Recent content by jd1984

Just one thought on what might be going on. For BIAB, BeerSmith estimates the absorption loss to grains too high. My loss is much closer to .1 gal/10 lbs so I just reduce the amount of water BeerSmith tells me to use. For a 3 gal batch, I just add a touch more water than I want for pre-boil...

Just curious if anyone else has entered the Blue Ridge Brew Off and plans on attending. I'm hoping to at least make it down for the awards on Saturday night.

Agree with the post above. Had you added the other .25 gal you were expecting to have, you would've been much closer to your target OG. Are you using Beersmith or another such program? Change your boiloff rate to 1.5 gal/hr and your recipe should get you near your target. You might also...

Sounds like yours and mine are probably similar. By the numbers, my beer is too high of an OG to be a true pale but barely squeaks in to 21a at ~45 IBUs. Glad I entered as I am not connected to a lot of other brewers and wanted feedback from relatively knowledgeable people.

Got score cards back from the lower score competition and I am very pleased with them actually. Both judges seemed to like the beer but I was knocked down as they felt it was not completely in style. That was something I was slightly worried about and will probably move to 10A instead of 21A...

Decided to enter my first two competitions with a recipe I made. Both were mailed on the same day and the competitions were a week apart. Both required 3 bottles and I took 6 consecutive bottles from the middle of bottling the same batch. Competition 1 - 2 weeks after bottling. Average...

Don't go to a brew store to get tubing. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get it. If you remove and clean the airlock, take it with you to make sure you get the right size. It should be 1/2" ID but it'd be better to make absolutely sure.

But they often still taste like the flavor you are trying to achieve.

Could you try maple extract instead?

I decided to try a bottle and it was my favorite out of 2015 - 2017. Good enough I might grab one more bottle because it wasn't selling fast here.

I've had 2015 and 2016 KBS and don't think I'd buy a 4 pack. I'd maybe pay for a single bottle. Now, if I saw a 4 pack of CBS for $25 I'd jump all over it.

When you talk steeping/mashing you are talking both starches and sugars. From what I have read, those flaked grains have almost no diastatic power and cannot convert their released starches into sugar. So, how does steeping them produce fermentable sugars?

No one has mentioned yet but your steeping grains probably needed to be mini-mashed. Flaked wheat and flaked oats do not have a lot of diastatic power. So, you likely have unconverted starch in there that won't be consumed by yeast.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/is-my-beer-ruined/common-off-flavors

Just did a 5 gal batch with 10.75 lbs of grain in an 8 gal pot today. That was pushing it to its absolute max though.