Recent content by SMD

What are you talking aboot?

I recently brewed a Helles Lager in my basement at about 56 degrees and once I was ready to move to the D-Rest I brought it upstairs, and put it in a room with a space heater. That wasn't quite enough to get it to 68-70 for me, so I threw an electric blanket around it on low, which I cycled on...

Maybe you’ll start a new trend in brewing. 5-10% of the grist from household bugs, varies by region.

Lately I’ve been dumping them off the side of my deck into the bushes. Sunday my wife went to let our dog in shortly after dumping and this is what we found…

About 10 years ago my now wife and I went to a “Beer Lovers Anonymous” festival, one of those events where $30 gets you a wristband and unlimited sample pours. There were some 30 beers, and they started at 8% and the vast majority were over 10%. I don’t remember getting home and we found a...

I just pitched Imperial Triple Double Belgian Ale yeast on Monday, sitting at 72° and its nearly done. Temp range of 65-77.

If you add it into primary toward the end of fermentation, is there any concern about enough oxygen in the beer/wort? I usually try to ensure I’ve aerated the wort well when I put it in primary, would it require additional aeration?

Monday I’m going to be brewing a Belgian Dubbel, my first Belgian beer actually and I’m not sure if I should add the candi syrup at the beginning of the boil, mid boil or end of boil. I know to be wary of scorching and thoroughly integrate, but is there a perceivable difference depending on...

I’ve been giving serious consideration to switching from my glass carboys to a Fermonster, mainly so I can use the ispindel I bought but also ease of pulling a sample.

I make dog treats but they dont look that nice! They look like the rejects from the Purina factory. Then I give the leftovers to my friends chicken coop.

You should be able to find a city water report somewhere, that’s what I used for awhile but eventually I just had my water tested. It was really easy. I sent my water sample to Ward Labs, $21 and 3 days later I had a full water report.

You're going to create a new yeast strain and COVID variant all in one go!

I would be less worried about water chemistry (unless your water doesn’t taste good) and put that mental horsepower towards ensuring everything that your beer touches is sanitized diligently. If you hit your target gravities, stick to your plan and clean, clean, clean, then you will persevere.

I’ve got a lager fermenting under pressure in a keg right now. I built a spunding valve and I’ve got it set right at 12 PSI. When fermentation is done I want to bottle this lager, however since it’s under pressure now, is there a way to know how much CO2 could potentially be in the beer...

This 👆. I had 2 cases of stubbies awhile back that I got from a local bottle swap. Cleaned, sanitized and filled with an Octoberfest. I proceeded to cap with my little wing capper only to find out the design of the stubbies didn’t align with the capper and I couldn’t cap them 😳.