Recent content by ryan_howard

This is great. I was planning on entering in the Gnarley Barley this year as my first competition. But if I remember correctly, didn't they limit the styles to just German beers? There was something different about it this year.

Thanks everyone. I went to a local store that carries some welding equipment, but they didn't have an adapter that would work. Plus, some reading I did suggests that pure CO2 might cause problems inside a regulator meant for an argon/CO2 mix. The picture definitely made it appear that it...

Ok, I kinda feel like an idiot. I scored a CO2 tank on craigslist last month. I got on here looking for a recommended regulator on the cheap, and a poster suggested this one - nothing fancy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D86IMPI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 But, either I'm just...

Just an update. I took a gravity reading, and clearly some fermentation occurred. If my math is right, it's presently about 4% ABV. So, we'll just keep trucking along!

Thanks guys. I went ahead and threw some more yeast in yesterday. I'll check it the end of the week and go from there. We'll see what happens. Thanks!

This is my first batch where I haven't seen any activity within 48 hours. It's a Belgian wit with Safale Belgian ale yeast. I just sprinkled the yeast directly into the wort. There's a chance it wasn't cool enough before I added it. This morning, I popped open the bucket lid to take a...

Hey, that's great. Thanks! I didn't see that one with my first searches. I'll keep scouting Craigslist for sure. The advantage of Amazon is the free shipping - really cuts down on cost. Thanks again!

Wondering if anyone has any experience or opinion on this regulator from Amazon. I'm concerned it's too "low-end." http://tinyurl.com/ln5zyqz I did pretty well this weekend on getting some kegs and a CO2 tank via Craigslist. Thanks!

Thanks guys. That's what I thought. I had initially offered a lower amount, and the guy acted like I had insulted him. So, I tried to clarify what he was including. Maybe we had just miscommunicated over email. I thought maybe there was a regulator in there.

Trying to move to kegging, and I got this price from a guy on craigslist. Worth the money or too much? 2- 5 gallon pin lock corny kegs w/ new o-rings, and 4 pin lock connections(2 gas in, 2 liquid out), and 2 dispensers (picnic faucet tap). ---$120 -Ryan

Right, I was thinking that too. I'm probably going to prepare this the day before since it's a group brew, then put it in the fridge. Should be fine for 24 hours.

Would this additional grain need to be brought to boil for sanitation purposes? Or would 30-60 minutes mashing be good enough? I'm thinking of prepping this the day before and having it ready.

Cat - thanks. Just found this article and it helped explain that to me: http://beersmith.com/blog/2010/01/04/diastatic-power-and-mashing-your-beer/ Would you recommend just steeping or maybe including some German Wheat Malt? (ratio?)

I'm planning a basic stout batch. But I want to put a small portion of it into a separate bucket after boiling and add chocolate malt that's been mashed and boiled separately. Any reason I couldn't do this? I've split batches before to add fruits and extracts, but never thought of...

I brewed this nut brown recipe from my local store last fall: Extract 2.5 lbs Pale Malt Extract 4 lbs Amber Malt Extract Grain .5 lbs 120 L Crystal Malt .2 lbs Chocolate .125 lbs Roasted Barley Hops 1 oz Perle (60 minutes) 1 oz Willamette (15 minutes) 1 oz Willamette (0 minutes)...