Recent content by shannonsj

Well, it didn't suck :) It was actually pretty darn good. I think next time I will leave out the pepper and the cinnamon. The cinnamon sticks wouldn't grind and I don't think I boiled them long enough to get any real flavor. It's got just the right amount of heat as it is. thanks for...

Nope....I'm using plastic bottles...and (just in case) to control the carnage I put the bottles in a closed container while carbing up. I just got home and checked them, and the bottles were rock hard. So I put the container in a very cold fridge. I'm hoping that will put the yeast to sleep...

Nope....but it might make my hair turn red ;)

For me, it's about learning something new...and the coolness of watching the primary bubbling away :) There is a geeky appeal to naturally carbonating the stuff too. I've only been home brewing for a little over a month so doing it the hard way still seems fun :) I used to get this...

Well, it tasted really good yesterday so I bottled it in 1/2 liter plastic bottles...put it in the laundry room to carb up....I think it will only take a couple of days based in how firm the bottles were this morning... I did think the pepper was a bit strong when sampling at room...

I read thru a bunch of recipes and I think I saw pepper in one of them....it looked interesting so I tried it... How do I carb it if I kill the yeast? My plan was to bottle it while still sweet, let it carb for a day or two, and then put it in a very cold fridge... wouldn't that stop the...

I wanted to try something different from the kits I have been brewing and after looking at several different recipes I went with a mix of all of them: 6 lemons, zested and juiced about 5-6 cups of cane sugar 2 Vanilla Beans in pods 2 cinnamon sticks 1 large piece of ginger about the size...

I have to say up front that I am a complete newbie at home brewing beer....but I tried a recipe for Octoberfest from MR Beer that stalled out and wasn't doing much after a week of primary. I read up on yeasts and decided to try this to increase the ABV...I thought the recipe seemed a little...