Recent content by Ratdog

@Peebee - Wow, I was not expecting when I posted the original message that I would learn how to proof a thermometer's readings with a scale and a device I never heard of. I'm sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that you are making the most of things and are undeterred and passionate...

I appreciate you sharing all this @Peebee. I'm going to get one, and if nothing else, I have another way to check my calculations throughout the process and diagnose false assumptions before they get out of hand. My biggest brewing mistakes are assuming things are what they aren't. Here are...

Thanks @Peebee! That was the case price, so who knows if it was for 10, 100, or 1000 . Thanks for sharing the link and providing the additional information. That's a pretty good price point for a tool that could come in handy!

Wow, I never knew. This looks like a cool brewing toy that people might want on their wish list. A case of these is only $492. DWK Life Sciences Kimble™ KIMAX™ Pycnometer Bottle If you like, please go on. Also, does the shape of the pycnometer have a bearing over it's effectiveness or...

Thanks for linking to the table of expected gravities and the fun test. Unfortunately my hydrometer only goes to 1.17 and the acid is off the meter. Assuming the gravities after the graduations end are linear (I think this is wrong because the bulb protrudes from the acid) this would...

Thank you for providing this link. Everything in there is what I was experiencing, except the beers I wrecked were 5.5 gallon batches of American Blonde made with 2 row, vienna, and C10. @Bobby_M really nailed this down in that string. Bobby - thanks for all you did to run this down...

Thanks Bobby. You correctly picked which bottle was giving me trouble. I'm not glad it's happened to others, but I'm glad it's not just me repeating the same stupid mistakes. My wife has a chemistry minor and believed it was a mislabel based on my experiment, but couldn't grasp how a chemical...

Thanks for the tips. I'll be doing all that and also being sure to measuring the water's pH before/after acid adjustments to make sure everything is as it should be. I could have avoided having the beers not turn out by doing that check.

I totally agree with you. That's where the inspiration came from - we were drinking the tea, and said, this could be good in a fall beer. Beyond bringing beer to homebrew club meetings, I do two or three competitions a year in an attempt to get objective feedback on my brewing. If something...

Great thinking. I've haven't used 85% PA before. The one that gave me trouble poured more like maple syrup. The one that worked as it should have was like water. Thanks for your thoughts!

Has anyone ever come across a mislabled bottle? I wrecked a a beer that I've brewed dozens of time before. "Wrecked" means the mash was a mortar-like consistency, it lautered poorly but successfully, efficiency was poor but not that bad, the beer fermented, and the resulting beer finished at...

I brewed a 5.5 gallon batch with 24 grams as specified. Feedback was mixed. Here are some additional notes for anyone who might want to use honeybush in beer: My wife loved this beer and I found it to be a nice enough fall beer. I felt as though what I enjoyed about the tea leaves came...

Thanks. That might be a tasty mead, but I think it would be overkill if scaled up for beer. I decided on a 100% pilsner malt Munich Helles, and added 24 grams of honeybush tea leaves in the 5.5 gallon batch. 8 grams of tea was added at 15, 10, and 5 minutes remaining in the boil. I'll report...

+1 on the silicone tubing, but also eliminating the pumping motion of the autosiphon helps. This alternate style siphon pump on Etsy is awesome. (The Siphon Pump Perfect for Home Brew and Wine Making. - Etsy). Once you get it flowing, it doesn't need babysitting like the autosiphon because...

I bought a pound of honeybush "tea" and I just love it. To me, it has a pleasant, mild sweetness and has the taste and aroma of freshly fallen autumn leaves. I'd really like to brew a fall beer with it, but I'm struggling to find any information on using it in beer. Honeybush is supposedly a...