Recent content by tayclem

What is it exactly? And what does it do for my batch? I've poked around quite a bit, trying to find an answer, but I can't ever find anything that really explains it.

So much adjusting! lol the only thing I knew going into this was that I needed somewhere around 15 pounds of grain total for a 5 gal. batch and that 2-row should make up the bulk of that. will the. 75 lbs of crystal and. 5 lbs of special still give me thedeep red color i'm looking for...

I'll go back in and adjust the Crystal and Special B. The site didn't give ratios, so I just guessed at how much of each should be used. Ok, after messing around a bit more I came up with this: American 2-row: 13.25 # Crystal 60L: 1.5 # Special B: .5 # ABV is now 8.1% This is my...

I was poking around on Google the other day, looking for a Nosferatu clone. While I did find an ancient post on here about it, it didn't seem like anyone nailed down a recipe. I went to the GLBC website to get the ingredients needed. Since they don't give exact quantities, I had to mess...

No matter how hard I try, I just can't come around to beers heavy on malt flavor. Especially after doing my own brewing. I recently went to a friend's house, and all he had was a few bottles of Budweiser in his fridge. Not wanting to seem rude, I took the one he offered and drank it...but I...

UPDATE: Tonight, I pulled a bottle to taste. This is the second week of conditioning. That dead vegetable smell/flavor was still there, but not anywhere near as strong. As I said before, I have some orange flavored oil I use for candy making. I added a couple drops to a glass, and it was...

I haven't made the switch to kegging yet, so I'm limited to how much space I have for bottles. Batch 1: Odin's Winter Stout Batch 2: Idunn Citrus Weiss (which I thought I ruined, but was able to save with candy flavor oils) On Deck: Ragnarok Bourbon Barrel Red Ale

depending on the price range of the grate you currently have, I would say it sounds like it was chromed aluminum. I get that a lot with my wire whisks; after a few uses/washes, the shiny goes away and the base metal shows. the only thing I can think of is to look for a stainless steel grate...

I hats those carbonation drops. No matter what style of beer, or how many you add, they just don't seem to do much of anything. Personally, I use 2 teaspoons of white sugar for each 750ml bottle I have. I usually get a beautiful carbonation in just a few days. I've never had a problem with it...

I've never had Kraken rum. My personal favorite is Capt. Morgan Private Stock; really nice vanilla/caramel profile with cinnamon, clove and molasses notes. It's really smooth too.

Related question: how long is too long to leave a beer on the grub cake that forms during primary? Thelongest I ever left mine was 2.5 weeks. It probably could have stood to go another day or two at least, but I was worried about autolysis.

There's a homebrew store I found up in Taylor, MI that has American, French and Hungarian oak. I think I'll go with the American this time since it wouldn't be too big an investment. (The Hungarian is almost $10 for just a few ounces O.o) Since I've posted this, I'm going back and forth between...

Both the oak essence and oak chips (i found at another homebrew site) are about the same price: 3-4 dollars. I'm thinking about doing a half-and-half comparison: bottling half of the batch after fermentation is done and adding the oak essence then adding the oak chips to what is left...

I'm still working with just the keg fermenter that came with the Mr. beer kit I got for Christmas (Max batch: 2.5 gal.). i just haven't had time or funds to get carboys :( would 3-6 oz of Bourbon for soaking the chips/cubes/etc. be a bit much since I'll add both liquor and wood to secondary? I...

I've got my citrus/mint Weiss conditioning, and I'm getting ideas around for my next batch: Bourbon Barrel-Aged IPA Problem: I don't have ready or easy access to used barrels. Possible solutions: Just adding a shot or two of the bourbon I have (Cleveland brand: very strong, heavy smoke...