Recent content by smithmd4

Thanks! Going for the creamy nitro and yes I have a nitro faucet. Didn't realize it would take so long to "carb" up. I knew nitrogen wasn't easily soluble in liquid so wasn't sure how it all worked on 100% nitro with the sparkler faucet. Will post again if I have any other questions...

Added a Nitro line to the keggerator so the girlfriend can have nitro cold brew whenever she wanted. Using 100% nitrogen as beer gas would carbonate the coffee. Everything I've read on a nitro system basically said "set it to 30psi and use whatever length hose you're using for CO2." so I've...

Whoops, forgot to post back. Fully agree its not 3711. No flameout addition, all 60min.

http://prairieales.com/beer/prairie-standard/ I'll taste it again tonight at work and update, but my best guess off memory: -All pils malt -SG: ~1.046 -Mash 147-150 depending on your system -I think I recall all of their beers end up with a low FG, somewhere around 1.004, from a CYBI...

Starting to shop around for upgrading my kettles. Currently have 10gal aluminum BK & HLT with the ubiquitous orange rubbermaid mash tun. Ditching my Al BK, but keeping my cooler MT for 5 gallon or lower gravity 10gal batches and my Al HLT works just fine. I just want a larger BK & MT without...

I make a big a$$ beer every year. This year I was thinking of doing 2 batches the CSI Westy 12 clone and splitting each batch in half. Going to leave one chunk alone. So any thoughts on wine/spirits to age it with (thinking a rum, a whiskey, and a wine)? I'm hesitant on oaking but...

I bulk aged mine in a better bottle for 6 months and had no issues. Beer is about 18 months old now and settling down nicely.

Alright, what are your thoughts on single vs two stage dry hopping? I've planned for a 5oz single stage dry hop as fermentation is winding down. Going to use loose pellet hops. Was going to let that go 4 days then cold crash, fine if I feel like it needs it, and package. So far I'm...

I wouldn't sweat the 3 degrees over 100min too much. I would lose 1-2* in my cooler over 60ish minutes to no effect. Also to echo the above, make sure to get BeerSmith tuned for your system. Anytime I change something significant on my system I do a water test to make changes to my setup if...

I use 1098 (007) as my house when I want a fairly neutral yeast (and 1318 when I want a lot of English character). It has slightly more character than 1056 but it also works well at higher temps I have without the lousy flavors I get from 1056 above 68*. I would say I get a slight mineral...

Yup, thanks!

Yup. The mashout stops enzymatic activity. The beta glucans are what make rye such a sticky mess. The mash does thicken up as the temp drops, so a mashout/hot sparge will help, but the beta glucan rest is what breaks down the protein that creates a gummy mash.

Yeah, I'm kegging. If it were going to be ready to package in 7-10 days I MIGHT bottle a gallon for a trip coming up but 4-5 gallons will be kegged. My barleywine was "done" at day 6, but that's an aging beer so I let it sit. Fermentation was stable but I figured it was still cleaning...

With my big beers I'll let them sit around for a few weeks to a month in the primary, then transfer off the yeast for bulk aging. Making my first big hoppy beer, so curious what everyone's timing is for something like IIPA. I'm pitching a big slurry of yeast from a low gravity pale ale, and...

I heat my strike water in my mash tun to preheat it as well. I plug the temps of grain (72) and mash tun (150) into Beersmith and it spits back a number. In my first non-water brew, it was spot on yesterday.