Recent content by nwhall3

Interesting. The vomit off-flavor is normally associated with butyric acid, which is produced by anaerobic bacteria and thus a sign of infection. There's also isovaleric acid, which is more like stinky cheese or dirty feet and can be produced by brett or bacteria and thus could also be a sign of...

?

To my knowledge, hop creep is really only a concern for continued fermentation after dry-hopping due to amylase in the hops, and therefore the risk of bottle/can bombs, not really diacetyl. Diacetyl, however, is a concern of cutting fermentation short, whether bottling or kegging. I second...

Adding sugar boiled in water while dry-hopping is a fairly common practice, and I'd say it at least wouldn't hurt. You could always add a balloon to the top of the carboy at that point to collect some CO2 for cold crashing (if you cold crash) without it being so much it would blow the balloon...

+1 for The New IPA. Completely upped my NEIPA game. He does a great job of presenting the science, but also breaking it down in ways that are easy to digest. The tips from successful breweries at the end of the book are also top notch.

+1 for Experimental Brewing. Brülosophy is also great (if you can get past the incessant commercials).

Do not boil your brew! Yes, you'll kill the yeast, but you'll also ruin the batch. I've never used bentonite, but my understanding is that it's a clarifying agent. This wouldn't necessarily kill the yeast (though I'm not well-versed in it, so I'm not certain). More importantly, why are you so...

As others have indicated, the taste of samples during fermentation--especially early on--aren't necessarily indicative of where the beer will end up. Fermentation produces lots of nasty-tasting stuff early on that eventually clean up (sulphur, VDKs, etc.). I agree with others to forego frequent...

What makes you think it's stuck? Have you taken gravity readings to verify it's short of your projected terminal gravity? At the very least, pushing CO2 through the base of your conical to rouse the yeast won't hurt, and it very well might help; I often push CO2 through the base after...

Definitely wise; as others have pointed out, pushing a fully carbonated beer through a nitro tap would be foam city. The only thing I'd add is that there are multiple mixes of beer gas. Beer gas that's meant just for pushing beer through longer tap lines is usually 60% CO2 / 40% N (this can...

If using the proper yeast strain, you're right; Bavarian weissbier strains are know for their production of isoamyl acetate--the ester responsible for that banana flavor. Other strains produce isoamyl acetate at much lower levels, so if using a different strain (e.g., a Belgian strain that in...

You could try some Belgian strains, which often ferment a bit warmer. Wyeast 1214 comes to mind, though there may be others that work well, too. I doubt you'll get much banana from them, but you'd probably get some crossover of the spice character, even if not quite as predominantly clove. I...

If the wort has already been boiled, I really wouldn't worry about taking your whirlpool temps pretty low. Yes, it might get infected with a tiny, tiny bit of wild yeast or bacteria if you're whirlpooling really low, but if you pitch a healthy amount of viable yeast it really shouldn't be a...

I would say there's nearly zero danger in drinking it. Maybe--maybe--if there's some sort of mold it would be worth worrying about (though I say probably not), but I assume you would have mentioned that. It's relatively common practice to age beer for well over a year in a carboy. You're fine...

There are a lot of variables here, and information of which I'm not aware. BUT, given the information you provided, here's my $0.02: The main advantage of kettle sours is that they sour quickly, and they are relatively shelf-stable after that. The small amount of lacto that you mixed in...