Recent content by jdgabbard

Yeah, these plants are miracles. I'm surprised that they are still alive. Right now only the one plant has burs. And only about 12-15. But hey, any hops the first year is a plus as I understand.

We had a heck of a wet year so far here in Oklahoma. From March to May we had a little over 40" of rain. I though for sure the four rhizomes I planted would die. Sure enough one did. Two others floated up out of the ground. And the lack of sunshine really stunted their growth. But these...

Don't know, they seem to work, so far...you saw the pictures. I do have to constantly train them, as they by nature want to go up. But seem to be doing ok with it, although I'm still not getting the growth that I'd like. But these are first year plants, so I really can't expect too much I don't...

They're working better than nothing. I think they'll be fine once I get some real growth. I live in a single story house, unfortunately do not have a place to grow vertically for any length. However, I do have a giant back yard. So more than enough room to go at an angle.

I feel your pain... I live in southeastern Oklahoma, and personally dumped 40" of rain out of the rain gauge during the month of May. It's only dried up in the last few weeks. I live on that little town with the three stoplights as you're heading north on 69/75 about 30mins north of the...

The house I recently moved into has some grape vines in the back yard. Not sure what variety they are, but they're beginning to grow. I guess in several months I'll know if they'll be worth turning into wine, or stocking the fruit bowl with. Just judging from how many their are on the vines...

Well, almost three weeks after planting, and I'm starting to get a little bit of green poking out of the soil! So far, only three of the four rhizomes are showing anything, the fourth may have been planted upside down....there was a little bit of it curling upwards and some little roots on top...

I always seem to grab the wrong fittings when I go to the hardware store. And to make it worse, it closes at 5pm when I get off work. This typically means I have to wait until Saturday when it stays open until noon. But waiting all week for the right part is a pain. So I figured I'd share a...

A Rims tank could be built fairly cheap IF you're willing to compromise, and improvise. I'm personally building a HLT at the moment. I only need to bring enough water to temp to do a 5gal batch, I'll expand to a larger HLT when I have access to 240v easily. Having said that, my pot is a $20...

Yeah, I'm wondering if I shouldn't plan on using a 1/4" rope and plan on the structure being able to handle what the rope can handle. But I'm not seeing anything push through the ground yet, so I don't need to get too worried about it yet.

Fermentation below 66 is doing to be pretty dang hard. I think one time I used Nottingham on a black session beer, and if I remember right, it did get a little fruity around 67-68... I don't mind esters too much, as long as they're the good kind. One thing I've picked up living in Oklahoma...

Don't rule out using Pepper. The gal that works at High Gravity did a peppercorn Saison several years ago. I still think it may be the best thing I've ever put in my mouth....

Ok, so here is the dilemma I'm currently in... I recently made a move away from my LHBS, about two hours south. Because of this, I had to begin to simplify my recipes. I wanted to order in bulk, or use things that would be easier for me to source at my current location. Now this has been...

3x 5g of Cider (Apple, Apple/blackberry, unicorn blood) 5g - London Porter Clone 5g - House Porter 5g - House Brown 7548.5 + 30 = 7578.5

Generically I'd refer to it as cider. But the critics may disagree. My thoughts are: Who cares if you're happy drinking it?