Recent content by TheHappyHopper

Great article! I almost skipped over it, but then I saw the photo and was like "Hey! They look sort of familiar!". I have been doing homebrew festivals for a couple years now and the best tips that I have are: 1- Scheduling the brewdays can be tricky. Make sure you have enough time for...

I looked back through my notes since I have had this off flavor once before; both times it has been with a stout. However, I used Briess' Midnight Wheat in both of my cases; but I don't think that has anything to do with it since I have used that malt successfully in batches that have turned out...

Thank you for the response! I'm not quite sure the best way to describe it - it definitely doesn't remind me of band-aidy. I'm not sure if I'm familiar enough with the peat smoke flavor to label it as that. My first thought was "kind of like a charcoal-y like smoke", but I don't think that's...

So I brewed this beer back on 7/27/16: Chocolate Cream Stout OG 1.060, FG 1.022, 33 IBUs, 36 SRM 7.125 lb Maris Otter 15 oz Crystal 60L 15 oz Chocolate Malt (350L) 4 oz Midnight Wheat 15 oz Flaked Oats 17 oz Lactose 0.75 oz Magnum hops at 60 min 1.7 oz Cocoa Nibs, soaked in rum for...

I picked up 3 oxygen tanks from someone who was selling off some of their extra equipment. I'm pretty sure I got a good deal, but I truthfully don't know much about O2 tanks...I have done some research online trying to decipher the markings, can anyone here confirm what I have found (my...

The one that's waiting for me when I get home from work... But of all the beers that I have made so far, I think it's my California Common. It's light enough to drink a lot of, but it's got enough flavor to keep it from being boring...

Agreed. When I scaled the recipe for my system, the Crystal Malt was like 15% of the grain bill. I have brewed it twice and it has been very close to the original.

That's definitely a good point - however, the bottles that I kept at home to try once my score sheets came back were kept in the fridge the whole time once carbonated, and they exhibited the same signs. For the frozen fruit batches that you have done, how quickly do you drink them up? I...

Long story short...I have made a strawberry blonde beer a half-dozen times now over the past year. It it really good for the first several weeks, but then the strawberry flavor starts to fade to the point where it is unrecognizable. Here's the long version... My typical method: - Allow my...

That's a really interesting idea! I don't think I will go that route on this first try, but I may try that in the future. I started with Motueka and Sorachi Ace since I have used those previously in a lemon wheat and it turned out good. I don't remember picking up any herbal flavor at the...

Hello all, I am wanting to put together a pineapple / citrusy / tropical beer recipe. My wife recently had a pineapple cider that she really liked; I wanted to try to make something similar, but I'm not a huge cider fan, so I figured an easy-drinking wheat beer with pineapple would be something...

Thank you for the feedback! That is a good point. I admittedly hadn't given much thought to the idea that there could be slight differences in the malts from year to year. My thought was that I could do something along the lines of... - I found that my pre-boil gravity is lower than it...

So I have been brewing for a few years and up to now my philosophy has pretty much been "who cares if my efficiency/OG/etc. is off a bit from day to day, in the end I still get delicious beer!" I know that I can get a program like Beersmith to do all of the calculations for me, but I am an...

Cool xBmt! I just brewed a pumpkin batch last week. I tried something different this time - a Belgian Blond / Pumpkin - I didn't go to heavy on the spices, I really just added cinnamon and vanilla and then I am hoping to get some spiciness form the Belgian yeast. Since I didn't add all of the...

It's typically frowned upon to violate your patients. Unless you're a proctologist, then it's just part of the job.