Recent content by mashpaddled

No experience with this particular product but I make hop water with regular hops. I wouldn't boil it. You don't need or want to boil off the flavor or isomerize alpha acids and increase bitterness. Just add to cool water and carb it up. Presumably this is a sanitary product that you're putting...

Hertz is not a good representative for the organization if this is an organization about the membership. She's towing the line and evading giving any kind of clear message, which leaves the conclusions that there is no clear vision for the AHA or there is a clear vision and it's not one members...

Historically there have been a lot of apple varieties but commercial growing paired them down over the 20th century (like most produce) to what grows and harvests quickly, easily and reliably. A lot of heritage varieties fell by the wayside for lack of demand and lack of desire to grow produce...

What sanitizer did you use? It would be easier to rule it in or out if we knew exactly what you used. I am curious whether the off flavor is getting better or worse. This could be a matter of excess yeast in the bottles. Yeast has a bitter taste like what's described. As the bottles sit in the...

I'd check out some of the craft maltsters for sure. Over here in Colorado I pick up Root Shoot's products. I believe they sell through the NB/Midwest/AiH/AHB conglomerate as well. Their pilsner and pale malts are both superior to anything I've found from the larger domestic maltsters...

I'm not sure if the Duvel strain is the right choice; however, it's used quite a bit around Belgian breweries and fermenting at different temperatures and pitch rates can produce different character. The westmalle strain could be another direction to attempt.

Reading the thread on the AHA forum about the BA/AHA changes and then this, it doesn't seem like a bright future for the AHA. BA is happy to keep the competition, which is a profitable venture, and pass the rest of the convention off as a GABF booth. Wouldn't be surprised to see HBC reduced to a...

Probably trying to sell through their supply of the most recent harvest so they don't get stuck with them like older harvests. If you look at some of the other hop retailers online, they're trying to get rid of hops from the past few years at pennies on the dollar compared to their current...

Homebrewing is down as is craft beer generally. There are lots of reasons for it. The rise of craft beer made it accessible so people like myself who got serious about brewing due to limited access have less incentive to keep brewing. The craft beer swell in the mid-2010s got a lot of people to...

Also using UK Brewing parts for my beer engine

Depending on your local market, you may be able to find a corny keg cheaper than the other options (assuming you don't have a spare already). I use a five gallon keg as my primary fermentation vessel these days to brew batches for my three gallon serving kegs. No problem with the headspace...

I wouldn't worry too much about a scale for pounds. Most of the countertop scales will be fine with that weight. It's the ounce and smaller increment scales that need great accuracy. I do a lot of small batches and adjust my water so I need to get down to tenths of grams. I had a small scale...

It's variety, storage and use dependent. If you're using them for bittering at some point you'll need to account for alpha loss if you care whether you are some IBUs off. For flavor/aroma/dry hopping if they smell fine they will taste fine. Sunday I brewed a beer with late additions of hops I...

Yeah it looks infected. At first I thought the brown floaters was coagulated protein but the bubble eliminates any question there. I've seen wild yeast make those kind of blobs that float. If you tried to pull one out and it breaks up and sinks, it's likely protein. If you can pull the whole...

I think it's fine. You may find over time you miss the mouthfeel of more beta-glucans and rotate between which recipe you add with each pull from the carboy. For headspace I would only fill the carboy up to where it turns to a slope towards the neck. You shouldn't need a blowoff tube if you're...