Recent content by skelrad

Yep, we've got some cold water this time of year in Wisconsin, so I went from boiling to 75 degrees in around 10-12 minutes. Awesome! The only problem I had is that the adapter I got with the chiller for the kitchen sink doesn't fit! Because my sink has a sprayer head on it, the adapter won't...

with my new wort chiller! Brother in law gave me a gift certificate to our LHBS. After a year of saying "I'll just make a chiller" I finally broke down and bought one. Oh sweet heaven! It cut my brew time by a good 30 minutes. No more standing over the sink replenishing ice for an hour to...

I just pulled out some washed yeast that I've had in the fridge for just over a year. I was really skeptical about it being viable. I made a starter, and a day later...nothing. So I pulled out another jar of the yeast and dumped it in. I also started a yeast that was only 4 months old, for...

Just opened the first bottle from my second batch. This recipe is going to be a house staple. Amazing recipe. I now see how important it is to hit the candi syrup temperature dead on - in my first batch I heated it too high by accident. It had a nice flavor, but wasn't a caramel flavor. For...

Just tried the first bottle. It's only been bottled for 3 weeks, and while it's quite good, it's definitely still a little young. After a few more weeks it should be fantastic though. I can smell slight vanilla in it, but can't taste it at all - might bump up the amount next time. The only...

You can do BIAB with this recipe just like any other. I just brewed another batch using BIAB last weekend. The first time I brewed this, it was my very first AG batch. It turned out quite good, but I overcooked the syrup and so didn't have the flavor I was looking for. This batch I was more...

It's kind of hard to tell from the photos, but it does look to me like it could be milled quite a bit finer. You really don't have to worry about going too fine with BIAB. Sure, you can turn your grain into 100% flour, but stay away from that extreme and you're likely to be okay. If you're...

I guess I should clarify. This isn't about getting a clear beer as a final product. To me it's about making it easier to transfer just the good stuff from the boil to the primary, and subsequently to the bottling bucket. I have to leave less in the bottom of each bucket because there's less...

I finally got around to bottling the porter last weekend. Usually I have to leave a substantial amount of beer in the primary when transferring to my bottling bucket just because of the amount of "junk" that goes into the primary from using BIAB. This batch was beautifully clean, with almost...

I just bottled a batch of this yesterday. I'm not much of a dark beer kind of guy (the dark you can chew), but my plan was to brew this for my father and brother-in-law for Thanksgiving. I did my obligatory taste prior to bottling though, and now I'm not sure I want to give it away! It...

So how much vanilla are people adding to this at bottling? I've seen everything from 1 tsp to a couple tablespoons. I'd like just a hint of vanilla, but nothing too overpowering.

Well, it's all really subjective of course, but I like Tyranena's Bourbon Barrel Brown. Capital Brewery in Middleton has some decent beer too, although it can be hit or miss. A couple of people mentioned New Glarus Staghorn, but just to be another data point - I can't stand the stuff (it...

Awesome! 95 has always been my lucky number...

This was a porter. I usually get efficiencies in the high 70's or low 80's, so this was right in line with my normal. I think stamandster is probably right that alot of the "flour" is actually just fine chaff, which would explain the efficiency. I'm seriously considering just throwing my...

I love BIAB, but it tends to produce less than clear wort. Tonight I changed things up a bit, and the result was wort that was substantially more clear than I'm used to with much less trub in the pot. I usually grind pretty fine, and my grind tonight was no different. I usually grind, put the...