Recent content by mrdauber64

In my opinion you need to have at least one dark beer(Stout or Porter). My wife will not go into a taproom/brewery unless they have at least one dark beer on tap.

I have 7 taps. I always keep this: 1. Session Stout/Porter or something dark 2. IPA 3. Specialty IPA(Black IPA, Red IPA, Milkshake IPA....) 4. Lager(Helles, Pilsner, Dunkel, cream ale) 5. Specialty Lager(cucumber, coffee blonde/lager, or other fruit beers....) 6. Barrel Aged Imperial Stout...

Check out some of Brulosophy's experiments on Mash Temps. Most of their data suggests that even though the final gravity might be on the high side, tasters are not able to tell a difference between a high mash temp compared to a low mash temp. Your beer should be fine! Here is an example...

West Coast Red Ales, Schwarzbier, Cream Ales and American Pales Ales. I don't brew enough of those styles, but I should!

Using Cascade in a Cream ale is a good change. That is usually my go-to hop for cream ales. It gives a nice orange character when used at 5 minutes.

I use 4 oz of course grind for 24 hours. Gives a really fresh coffee flavor. I've done it in a blonde and stout and both had a very noticeable cold brew flavor

When I did this I used a Belgian(WYeast 1388, Belgian Golden Strong)/ Brett yeast mix(WYeast 5526, Brett Lambicus). This was a yeast slurry from a Belgian Golden Strong I aged on Brett and Peaches. I pitched the slurry and waited 4 months for the Brett to do it's thing! A couple days before...

A local brewery near me, Garphish Brewing in Bethel, MN, makes a Pretzel Milk Stout(using normal salted pretzels) and a Cinnamon Pretzel Milk Stout(using Cinnamon Pretzels) and both are really good! The flavor of the pretzels really do come through and it doesn't seem to effect the head...

Yuengling Traditional Lager would be my choice. I'm not sure if that qualifies as a "Mega Beer" though.

This sounds like a Water Chemistry issue to me. If you are making gold medal Porter's that means that your water is suited for dark beers, not pale, hoppy beers. Try using store bought Distilled or RO water and build a water profile using the water software of your choice. If it is was...

I've made the extract and all grain version at Midwest Supply. It makes a pretty good cream ale!

In my opinion, there are not enough dark grains. In my RIS I use a combination of dark roasted grains that combine to two pounds(Roasted Barley, Pale Chocolate and Midnight wheat). Also, C20 and C40 are too similar, they would get lost. I agree with the Special B suggestion instead of the...

Alcohol has a lower gravity than water, which is why wine finishes around .990. So it is possible to get below 1.000. I say let it go as long as it has good flavor! Belgians are supposed to be dry and well attenuated.

I personally prefer LorAnn Peanut Butter Flavor. About 3 oz. of that in a 5 gallon batch gives a good PB aroma and flavor. I've tried the PB2 and it just doesn't carry through and leaves a horrible mess in the fermenter.

Just an update. I added a handful of Raisins and my gravity dropped to 1.005. I plan to flavor mine with Ginger and Cucumber at the wife's request.