Recent content by MadCat

Thanks, both of those recipes look nice and simple. I unfortunately have to go out of state for Jolly Pumpkin, so I might not end up with anything from them. Probably will have to rely on The Bruery for dregs. As far as adding maltodextrin goes, is 8 oz for 5 gallons reasonable?

I have been in the process of reading American Sour Beers, which is fantastic for knowledge, but he seems to primarily focus on all grain with recipes. I've had the RR and MT sours on my businesses trips to San Diego. I know that Philly gets Russian River so if you're persistent with hunting you...

I am a reasonably experienced brewer with extracts and steeping grains, and have recently discovered how delicious commercial sours are, but hate how expensive they are. So I am interested in getting started with sour brewing, but would like to stick with extract and steeping grains. I have...

Yes, to an extent, too cold and it won't ferment. If you are using Mr. Beer yeast, I believe mid 60s is good, if you're using other yeast, follow the temperature on the package. Also, using a different yeast from the Mr. Beer yeast can produce better results, but isn't necessary.

Will do! Probably going to do the Raspberry Wheat first. I will post the finalized recipes when I brew. Still need to order supplies and get some free time to brew.

Thanks for the BrewersFriend calculator. Not sure on the amount of fermentables in the fruit, but looks like I'm safe doing 2.5 gallon batches and hitting my target abv. I'm going to go for it, and make some guesstimates on what to do. Shouldn't be too hard to make something that tastes decent.

Ok so I did a bit more researching... Finding recipes here is hard, but I think I came up with something decent for both, with a few questions. Raspberry wheat ~3lb wheat malt extract (actually looks like liquid is cheaper so I may lean that way) 1 oz Perle or Hallertau hops (how long for the...

Thats along the lines of what I was thinking. I think I was leaning towards a dry hefe yeast. Was assuming one can of fruit but 2 is probably better without a secondary. Any guess on abv added by the fruit? And whats a pound of dme, like 1.1%? I think I would shoot for somewhere in the 5-7%...

For a beginner setup, its fine. Many people start with Mr. Beer, which has a threaded cap that doesn't create a perfect seal. In the future, if you're more serious about brewing, investing in a setup with an airlock is not a bad idea. And wait. It will take some time for it to fully...

Its been a while since I have brewed beer, and all I've ever used is Mr. Beer (some recipes with added DME, and even one with steeping grains). I was staring at the LBK, and wanting to brew again, but use no Mr. Beer ingredients. So I was looking to put together two recipes with extract (dry...

I left my first batch in for 22 days and then let it bottle condition for 21 days, and it turned out great. Doesn't seem like there is a need for a secondary.

Drinking my second test beer (1st was after 1 week in bottles, 2nd after 2). I'm glad to say it is fully carbonated! It created a head! The head didn't last though, but at least it doesn't taste flat! It does still have a bit of a cidery taste to it, so hopefully test bottle 3 tastes more...

Thanks for the reply. I really wish the keg came with something better to fill with, as it is really hard to fill bottles without getting any air in them. And it sucks that the locking spigot and bottle wand combo is out of stock on the website. And I gave it three weeks before bottling, so...

Bottled my first batch today, will be starting the next one soon. That little spout is such a pain! So two questions. First, how bad is it that the first couple bottles foamed up quite a bit when bottling them? Second, if I accidentally made some beer bombs, how long does it take for them to...

Ordered some stuff from Austin Homebrew. Decided to go for the 1lb DME bags instead of 3lb, and got one of each Amber, extra light, and wheat. Got a half lb of crystal 20L and 1 pack of nottingham yeast. Also got some bottling supplies. Shouldn't have waited to order this stuff, now I'm...