Recent content by soupfist

By any chance would it be this juice? http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-100-Apple-Juice-96-oz/10415325 I am getting ready to dive into Apfelwein for the 1st time, and I was considering this one because it's the cheapest, but I'm not sure if it matters if the juice is from concentrate.

I used to use LME all the time but (especially if you're buying it in plastic containers from your LHBS) I think it contributes more negatives to the taste of your beer than DME does. If you do get LME I recommend buying it in cans and paying close attention to the expiration date. Fresher the...

In my experience, most inconsistencies I've seen from my refractometer have come from relying too much on the refractometer to temp correct a hot wort sample. The way I test hot wort is to fill a dropper full of wort sample, set it aside for a couple minutes, then put a drop on only after it's...

I don't own a pH meter. I throw CaCl and MgSO4 in the mash water because I know my local water has very low levels of these.

Not noticeably, but I don't really keep notes on color so it's possible.

I do the same thing as you, dkevinb but I don't think it's a viable option if you're using this as your only cooling stage. Really only makes sense as a 2nd stage. So if you can't hook your chiller to your sink, I'd pursue the no-chill option.

Back in November I made a very simple Hefeweizen: 68% wheat to 29% Pilsner, 3% acidulated, Wyeast 3068 @ 63DF. Within a week of bottling this, I was convinced it was the best beer I'd ever made - I totally nailed the clove/banana balance and it had a mild tartness left over from the acidulated...

Despise is a tough word. How can you despise a beer? I've had beers I tried & won't buy again. Most recently: Allagash White. Apparently somewhat popular, has won some awards. My SWMBO & her friend are fans and wanted me to brew a clone. I found the flavor profile confusing and unpleasant -...

Well I doubt it's your water and I'd be very surprised if it were your salts. I guess it's time to ask the dumb questions like, give us a recipe you've done recently, and then the volume of water you treated & the measurements of salts you're adding. I think it's you're either unwittingly...

I would agree with the notion it's fermentation temp. It's not unlikely that it's fusels, even if you can't notice them right away - ales in particular are a hot mess right out of the primary and it's difficult to really tell what's going on until some of the other flavors that might be masking...

I brew a lot of hefes & dunkels with 3068 and I'd like to start harvesting it since it's not exactly cheap... Am I wrong in thinking if I had a choice between washing from the primary vs. the secondary, for 3068 in particular I should choose the secondary? The only criticism I've ever heard...

I do it earlier than that...right after you draw the water, before mash and sparge start. I thought I read somewhere that the mash is where chloramines do their damage but I can't seem to find corroboration with that on The Goog, so maybe it doesn't matter. All I know for sure is I once...

My gut tells me you were probably fermenting way higher than 72. First off I don't even trust a fermometer on a glass carboy...I trust it even less on a plastic bucket (but I probably just kicked a beehive full of people who are about to disagree with me). I'm guessing the 72 reflected the...

I don't see how that could be anything else but yeast you're tasting. I have tasted that flavor many times as I make a point to sample my beers at several points during development; it's always been a flavor that settles out after primary fermentation when the yeast stops being so active. You...

Any money & time you'd have to put towards that idea is better spent by just buying a cheap cooler and using that as your HLT. Ideally you want to mount a ball valve in it so you can get a steady controllable flow out of it, but even if you don't have the time/money to do that before next...