Recent content by nipsy3

It's a second year vine and I know AA can vary with homegrown hops and that there's no way to verify what that percentage actually is, but I didn't think it would be that much. I mean there really is almost zero bitterness. I'm sure they were completely dried and then weighed. I wouldn't say...

I typically use hop pellets, but I'm now using my homegrown hops for brewing. This was only the second occasion I'd ever used whole hops and didn't like the way they clogged the siphon when racking from the brewpot the first time, so I bought a mesh hop back to boil them in. Everything seemed to...

Maybe this isn't the proper arena on how to repair a freezer chest, but everyone is generally very helpful around here. I purchased an 8' Sears/Kenmore Hotpoint freezer chest about 9 months ago. The thing was from the 70's or 80's but ran great and the price was right. I converted it to a...

I really hate bottling and have little time for it anymore, so I keg now, but I like to bottle a few to give out and I hate the setup process just to bottle a sixer or two. I know it can be done by lowering the keg pressure to 2 psi or so to prevent foaming, thus loss of carbonation and...

My trellis is about 12 feet high. My vines are about 16-18 feet. It's a cantilever design with 3 2X1s crossing horizontally across the top of the three cantilever posts. I did that because I have a SWMBO zoning rule that the trellis couldn't be ridiculously high. Once the bines reached the top...

I have at least 6 bines coming from the ground on each of my 2nd year Cascade and Centennial. That's with almost no extra maintenance at all. They're 14-18' right now with plenty of cones. But once I got to six and they started up the twine, I've cut down everything additional since. Some are...

www.brew-magic.com/bm_samtest.html He brewed on a Sabco system when he first started his brewpub in Delaware. He was the head brewer/owner and his best friend was the bar manager. He did nothing but brew all day, every day. He had to so he could keep up with the output that a normal...

That's a good point. You didn't mention a mashout temp. I flysparge and after a 154 mash, I raise the temp to 170 for mashout and hold for 10 minutes. Then, after recirculating the first few quarts of runoff, I sprinkle the sparge water to maintain the 170 or so temp. My sparge water is kept at...

The brewpub nearby makes a fantastic coconut stout every summer. It's based off of their normal milk stout recipe, but with less roasted barley and more chocolate barley. They put unsweetened coconut flakes in their serving tanks. The flavor comes from the oils, which mix with the beer when...

You have my sympathy. Maybe I'll see how the Blonde turns out before moving onto the Strong. Thanks.

No competition here. Just looking for my new favorite beer. Do you think banana would really come through that much? Steelers? Good god, man! We're in the Stanley Cup Finals here! Go Pens!

I did a Belgian Blonde with 8 lb pils and 1 lb dextrose and a starter of WLP500 basically to create a yeast cake to use for a Golden Strong on the next batch. I was in such a hurry, that when I racked off my hefeweizen and drained that yeast cake into a sanitized container, I didn't rinse...

Glad I decided to ask first. I think I'll just make a small Amber Ale instead and pitch on a yeast cake. That should ferment pretty fast. Turns out I do have some time to brew this Saturday.

If it's boiled and dissolved, I don't believe you should see anything. In my opinion the best way to add it is to an empty secondary carboy just before you're ready to rack (after fermentation is complete in the primary). Then rack from your primary to your secondary on top of the gelatin...

That's what I figured. I'm just getting into more complicated grain bills.