Recent content by jwyse

I've got about 2.25 pounds of Special B / caramel vienne / caramel munich mixed together, already cracked. I used some of the mixture for a new Belgian dubbel recipe. This is my first time making the dubbel, so I have no idea whether I'll want more of the same, or if I'll want to tweak the...

Well, I think I'm (finally) going to get to brew this dubbel this week. I think I'm going to add 0.5 lb of clear candi sugar in addition to 1 lb of dark candi that I made. According to the Brew Builder, that should push it up a bit to 6.6% ABV without really affecting much else. I ended up...

I think patience (or my lack thereof) is the most annoying part of brewing. I'm trying to offset my impatience by planning/brewing more batches, but I think I'm going to end up spending a metric ass-ton on buckets and carboys.

Ah, I've seen that airlock/blowoff setup before and totally forgot about it -- thanks for the reminder. I'll be adding that one to my bag-o-tricks.

Wow, thanks for the heads-up. My 3 brews so far have been with dry yeast (Munton's... I'm done with that stuff) starting in a 6.5 gal bucket for primary ferm, then moving to a 5 gal carboy for secondary. Given the extra 1.5 gal of headspace in my bucket, do you still think a blowoff tube will...

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try making my own amber/dark candi and save the clear candi for another brew. I think I'll go with Schnitzengiggle's suggestion and add caravienne also. And Syd suggested dropping the special B down to 4 oz. How do these amounts look? 3.3 lbs. Munton's...

Cool, thanks for the suggestion syd. Does your dark candi 'recipe' work for darkening clear candi? I've already bought it (I didn't know better), so I might as well use it. If I can turn it amber/dark to better fit the style without ruining it, that'd be great. What's the benefit of mixing...

Thanks for your input, jjp. How does this look? 3.3 lbs. Munton's Light Liquid Extract 3.3 lbs. Briess Pilsen Light Liquid Extract 8 oz. Special B 12 oz. Caramel Munich 1 lb. Clear Candi Sugar 1.25 oz. Styrian Golding pellets (2% AA), 60min 1.25 oz. Hallertau (German) pellets (3% AA)...

I've done 3 extract kit brews now, and wanted to try doing my next brew from a recipe and ingredients, rather than a kit. I've put this recipe together based on the dubbel recipe in Papazian's Joy of Homebrewing and the Brew Builder app at BMW. 3.3 lbs. Munton's Dark Liquid Extract 3.3 lbs...

I'm a new brewer -- I've brewed 3 batches using extract/specialty grains kits that my LHBS puts together. I'm thinking for my next batch, I want to try putting together ingredients myself according to a recipe, instead of buying a pre-packaged kit. So my question is, how similar/different...

Well... I did crack open a bottle of the red ale tonight to sample it with some friends (including the 2 that helped me brew that first batch). :mug: It's been bottled for two weeks, and refrigerated for 2 days, and it was quite tasty. I'm very excited to see how it tastes after another...

Hi everyone! I was about to post a question elsewhere and figured I should introduce myself here first, since nobody wants to read my beer history in a question thread. I'm new to home brewing. I've brewed three batches so far, all from extract kits that my LHBS puts together, but I...