Recent content by Snakeabob

Why all the hate on liquid yeast products for hoppy beers? The recipe looks something like it would turn out an American Brown, or Hopped up English Brown ale. If you want to go for a cleaner and drier beer, American Ale II, Wyeast 1272 would probably fit the bill. I think Wyeast 1968 London...

You would most likely need to buy new hoses and disconnects to get the kegerator that comes with the half barrel to dispense beer from a 5 gallon ball or pin lock keg. Hoses and disconnects are generally the cheap stuff. What can get pricey are the faucets (if you want perlicks), CO2 and...

Force carb some water with a touch of yellow food coloring, bottle, and serve. Then wax poetic about how it's the best beer you've ever made, and how you can't wait for them to try it and tell you what they think.

First off, I applaud your efforts for jumping into all-grain head first. While a Belgian Tripel is going to be a difficult beer to pull off even if you have your process down, let me throw out a few things for you to consider: 1. If you're doing Brew in a Bag (i.e. containing all your...

It is possible to over pitch, a topic which has been discussed at length on the forums. In this case a full packet probably wouldn't hurt, but from what I understand yeast reproduction and the associated lag time help produce desirable esters in the finished product. Since knowing exact cell...

eh, I don't know if it's really worth it. If you have chloramine in your water, then maybe it's worth a shot. However, if you're doing a full boil all-grain, the chlorine should volatilize off during the boil itself and you probably have nothing to worry about...unless you are brewing with...

What was the belgian strain you were using? If you take a whiff of the starters you made, or even taste them, you should be able to reasonably tell which yeast is which. If you can't tell the difference by tasting the starter then I don't know what to tell you, but it should be pretty apparent...

I am not sure about converting to extract, but I have a Belgian IPA in bottles right now that is pretty fantastic. In place of the Pilsner malt you could probably just use Extra Light DME to get the right amount of fermentables: Batch Size: 6 gallons 90 minute boil OG: 1.064 FG: 1.006...

I am going to second the recommendation for Maryland Homebrew over in Columbia, MD. They have a huge selection of specialty malts, and sell their hops in vacuum sealed packs. The Flying Barrel in Frederick is a little closer to me, and they just moved into a larger building, but their shop...

I like to pick a yeast and use it in consecutive brews with progressively higher ABV% or IBUs until the yeast reaches a beer from which there will be no return. For example, WY3787 was first used in a 1.040 Belgian Pale for three weeks, then pitched to a 1.062 Dubbel, and will finally go into a...

Had a sip of piss warm Molson Canadien out of an old can when I was 13 or 14. So disgusting I didn't try another beer until I was 18 when my buddies and I found a case of Utica Club. While barely drinkable, to this day I still have an affinity for low quality, small distribution beers like the...