Recent content by macmclean

I've used 1/4# of chocolate wheat (along with 1/4# of Special B) in a weizenbock to excellent effect. It certainly will give some roastiness, though less of a coffee/chocolate flavor than roasted barley, chocolate malt, etc. In a 1.083 beer the addition is very subtle, but for a less intense...

Why are you using the 6 row, if you don't mind me asking? I've only ever used it when I had an extremely high percentage of undermodified malts that wouldn't convert themselves. For this recipe, I think subbing the 6 row for 2 row or better still some Maris Otter or Golden Promise would be the...

I quite liked the CYBI recipe for the Black Butte Porter someone mentioned above, but my favorite Porter is an all-grain conversion of an old BYO recipe (Nosferatu's Revenge). It's incredibly smooth and drinkable for such a high-gravity beer. I get more requests for this than almost anything...

What did you use to attach your controller to the back of your collar? I tried to figure out from the photo, but I guess I need new contacts.

or, Help Me Avoid Electrocution As someone who isn't very handy, building a mash tun out of a cooler about maxed out my DIY skills. However, I desperately need a heatstick to improve my stovetop boils. If anyone is willing to fashion one for me, I'd be willing to pay for materials, shipping...

I've got a Patersbier going with 3787 now. I'll harvest the yeast and try this in a couple weeks.

I may have to make this myself. Any advice? Was your product cidery from all the sugar? I'm also thinking about adding some Hungarian oak cubes.

Keep the pics coming! I just got my GE 7.0 delivered today, so this thread was a timely discovery. It'll probably be at least another couple months before I can do the conversion, since I promised my gf we could use the freezer to try and get rid of the dreaded India flour moths first. Still...

It sounds like an interesting experiment. I think boiling the herbs would be a mistake, though, from my cooking experience. Whenever you boil fresh herbs, you end up losing most of the flavor and aroma. That's why usually real Italian pasta recipes, for instance, only say to add fresh herbs...

This was my first time using the golden naked oats, and I'll definitely be giving them another try. I'm usually a bit skeptical of oats in my beer, as I've had some pretty underwhelming oatmeal stouts, but these had a great aroma when I mashed them and I can't argue with the end product, as I...

Thanks for the suggestion, and I take your point about flavor subjectivity. I usually don't have trouble describing flavors in either food or drink, but this one has me stumped. Both cooking and imbibing are real passions of mine, but I don't usually get hung up on trying to identify every...

I recently got a grain mill, and for my first brewing session with freshly cracked grains I decided to do a witbier. I was pretty experimental with both the grain bill and flavorings, and while the beer is excellent (and almost gone), it's very different from any wit I've ever had. It also has...

While I was living in Portland, a couple of my friends threw a combination party/art event where everyone was supposed to come in old-timey character. I invented the alter ego of Hiram P. Johnson, an itinerant snake oil peddler, and brought some of my first homebrews as "juvenating tonics"...