Recent content by Laurel

Wonderful! I run nitro on the kegerator and have a stout faucet. Should be beautiful. My father in law wants an imperial stout that we can add espresso to. I want to make something to age on bourbon-soaked oak cubes. I figure that making a 6g batch split into 2 5 gallon carboys should give...

Buying the ingredients for this today. Wish me luck!

I'm willing to bet that the SoCal water quality is notably lower than water you'd find in somewhere like the PNW or Alaska.

Cysts and spores are definitely terribly dangerous, especially when the wort has spent an hour boiling.

Conversely stating that just because someone doesn't filter their water they will not be making good beer doesn't necessarily help many brewers either.

Interesting. I happily drink water straight out of the tap. It doesn't have detectable chlorine flavor and my water district doesn't treat the water with chloramines. I am SHOCKED that you will happily judge one's ability to make decent beer by their willingness to use their own tap water...

I'm interested in doing a dual-beer day, and it seems as though this may be an easier way of doing this. I'd like to make an imperial stout (and intend to eventually rack it on top of bourbon soaked oak cubes) and a dry irish stout. The fun part is that I have historically bad luck at putting...

Hi Dave - If you have a portable burner, a bunch of friends are coming by to make a few batches of beer (and to eat pizza and drink beer) and you're welcome to come by and brew with us in a couple weeks. If you don't have a portable burner, you're also welcome to come by and hang out. You do...

Sounds interesting. I would prefer to pre-ferment with yeast in my standard carboy (I only have 1x 6.5gal carboy) and rack it off as a "standard" beer. Then all of the buggies will stay in one of my spare 5gal carboys for aging. I will look into adding the gunk from a beer we like. I imagine...

We have great water in the Seattle area. In the past I treated with camden tabs, but the last (and most successful AG batch I've done) I forgot the camden this time and had no issues with anything wonky going on.

I have a history in food prep. Vanilla bean flavor is best extracted either via spirits or by heat. Vanilla extract is basically just split and scraped vanilla beans soaked in cheap flavorless grain alcohol. When vanilla beans are used in something like ice cream or creme brulee, they are...

Hello Folks! I used to post here often, but after buying a house and having a couple tries at all-grain(upgraded my setup right before buying the house - I figured that beer equip would be a low priority after we closed) flop, I kind of lost interest in brewing. A good friend is interested in...

I just checked the keg. The pressure relief valve is stuck shut. I assume it's leaking and beer got into it and made it sticky. I sprayed it with some starsan to help loosen it up and will get it loose then switch out the lid. I use keg lube and the seals were changed out no more than 3...

I vaguely remember reading something about the nitro/co2 mixture being in gas state instead of liquid state so it doesn't hold as much, but I can't remember much past that. We've served about 1/2 of a 5 gallon cornelius keg with this 5lb cylinder and it's already empty. Am I missing...

I'm in. Give me a weekend and I'll do my best to make it. I have a propane burner and pot/mash tun big enough for 10 gallon batches. :)