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This. I am far more critical of “kitchen sink” recipes where it looks like the brewer went on a shopping spree in the malt room. If you want to make a strong Scotch ale with 15% crystal, that’s great...but you probably don’t need 20 different malts to make it happen.

Yeah, those are two totally different things. I wouldn’t have a problem signing an NDA. Signing an NCA would be career suicide for me, and makes me far less marketable for future job opportunities. Honestly this whole thing is an absolute PR nightmare for TG, and I can’t imagine it will ever...

I’m willing to bet it’s not the yeast. The Westmalle strain will throw off a little pear (ethyl acetate) depending on the yeast health, but it usually diminishes for me by the time the beer is finished fermenting. It’s possible you didn’t pitch enough yeast for it to clean up its own mess, but...

Both beers were at ambient temperature, around 72-74F. I took another reading with 4 oz (old) table sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water and got readings of 1.079 SG and 19.0 Bx.

Just checked it today. Both hydrometers (OG & FG) read 1.000 in 68F water and the refractometer reads 0.0 Bx as well. I brewed a black IPA today and both readings came in identically at 1.070 OG. So I’m still not sure where the discrepancy is coming from.

Yeah, I’ve done that with both of those samples and the readings definitely fell a little bit, probably 0.001-0.002 over 15 minutes, but they were still high compared to the refractometer readings. I’m just wondering if my methodology might be flawed and maybe the dissolved CO2 actually...

Hi guys, I’ve been experiencing some anomalies between my refractometer and (calibrated) hydrometer readings for final gravity, and I’m starting to think it has a good deal to do with the fact that my FG readings use carbed beer. Here’s the last two scenarios that occurred: Imperial Stout OG...

I used 0.15 oz / gal recently soaked in cognac on a Brett golden ale. The trick is to boil the cubes for 5-10 minutes, drain the water and soak them in liquor for a few days until they sink. The low oaking rate enables me to keep them there indefinitely. I would definitely suggest pre-boiling...

I still have hops from 2013 and 2014 that are in perfect condition. Vacuum packaging and freezing reduces the alpha acid degradation to practically zero, and I’ve noticed no loss in aroma over that same time as well. I can’t say the same thing about buying malt or yeast in bulk — malt stales...

Because it’s tantamount to forcibly preventing a brewer from seeking other work (which is illegal). You either have to move far enough away from the brewery for it to be non competitive, or seek alternative sources of employment. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical...

In my experience it behaves fairly well in the low to mid 60s. I never really got undesirable flavors in my Alt or Rauchbier fermented with 1007. The only thing that stuck out for me was how massive the krausen was and how long it lasted...it took a few weeks of cold conditioning, but eventually...

Dear Lord. This fellow is so sleep deprived he mistook a poor farm animal for a brewing appliance. Sleep deprivation is no laughing matter, folks.

I made a solid RIS a few years ago that was bone dry...1.104 OG attenuated all the way to 1.015 FG. Pretty sure it got cross-contaminated with Saccharomyces var diastaticus, but the flavors were on point, and the beer was spectacular. If you’re looking for the same level of attenuation, consider...

Honestly if you’re extremely careful about oxygen uptake and purge your kegs well then there’s no reason to anticipate aroma degradation. I’ve found most of the yeast flocs out after 3-4 weeks and you’ll lose some mouthfeel from that process, but you can always agitate the keg to add more haze...

As others have already stated, there’s no need for a secondary fermentation vessel for most beers. Additionally, water contains dissolved oxygen (about 8 ppm from tap water) and I cannot fathom a method to introduce additional water without resulting in oxidation.

You’re good. Fortunately Brettanomyces doesn’t require as high of a cell count as Saccharomyces to get started, and pitching at standard ale rates (0.75 M cells / mL-P) will actually mute a lot of the esters that are formed during the growth phase. I dare say you’re going to have something...

I would propose the opposite recommendation...WLP099 is a Saccharomyces var diastaticus strain and will strip out a lot of the malty finish that you’re looking for. Yes it will pretty much guarantee a finished fermentation but it’s just not suitable for the style. Neutral yeast like the Chico...

Looks a lot better. IMO milk stouts don’t need that much roasted malt, but if you’re looking to age it I’m sure the flavors will mellow out in time. Stouts are good for 2.0-2.4 volumes, around the same as an IPA.

Almost 60% adjunct? That’s going to be cloying verging on undrinkable. You need at least 70% base malt to carry the weight of the other flavors, including the lactose. Not to mention you’ve got a lot of specialty malts doing the same thing (Victory and Biscuit; lactose and maltodextrin). If you...

That’s a terrible saison DuPont recipe from CB&B. It might be a decent saison recipe, I wouldn’t know, but that’s nothing like saison DuPont. Saison DuPont is well renowned for being an extraordinarily simple recipe, just Pilsner malt, EKG hops, and the DuPont house yeast strain. The key is...