Recent content by newbe

I'm still learning about yeast but it sounds like it has seen it's better days. I'd retire it ...

I have tried this (in a way) one time I didn't "steep" the grains but I did add my dark grains only for the last 15-20 mins of the mash... constantly stirring them in. I tried this as I was told it could reduce some tannins. It made a great beer but then again, it could have been a great beer...

For future dry hopping. .. sink the hop sac. With out the surface area there is less of a chance of a funk growing. Sinking the hops also allows for more hop flavor to come through and less "grassy" flavor and aroma.

Picking up my FREE piano on monday... not excited about the move but pumped about having this in the living room!

I usually use oak chips and store them in a gallon freezer bag for about 1-2 weeks. When I add it to the secondary fermentor, I usually dump all the oak as well as the bourbon into the carboy (it's usually less than 1-2 cups).

Looks like an amazing place.

I might have missed this but are you pitching on the yeast cake from the primary or secondary? I have pitched onto the secondary yeast cake twice and both times I have had great results!

What kind of sugar do I add and do I need to boil it into a simple syrup?

I recommend sinking the hops in a hop sock (add some marbles)... I have tried sinking and letting it float and every time the beers that had the hops completely submerged are always better.

Base ingredients original yeast was white lab wlp500 12 lb two row pale 1 lb dark candy sugar ( beginning of boil /sparg) 1 lb sugar in raw ( beginning of boil /sparg) 1lb of aromatics (munichx2) 8oz of special b 2oz Belgian choc 8oz cara 45 Mashed close to the 158-160 mark, I know that is...

I made a Belgian quad and I think I mashed too high at 158-160. My OG was 1.081 and it is stuck at 1.031. I contacted my LHBS and they said I had a stuck fermentation. Told me to try pitching more yeast, try the t-58 I had on hand and if that did not work to pick up champagne yeast. I added...

I love my plate chiller... I use a hop spider and back flush after I'm done. Soak it in sanitizer and flush it once again on brew day. Oh and I also have my plate chiller high enough so that when it falls into my carboy/bucket, it gets nice and aerated.

The tank/valve for co2 and the nitro/co2 blend is different. As far as the faucet, they will swap out without any trouble.

Something that worked great for me was sinking the hops to the bottom instead of just floating them on top. We did two identical batches and the batch we sank the hops in was 100x's better!