Recent content by Sneaker

Due to my housing situation, I am unable to brew til the first of August. But I'd like to enter the homebrew competition at my local county fair, which is the first of Sept. What style would be good for a relatively short fermentation and conditioning period? I'd like to do a wheat and/or...

How do you know when conversion has occurred?

Ah. So the OG could actually be higher that the reading I'm getting? Or is it indeed wasn't mixed well, I'm stuck with 1032?

JiveTurkey: It was a partial boil. Orfy: I see. Lots of possibilities. I understand each item on your list, except #3. Are you saying it could it be operator error, or is there another "better" way to use the hydrometer?

I just brewed my first partial mash, an oatmeal stout, from a Northern Brewer kit. The instructions say the the OG should be 1042. Mine was 1032. What factors determine the OG? What might I have done differently to make the gravity higher?

Can you elaborate?

Years ago when I was in Ireland, I enjoyed many a pint of Guinness with Black Currant added to it. I would like to experiment with currants in a stout recipe, but I can't find any online. The recipes I've seen are for fruit beers, or wheats or lighter ales. If I were to add black currant...

It was in the corner of the coldest room in the house. I was actually afraid it was too cool there. I'd say the room temperature was 60-65. Thanks for the info, everyone :)

That's good to know, but is it preventable? What causes it? (my original question) And how long will it take to mellow? I am giving some as gifts, so what do I tell people — don't drink this until … ?

I tried my Holiday Ale for the first time yesterday. Brewed from a Brewer's Best extract kit. It sat in the primary for about 7 days, then in secondary for a couple of weeks, then in bottles for the full 21 days. The recipe kit contained corn sugar, as an alcohol booster. The beer has what I...

Just wanted to let everyone know about iStock, which sells high-quality royalty-free illustrations (plus photos, video, and audio) for not much money. Do a search for "beer label" and you'll see many designs that you could simply add type to. There are also great illustrations you can use on...

BAIB? That's not in the list of acronyms. What is it? S05 - also not in the Wiki. What is it? No idea what this means. "Dough in"? And, I've only brewed four batches, but I've never seen anything about putting something in the oven. Please explain.

It's about to blow!

First-ever bottling, done!