Recent content by werb

I think a bit of it is about taste. I don't like sweet alcoholic drinks at all. Give me vodka, bourbon and gin on the rocks and I am happy. I like my coffee black and strong. I have tried three or four commercial ciders in build up to the one I was fermenting and they are all too sweet for...

Bottled my first 5 gallon batch of the sweet, sweet nectar last night; one that I started on December 30. I had three glasses left over and stuck them in the fridge. On my third now and have now joined in lock-step with the righteous men and women marching in celebration of Apfelwein. I used...

I have my son and daughter (both under 3) trained now to follow me to the closet and check on the Apfelwein each night when I get home. We watch the bubbles in the airlock and the carboy and take a bid smell, like it's an American Beauty. It's a beautiful thing...

I just wanted to chime in as a fan of this thread (and long involved, useful threads in general). One of my other hobbies is building speakers and there is a famous thread on open baffle speakers that went on for a year and a half (and is still going I think). And yes, it inspired me to build a...

I am very new to this, but can speak from my first failure. What was the wort temperature when you pitched your yeast? My first brew was very similar to your in that I had great activity for 24 hours then nothing. Someone on here suggested that I committed a classic rookie mistake in pitching...

Thank you. I knew there was a solution. I will go with the California Common and call it a Steam Bock. :fro:

My brother, who got me into this glorious hobby, sent me a partial-mash kit, purchased on the internet, for a Double Bock. The problem is that I don't have the ability to ferment or lager this beer at the required temperature using the lager yeast that came with the kit. The best temperature I...

Thanks for the help. Something is not correct. The shortness of active fermentation scared me a bit, and I think this is a serious issue with my procedure. I was following very generic direction from my LBS which didn't refer to checking the temperature before pitching. And, the caramel look...

Great resource an over-anxious, impatient home brewer like me. I have already made my first mistake. Glad that is done. Now, on to perfection...:fro: Cheers

Greetings all :fro: Quick newbie questions about boil water amount. I, like many first-timers I think, wanted to get moving on my first brew ASAP. Brewed a German Alt (partial-mash), but used a 12 quart pasta pot for the wort. I know, I know...my 9 gallon pot is on route. I steeped in about...