Recent content by Thurz

In Denmark they seem crazy about anything elderflower. Naturally, a few breweries already made some nice brews with them. Great summer feel to it.

Today when I came home from work I found that something was afoot in the glass! All the flowers which had been slowly sinking to the bottom now suddenly had risen to the surface again. Also there was some pure white foam along the edges of the glass. I added just a little bit of honey to it...

I agree, I'm sure most households had some culture they had been saving and using from batch to batch, so maybe I'll just use some ale yeast in the start and just keep going with my wild yeast experiment in small scale untill I'm sure I have something satisfactory.

Alright. Since I'm a viking age reenactor, I've been experimenting with some iron age brews for a little while. This summer I'm also working as a guide on a reconstructed Viking farmstead. The thing is that I'd like to do a brew as primitive as I can get, without too much fuss. That is, I'm...

The "Who's your daddy" routine never worked for me... At best they seem to get totally freaked out...

Dubliners, The Pogues and various kinds of folk music!

I got a bit frisky and ordered a small set, containing what will be my first mini keg(5 litres), with a pack five Co2 cartriges and a separate tap which I figure the Co2 is for. Is this for straining Co2 into the brew or just for pouring? Never kegged before, but I figured it's more practical...

I'm with Vikingklubben Karmøy, which translates to The Vikingclub(duh!) Karmøy. That is, Karmøy is both the municipal it's located in and the name of the group. Not really that well known, but Karmøy was the main seat of Norway's first nationally recognised king. It's also where Norway has it's...

Thank you, very interesting! Well, it may take some time to get used to it, depending on the kind of ale you brew. Some of my friends and fellow reenactors(I'm part of a viking-age reenactment society, and often bring my brew to various festivities related to this) comment that it really often...

I haven't had the guts to pour it down the drain yet, so It's been standing in my parents' basement back home for.... about six months+/- I believe. Turned a tiny bit more drinkable after blending in the elderberry wine. I also did a lot of spice infusions; rosemary, vanilla etc. I'm going to...

That's awesome! I'm thinking of making some of my Iron Age ale next summer, using a wooden trough, heated stones, and a linen sack, or perhaps even a wicker basket. Perhaps an iron cauldron for the gruit. I'm really looking forward to this as I've been thinking about it for quite some time! Even...

When I make a batch of mead that's going to be stored for a while before consumption, I like to experiment with it a little, add some oak chips, blend in a little dry cider etc. I had a mead earlier which I wasn't entirely satisfied with, so I did some dry hopping and experimented with additives...

Is it possible to create a sweet, yet carbonated mead by fermenting in a bottle? I've always had to kill off my yeast when it reached the correct sweetness. Wouldn't the bottles explode?

I tried to make a braggot using dark and medium DME and my usual honey. Used Wyeast - Sweet mead yeast and it turned out awfull! I ended up watering it out with some elderberry wine I had made earlier but it still tasted quite bad. I hope to create some other, hopefully more successful braggot...

I've also brewed mainly using extracts, but I found that in order to keep it real with what my brewing intentions are, I have to start using AG as much as I possibly can, which is hard when you are a student and your brewery is a 20m2 apartment and I haven't really got any room for anything...