Recent content by weem25

Online, I use Austin Homebrew Supply, midwest, brewmasterswarehouse or northern brewer. I try to plan at least three beers out and also order with a friend. I have gone to a couple of places. If you don't have a car the Brew and Grow on Besly Ct is probably the only option. It is between...

I used to use white labs tubes and I started to transition to the Wyeast smack packs. With the white labs you have to create a starter which requires forward thinking. The smack pack is your starter. I can wake up in the morning, smack the pack and by the time I am ready to pitch the pack is...

Takes the same amount of time. I am a big fan of using something other than priming sugar but it depends on the beer that I am brewing. It leaves a hint of the sugar in the aroma and the taste. I noticed the biggest difference by using Molasses. It seems to have a thicker head and a molasses...

I agree split the batch. I did that recently with a Stone Arrogant bastard clone but I went one further by splitting it again when I bottled. You get completely different beers from the same batch. I did: Oaked Arrogant bastard bottled with molasses Oaked Arrogant bastard bottled with...

I would pick a beer that you like on the market and pick the clone from AHB if they have it. My first beer was a Newcastle because 1.) I thought I could mess it up so go cheapest 2. ) I could easily get Newcastle to compare to see where I went wrong. What did I learn? 1.) It is pretty hard...

Personally, I would avoid the crawl space. There are a lot of critters that can get into a crawl space and will probably be attracted to the smell of the fermentation process. What I would suggest instead is converting a cube cooler. There are several discussions threads that talk about...

If you aerated well, then it shouldn't have been the problem. What was the temp of your wort when you took your hydrometer reading? If it was 100 or above that probably is the delta. See the How to Brew - By John Palmer - Appendix A - Using Hydrometers on how to calculate the true OG with...

There are a lot of reasons your OG could be a little low. Couple things I have seen: 1. If you put your wort in first, and added water second it may not have mixed well. This causes the sugars to be at the bottom and the lighter water at the top. When you do a partial boil you want to...

Does anyone have insight into the accuracy of the LC Thermometers? I am trying to determine if the temp is too warm for my ale. I am trying to judge for myself using two liquid crystal, a probe thermometer and my thermostat. The liquid crystal that is attached to the side of my beer is...

I brewed my first batch of beer today. I have started the countdown to the first taste which happens to be valentine's day(figuring two weeks minimum in bottle). I went with the Newcastle Brown Ale for the first attempt. Next weekend I am going to try my hand at a clone of Hennepin by...