Recent content by Smoodude

Wow... I'm still an extract/mini-mash brewer and see this setup just inspires me to just go ahead and make the jump to all-grain. Thanks for the great pics and the inspiration!

So I've been using a hop bag for my last few beers. Actually I've been using a paint strainer bag as a hop bag. The results have been that I have cut down the amount of junk on the bottom of my brew kettle after a boil, which makes transfers to primary much easier, but I think my beers lately...

I also kegged and force-carbed this one today. I did not add the coffee until I kegged it this morning and I sampled the beer before the coffee addition. I've made a coffee stout before that had too much coffee in it (it did mellow out after time), so I only added about 1/4 of the coffee...

Excellent! Thank you!

I've been lazy and letting it sit in the primary since 12/12. I still need to rack it to secondary and add the coffee concentrate. Any thoughts on NOT racking it to secondary and just pouring in the coffee concentrate?

Wait... how is this an all grain question?

Just brewed this recipe on Saturday. Came out with an O.G. of 1.062. It's bubbling away nicely in my closet. I'm pretty excited to see how this one turns out.

St. Arnold's actually moved locations into a much larger and nicer brewery. Unfortunately, I don't think they have the correct permits, so the tours are not going on yet. But if you do get a chance to go, I highly recommend it! Good beer and good times. St. Arnold does brew BJ's beers, but...

I brewed a batch of Centennial Blonde on Saturday. It's been over 72 hours and no sign of fermentation. When I bought it, I asked the LHBS if they got rid of all of the bad Nottingham yeast that was recalled and they said yes. I was supposed to be good. Oh well... now I have to wait until the...

To be honest, I've found that using extract recipes that I pretty much come very close to the recipe's stated OG just about every time. So I don't even take an OG hydrometer reading. If anything, take a FG reading in a few weeks after primary (and/or secondary) fermentation to figure out the...

Maybe it's just me, but I would never risk contamination of my beer by putting the hydrometer straight into the fermentation bucket. I've always used a thief. Seems too risky to me to stick it directly into the bucket.

I've brewed 12 batches and have not used nor needed a blow of tube. You have plenty of room in a 6.5 gallon bucket brewing 5 gallon batches.

BTW - a great beginner kit that is really forgiving and tastes great is Northern Brewer's Nut Brown. Tastes great to everyone and is a real winner! Also, use a hop bag! Go to a hardware store and get a paint strainer bag. Makes your wort much cleaner.

I think the temperature issue is really not that big a deal at first. I'm in Texas and unless I build a fermentation chamber or keep the carboy in water, I can't keep it in those lower temps. Lower temperatures leads to better beer, but I ferment at around 75-76 degrees and my beer still...

You should be fine. It's pretty difficult to get all of it out. I usually set the extract container in my sink and warm it up with hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes while my grains are steeping. Liquid malt extract pours much easier when it's warm. Then I spoon in some hot wort or fill the...