Recent content by Sirspongy

Boldhand Brewing Company

So I have this 'Vanoco Oatmeal Stout' bottle conditioning for four days so far. I wanted to give it a taste and see how the carbonation is going. I cracked one open and poured it into a clear glass. Not too much head. There is a noticeable amount of residue in the bottom of the bottle, as well...

Spend about the same as you would on a glass carboy and get the Better Bottle. Read about it at http://www.better-bottle.com/index1.html and you will understand why it is better than glass. I actually use both and I cannot tell the difference in taste. BB's are lighter which is a nice pro as...

Well it was the Oatmeal Stout recipe kit from Midwest brewing but I added some extras to it. I do not have the exact measurements in front of me but what I added was some amber DME, caramel malt, cocoa powder, vanilla extract.

Update on my Vanocoa Oatmeal Stout. I just moved it over to the secondary fermenter today, it spent 5 days in the primary. The O.G. was 1.044 (where it was suppose to be) and the gravity I got after I moved it over to the secondary was 1.010 (which is what the F.G. is suppose to be). I am...

So I just started an Oatmeal Stout last night. I started by steeping the grains. While I was steeping the grains I noticed that the Wyeast smack-pack I got was a 50mL pack and that I really should make a starter for it or I would experience a very long lag time. Well I ended up not creating a...

I just bottled my Nut Brown Ale. Took about 2 hours doing it myself. I got 49 - 12 ounce bottles out of it. I had a half a bottle extra so I just drank it. It was good. Better than Samuel Smith even though mine was not carbonated yet. I think the extra cup of corn sugar I added to the wort gave...

Could anyone estimate how much gravity 2 pounds of light malt extract, 1 cup of corn sugar and 1 ounce of hops would add to a 1040 estimated kit gravity? I never really got much input on that aspect of my question.

Well I actually did not use water in the recipe at all. I used "All Natrual Apple Juice" in place of water. This is the reason why I had such a high starting gravity. Yes it started at 1.20 so I added about a half gallon of cold water to bring it down to 1.10. It has been fermenting like mad for...

Checked the mead that I started last night and it is fermenting away. The first gravity reading I took before I pitched the yeast was 1.20 so I added some more water to it and brought it down to 1.10. I was reading that the higher the gravity the harder it can be for yeast to do their job. I...

Thanks for that information. I was actually following a recipe from my local brewery supply store. The owner wrote it out for me so I was thinking he knew what he was talking about. I was thinking leave it in there longer but being an amatuer I just followed the directions. As for the...

No, no fuzzies on the floaties and about the foam/scum, they do not look like foam at all. They just look like fat, over-sized yeast. I had another question about this batch. I did not take the gravity reading of my batch at the beginning but I used a kit which says it should be 1040-1044. I...

I am new to the brewing world and my first batch of Nut Brown Ale seems to be doing fine so far, after 15 days. I did not see too much activity the first 7 days, although I know it was fermenting. On the 8th day a pretty vigorous reaction began which lasted about 3 days and has since slowed...