Recent content by StoutattheDevil

You can continue to decant off of the yeast layer that collects on bottom. You will want to leave some of the wort on top of the yeast cake(a la White labs vials) which is more or less what you have created by washing this yeast and storing it. Build a started offof it for your next batch and...

I've never been happy using pumpkin In a beer. The spices they add to commercial "pumpkin ales" are 99.9% of the flavor In these beers anyhow. Pumpkin ends up being a sloppy mess weather you roast it, purée it, blow it kisses, or filter it through angel tears. To me it's a niche beer. If you...

For browns, us T&f brown if you can find it. Chocolate and darker roasted and black malts should be 8-12oz tops(depending on the amount of base grains). If your only relying on those malts for color 4-5oz will do it. Something that is 350-450lovibond will bring a lot of color if you only have...

The only big downfall to Sam Adams now is they've hit that in between point. Their pulling the BMC crowd, but still need to maintain the "micro" tag. It's nice to see them phasing out beers and trying new things. At this point I akin them to Ben and Jerry's. Still artisan in a sense, more...

Unionrdr hit it on the head. I've had lagers that look like red ales when they hit secondary. Take a 2-4oz sample glass and use that as your judge of color on each beer. Take notes throughout the fermentation process on each batch on the recipe sheet. This way if you notice an abnormality or a...

The wine should be fine. Have you pulled a sample to check for contamination? Old school guys used to use buckets for primary(sanitized) with no lid at all and just a mesh bag over the top to keep fruit flys out. Once vigorous fermentation was done they would rack it off. As long as the bag and...

The only variable you have to worry about in dry hopping is the bag itself. If it sits out in an open area it can pick up a lot of different things, including bacteria that you don't want in your beer. If you notice a film that covers the entire top of your secondary that is sort of lacy and...

Two hearted is using a little crystal malt. Not much, and a low lovibond( like 10-20L) at most. Maybe 5-10% of your total grain bill. Centennial hops all the way through though. And a good American yeast, wlp001, Wyeast 1056 or s-05. Not a smash but a good one to have on tap.

Lots of variables to check, current temp of the fermenter? Is there still activity in the airlock/carboy? I would bring it to a spot in your house that is a little warmer and of need be, rock the carboy bam and fourth to re introduce the yeast back into solution. This happens a lot with dry...

I think Rouge does a Smash don't they? I may be wrong but I think they did it as part of the series they put out with the dirtoir.

Never realized how lucky I an to live where I live. When that brew came out it topped pyramid displays in the craft beer stores around here. Between founders and bells limited release and seasonal's I guess It's a spoil of riches!

most of the dark grains your going to be milling are de-husked. the resulting grind is going to be close to powder. Rice hulls can be used if your doing a big grain bill of dark malts, but with the amount of base grains that do contain a husk that go into the average batch, the rice hulls...