Recent content by jvh261

Anyone brewed using El Dorado hops? No luck getting a lb. of Citra anywhere and I ain't spending $2.50+ an ounce but want to brew something like ZDust again. Was thinking of subbing with El Dorado, but never actually brewed with them before. Thoughts? Maybe bitter with something else...Magnum or...

Here was my first attempt at it. OG was 1.062. Finished at 1.012. Came out tasting great. Still have a few gallons left on tap, but brewed it again this past Sunday and it is currently fermenting away in my basement. My mash temp was a little low at 150 degrees, so I let it go for 90...

Nah, a little low, but I bet it will still make a damn fine beer...I brewed it yesterday as well and my og is 1.062, so I finished a little shy of target, too. Fermenting away as I type.

A lb. of Citra just arrived in the mail. Grain is on track to arrive tomorrow. Brewing this on Saturday (hopefully).

Woke up to a nice steady fermentation on the Evil Twin (Hopbursted Red Ale) I brewed yesterday. I've gotten 3 brew days in over the last 4 weekends. For Feb/March in the Chicago area this is beyond awesome.

Same with me. A neighbor finally asked me what I'm doing out there as I was chilling yesterday saying she has seen me out there almost every nice day. I try to repurpose as much water as possible for cleaning coming out of my chiller but when there is still a bit extra I'll just start dumping...

Tapped a few pints while brewing today to see how it was doing. Needs to carb up a bit more, but it tastes nice. I think the orange of my mash tun and the yellow on the glass gives you a good idea where my color fell.

The orange "tea" and the hefe... we'll see in about 3 weeks.

My basic 3 tap keezer. Went with the forward sealing ss perlicks, so not really thinking of a drip tray yet. Honestly...these things just don't drip. Rarely if at all. a little collar making of:

Looks like I'll be brewing this again on Sunday. Last time I did it with Valencias, extract and bottles. This time, blood oranges, all-grain and kegged. I'll post pics hopefully in about 3-4 weeks when I'm drinking it.

I made an extract version of this beer back in '09 and it was the best extract beer I ever made. Like, "I can't believe I made this" good. My bottles went quick. When I made it a second time I screwed up and used 3 month old munich syrup I stored duck taped shut in the fridge. Well, that didn't...

Laziness and not brewing much over the summer has me sitting here with everything I need to finish the collar, but I'm left wondering what the advantage is of attaching the collar to the lid vs. the freezer. My thinking was that my lid would remain light and (hopefully) stay upright when I have...

I haven't been kegging long, but use lube every time. One of my "good lids"... just drank from it last night, now leaked. Just went to pull a brew and my co2 is empty, dual regulators at zero and my dunkel keg has no pressure. I could hear it "tapping" a slow leak. First time for everything I...

Oh, also... you can walk to Piece from the Damen blue line stop. Just a few blocks away. Parking can be a chore down there. Better parking by Revolution, but mostly metered...and it ain't cheap for even a couple of hours.

Heck, hit both. I may have to swing by Revolution myself. This is going on tap tonight. Tart With a Heart - A special release from our barrel cellar. We aged our strong brown ale in Jack Daniels and Bullet Bourbon barrels for six months along with Italian plums. The acidic fruit brought...