Recent content by ZenGeek

Just put on an extract porter that read 1100 when I measured it at around 28*C. Checked my recipe on beercalculus and there is no way possible that it should be that high. Is this a problem with my hydrometer? Is it even possible for the following ingredients to come out that high...

I thought this was going to be a 'starting strength' thread... I'm in australia at the moment, but WFAC is on my lift of places to visit, so if you get your club set up I'd love to visit when I'm there.

9*2.4L bottles of Apple and Pear Juice 1*2.4L Bottle of Apple Juice (Total 24L - Approx 6 Gallons) 1kg Raw Sugar 500g of Rolled Oats 4 Sticks of Cinnamon 1 Vanilla Bean 1 Pack no-brand dry cider yeast. --------------------------------------- Boiled Oats in 2.4 L of Juice...

I'm also thinking of moving towards unhopped extracts and building recipies from there. I'll probably get LDME online rather than LHBS, they're geared up for tin brewers and spirit making, I go in there quite a bit. Hops are great from craftbrewer online, Yeast is probably the only thing I'll...

Time for an Update. I went with both tins (7.5lb) and one kg (2.2lb) of raw sugar in 23L (6Gal). Added about 1/4 Oz of Amarillo and 1/2 Oz Cascade for 5mins. (both tins are hopped so I thought I'd start small) Going to add another 1/4 of Amarillo (all I have left) and a little over 1Oz...

I went with a kilo of raw sugar (2.2lb sucrose). It makes a thinner higher alcohol beer due to being almost entirely fermentable. This is often frowned upon due to missing out on the 'maltiness' of the unfermentable bits in malt extracts. I was also a little dissapointed in the hoppiness of...

That's really interesting. I'm going to have to start paying more attention to beer reviews. A friend of mine asked me for 'tasting notes' regarding my first batch. I said 'dark ale'. I'm not sure why, but most kits in australia are 1.7kg of malt extract (not just flavour) and reccomend...

Thanks again sweetcell. I Just read the partial grain section of 'how to brew' for a bit more info. I may as well have a go, this is basically one giant experiment brew anyway. Crystal sounds perfect. I do like the taste and aroma of hops, if I'm going to be fmucking around with this brew...

The temp will be averaging out a bit in the barrel. To be honest, less than a degree variation seems incredibly small to me, even if it's within a half hour window. It's kind of impressive that you've gone to this much effort. I don't have a control to compare it too but most homebrew I've...

Oh wait, there was more.... I'm confused about the attenuation thing. Won't the unfermented complex sugars (RE Champagne) help to balance the cidery taste from the sugar? Also, raw sugar has slightly different composition to table sugar, but that probably doesn't affect the calcs much, it...

Hi sweetcell, I'm a total noob so I don't really have any experience in anything other that extracts (Incl. grains and hops). I could definately add some grains, this isn't exactly a real style of beer so i wouldn't know where to start. Suggestions? The extracts in australia are...

Sounds perfect.

Hi Guys, I've got one brew in the primary, one in bottles conditioning and one in bottles for drinking. That's the limit of my experience with homebrew. With my homebrew kit I received a can of 'Lager' extract that I'm not likely to ever use. (It's liquid extract, but can you use the term...

NOOB DISCLAIMER: I'm only on my third brew, I've only opened my first, and it wasn't carbed well - so take what I say with a grain of salt. 'How to Brew' lists some yeasts as having temperature ranges that start well above 60F. Cooper Dry Ale yeast (which is what I use) is listed as...

This. I'm chalking it up to the mysteries of homebrew. The Alco-gods don't want us to know ALL the secrets...