Recent content by Kraftwerk

Hi there. Yes! I believe it was a classic case of over-priming plus hot fermentation. I believe the weird taste came from diacetyl. In fact, batch 2 was a gusher and turned into a case of bottle bombs some months later when spring turned to summer. Those original batches were based on...

I've been getting great attenuation (86%) with my DIPA recipe by mashing at 145ºF and using 1lb dextrose. FGs coming out around 1.010. My goal is a really dry finish like Pliny the Elder or Port Anniversary (the one from last year). My beers sure are dry but they are also really 'hot' in...

We did a RyeIPA. Five batches of the same recipe--three kegs for the reception and 100 bottles as party favors. Everyone was delighted to drink home made beer. At the end of the day it didn't matter what was on tap and having one style kept it simple. You're not going to be standing around...

Usually a portion of the hops sink and the rest float. Nothing unusual about that. This is the first batch I've had where 100% of the hops sank immediately. Surprised you've never seen hops float!

They sank immediately. As of today they've been in there four days. Gave them a good stir last night and noticed these pellets are much finer consistency than usual. Settled out right away. Hey I'm not complaining just usually I'm left with a big mass of leaf matter on the surface. I've...

First time this has happened... 3oz columbus pellets sank to bottlm in secondary and did not float back to the surface, as us usually the case. Wondering if ill still get good utilization. I did stir them up once & will probably again a day before kegging. At least racking will be easy :)

Requested an update and got a reply quickly. Apparently Hopunion orders are arriving at their supplier this week, and then they have to process and ship everything. Could be another week or three. I applaud LP on good honest customer service.

Plastic better bottles. Never had any kind of problem with them. Used glass for a while and did not see any reason to justify the inconvenience and danger. My one issue with better bottles early on was cleaning. Now I just shake up a gallon of warm PBW solution and soak inverted.

So... I'm going to have to retract what I said earlier. Had some problems racking clear beer, and found the simplest way to fix the issue is attach a muslin bag to the beer output end of your siphon going into the keg. On my last batch I caught a ping-pong sized ball of leaf matter on its way...

My dear friend and step-grandfather Mike Bosak passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 91 in Carlsbad, CA. While living in Temecula he founded All About Beer magazine and was a beer enthusiast since craft got started down in Northern San Diego. Story goes he gave his entire brewing book...

For the record I am using my own CO2 tank & gas line. For the beer out I simply disconnected their line from the tailpiece (this is done by removing the tower lid) and attaching my own 3/16" line.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I picked up a stainless faucet and faucet wrench to replace their stout faucet--sounds like that's all I need. I have my own CO2 and regulator so I don't need to cut anything on their end. The beer line is the tricky bit. I can't tell from the picture what...

Newbie Q here: The catering company I am using for my upcoming wedding has a nice kegerator that's currently set up with a Guinness/Harp coupler and a stout faucet, and I'm assuming they don't know much about this unit. I will serve homebrew from a corny and I have two questions: 1. Can I...

I dry hop a lot, usually 3 oz loose pellets per 5 gal batch. I don't use any filtering device and have no problems with clogged kegs or particles in the glass. Main thing is, while dry hopping, to place the carboy exactly where you will rack from. Some particles sink and some stay on the...

I have a 25' and a 50' copper immersion chiller. I will run ground water through them in series, the first will be in a bucket of ice water and the second in my hot wort. Should I use the 50' for wort chill or ground water chill? Seems I'll get colder chilling water if I use it for pre-chill...