Search results

I do a SMaSH ordinary bitter that I like. 6 lbs. Maris Otter, boil an hour before the first hop addition (for color), 1 oz Kent Goldings @ 60min, 1/2 oz. @ 10 min, 1/2 oz. at flame out. Comes out around 3.4%. Simple, tasty, and super cheap.

+1 on cold brewing and adding to secondary. Don't add it pre-boil or directly to the boil (ever tried boiling a cup of coffee, then drink it? BLECH!!!). Also, hot brewed coffee is more acidic than cold brewed, so you will avoid some other off flavors with it that way. Alternately, you could try...

SMaSH ordinary bitter, subbing bulk 2-row for M.O., single 60 min (bulk) hop addition, reused/harvested yeast.

Yea, I probably should have ditched the Munich or added another pound of cane sugar. I would love to get gravity down to 1.018, but at this point I'm just hoping for 1.020. Agreed that even here at 1.024 it is too sweet for my taste. Part of the reason I'm hoping for the gravity drop. I'll check...

Point taken. I stand corrected.

As one who also uses a freezer and had dealt with blowoff in it, I would debate just how "lucky" it is. Those things are neither was not fun to clean inside. I learned that a refractometer is wildly inaccurate for gravity measurements after fermentation had begun... Refractometer read 1.045...

Yea so... False alarm, I guess. Refractometer showed 1.024... So that puts OG, FG, and ABV all in style, though towards the bottom of the range. Added a little yeast nutrient (maybe unnecessarily, maybe not) to help the S-04 or the Notty to bring it down a few more points. That's for my own...

You know, I feel a little dumb in that I hadn't considered that variable here.. I recently got a refractometer, and this measurement came from that. I didn't have the refractometer when I brewed, so the OG came from a hydrometer. I should have considered that. Good point, thank you.

So here's a different question then -I have an IR digital thermometer, so I'm arguably getting temp readings from the mash surface, or just under it... how off am I going to be? Should I be assuming most of the mash is a couple degrees higher than the surface? The cooler is shut tight, and so I...

I should add that this is only my second all-grain mash brew that wasn't BIAB - I received a converted 10gal cooler for Christmas, and have thus far only used it for the aforementioned ordinary bitter (which had minor gravity problems of its own... I'm still trying to get the hang of managing...

A couple weeks back (1/5) I brewed a 5gal batch of English Barleywine (first time using recipe): 17lb M.O. 1lb Munich 8oz Crystal 60L 8oz Special B 1lb cane sugar 2oz Kent Goldings 60min 1oz Kent Goldings 45min 1oz Kent Goldings 30min 1oz Kent Goldings 15min Yeast - yeast cake of...

I'm not super big on sours either... From what little I've read, I'm thinking of just trying brett-c and just letting it go on that with a lot of age. And perhaps wood chips. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

Two questions. First - would the champaign yeast have a negative effect on the brett? Second - whats your opinion on brett with no bugs? I know that it either already is or soon would be too high ABV for lacto, and probably the same problem with the hops I used. Don't think I'll have a lot of...

I'm in the midst of working a blend, but not as much for experimentation to create but rather experimentation to save. I hope. I brewed 3 batches 1 gallon each, all within a day or two of each other. One was an American stout, one a double IPA, and the third an imperial stout. I was using BIAB...

The process is, I believe, called eisening, and is used to make eisenbocks. And you must be referring to Brewdog. The thing about freezing out the water is that it makes flaws in the beer more pronounced. The more removed, the stronger the flaws... Those guys were using some specialized freezers...

Ditto on the 148 looking low. The previously suggested 152 is probably the way to go, otherwise it'll be pretty thin.

Wasn't suggesting cane or brown sugar to lower gravity - I suggested it to avoid the corn sugar flavor - using it in place of some of the corn sugar, not in addition to. It would bring it to the SAME gravity as the corn sugar. At any rate, champaign yeast should be able to get you a little...

In my experience, the bigger the beer, the better it is with age. IPAs are better fresh because tue hops fade. Anything that is supposed to be focused on flavoring and/or aroma hops needs to be drank relatively fresh. Some other styles are also meant to be drank fresh, like bitters. Barleywines...

I agree on the chocolate malt. Ditto on the crystal, and the black. And personal opinion? Hold off on the cacao and vanilla this time around... Decide whether the beer itself (and recipe) tastes good, then decide whether adding flavor would improve it. You might end up drowning an excellent...

I like extremes... Give me a big beer - RIS or barleywine... Imperial anything... And the huge Belgian styles have caught my attention as well. And on the flip side of the coin I'm getting into nice, simple session beers, bitters in particular. Depends on the mood. ;)