a stout. I'm new to alternative grain brewing, but figured that coffee might...

Not sure exactly what's wrong with it. The compressor seems to be running fine, but on the other side of the freezer I hear gurgling in the walls, and it does not cool. Any ideas on what the trouble is?

I know the most common answer to the question of what to do when a keezer dies is to get a new one because of how cheep they are, or how readily available a used one is on Craigslist. That said, I have a few reasons I'm seriously considering to try and repair, or resurrect the old gal in my...

Going to try my hand at a Braggot tomorrow after successfully making my first mead (heather mead that stuck at 1.04 for several months until I racked it to a cake of Kolsch yeast and now is beautifully clear and delicious). Here is the recipe that I've put together: Ingredients Amt Name...

So feedback a few weeks later... definitely added a yeast nutrient when I first pitched back in January, as I knew it wasn't the same as grain and def needed them, but I didn't know about the staggered additions, next batch will have that. I haven't measured the PH, so that might have been a...

My first crack at mead... 5 gallon batch, 1.094 OG, fermentation slowed to 1.050 so I let it sit in primary for few months thinking it would just take time and be slowly fermenting. Noob obviously. Never went any lower, so I tried adding different wine yeasts at recommendation of LHBS to...

I've made several batches of the original recipe, as well as with adding a lb or two of honey to the primary, and very much like the results. now getting curious about playing around a bit, just started a batch and it has been fermenting for a week. Has anyone ever added fresh cherries to the...