Recent content by olie

I'm trying to find an all-grain all-ancient-grain recipe (3-5 gallon, though I can do math). It seems a lot of the "ancient grain" recipes are along the lines of * Mostly modern 2-row/pilsner/whatever grains * 15-20% Fonio or some other ancient. My goal is to reproduce, as closely as...

The BJCP publishes specs for each style of beer. If your ABV is out of spec, that's points-off. I can see how, if he enters a category where spec is 4-5%, one would like to be dead-center in the range at 4.5%.

I realize this is an ancient thread, but it was first on my search list and I didn't see an actual answer to the question asked (if it's in there, sorry; I started skimming, after a while). Anyway... ABV is alcohol BY VOLUME so, the amount of water you add changes the ABV in exact proportion...

(Yes, I know this is an ancient thread. New related question, though :) ) Are there any special tricks to stopping coagulation inside my plate chiller? Like: if I add to boil, then whirlpool, then wait until it's some certain temp or something to "fully gel" (or whatever it does)? I had to...

Yes, carbonated beer (original edited). Yes, counter-pressure keg filler, but I'm hoping to have some control (valve) and insight (gauge) into the counterpressure.

I know this is an ancient thread, but it didn't have an answer, so here goes: * I keep the fermentor pressurized "as normal" for the style of beer. * I add CO2 to the TOP of the beer in the fermentor (so as not to blow bubbles in the beer!) to hold "normal" pressure. * I have an adjustable...

I find it difficult to keep kegs properly pressurized during a pressure transfer of carbonated beer, and sometimes end up with over-carbonation that is a PITA to deal with. It seems to me that an adjustable pressure relief valve with gauge -- preferably low-pressure, so it's easy to adust...

Came here looking for the answer to the OP question: What is the [approximate is fine] alcohol tolerance of this yeast?

I mean the ring of hops that forms in the center of my whirlpool, around the heating elements. "Hops ring", "hops cake", "blob of hops" -- I don't know what that's properly called. ("Ring" because it forms a ring -- a sort of "big hops doughnut" -- around the center of the whirlpool, with the...

You can have incomplete or quite-efficient mash (OG) or fermentation (FG). I've found that [previously counterintuitive but, after some reading, I think I Get It] a larger crush can lead to a much more efficient mash, yielding much higher OGs with less grain, for example. It's sort of an old...

I have a plate chiller on the output of my boil kettle, on the way to fermentor. I don't have any special way to cool the boil kettle, other than that, so the wort is hot in the boil kettle. My current whirlpool (15 min spin, 15 min to stop spinning) drops things to the 190°F-ish range, but I...

As an aside on the states vs feds thing, I called California ABC to ask where various fermentables (sugar-water, lemon juice, etc) fell on the "is it beer? Wine? Sake? Mead? etc" scale. They explained that, while CA has fairly strict definitions of what constitutes "beer", TTB (the feds)...

Ok, I think I have a decent solution. The product I linked above (the sort of "C" shaped scrubbie thing) does a pretty decent job, but is too big to reach the insides of each loop. The thing that REALLY let me get into all the little crevices was (THIS) bad boy. NOTE: While decent scrub...

Forearm pain isn't the issue. "Can't reach all the little nooks & crannies" [easily] is the issue. (Obviously, I can get at them, eventually; I'm just trying to simplify life.)

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried a bunch of "normal" scrubbies and have found getting into all the little ins & outs of the elements difficult. Hence my thinking I want something "C" shape (but, now that I've ordered one, I'm wondering if it will only do 2/3 of the job -- will report...