Recent content by judsonp

Definitely try Bell's Two Hearted and Founder's All Day IPA. Excellent beers and on the tamer side. Lagunitas IPA, Cigar City Jai Alai, and Ballast Point Sculpin are also really worth trying.

Wait, you're just force carbing? I'd try to avoid doing anything fancy or clever. Only time I've put the gas on the wrong post is to blow a hop clog out of the dip tube. For that, it's worth it. For just carbing, listen to Yooper. Simple is good.

It's a pain to get off, but totally doable. I'm not sure how much doing this munges up the disconnect / post. A monkey wrench helps to get a little extra leverage on the disconnect.

Unless ice is expensive or you're feeling lazy, I would go ahead and do your normal procedure. Shouldn't hurt to cold crash only partway, if that's what happens. (Me, I'd be lazy.)

Carbonating warm isn't risky. You just need a different pressure to achieve a desired level of carbonation. (Alternately, you can carb using your normal pressure and accept that it'll be undercarbed when you first chill it. It'll catch up to being fully-carbed eventually.) Do whatever you would...

I'm thinking he's talking about a pot full of soil, where the soil is holding the water. How much water the pot can "hold" in that sense is not just its volume. So, it is similar to a sponge.

For a partial mash that's using that kind of mix of grain and extract, I think what you describe is totally reasonable. Do a mash with a reasonable water-to-grain ratio, do a single sparge that's a roughly similar volume and within your equipment's capabilities, and then just add top-up water to...

I don't think you're misreading, and I think you understand. (What you've said is true. It's sufficient to measure the first runnings, add the difference in sparge water, and drain.) I was just saying that in the BeerSmith software, if your mash profile says to make the first and second...

Unfortunately, BeerSmith doesn't currently support making it easy to create a recipe that does sparging in what I think is the easiest way. There are a bunch of options: 1. The BeerSmith default, which is to mash with a particular water-to-grain ratio, top up with some sparge water, drain...

CO2 solubility increases as temperature decreases. I couldn't tell you offhand the speed difference between a low pressure of CO2 at low temperature vs. a high pressure at higher temperature.

Belle Saison is pretty solid IMO.

For maximizing cooling speed, run water through there as fast as possible. What you want is for the heat exchanger to always be as cold as possible. Heat transfer rate is proportional to the temperature difference between the cold and hot sides. Consider the two extremes. If you have zero...

Nope, just the area.

It's not, actually. The sort of corn you eat as a fresh vegetable (in whatever form) is generally sweet corn. This is a high-sugar variant of dent corn, which is the sort usually used to make any starchy processed corn product (corn flakes, corn meal, etc.). Dent corn is a softer form of flint...

I do no-chill and, as do you, end up with a bunch of compacted goo in the bottom of the bucket. I just save the goo. Usually (but not always) make a starter with it. Has worked out fine. Another method is to overbuild your starter and then save some of your starter. That doesn't necessarily...