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Overall the point I wanted to make, back on the original topic, is this. I don't think many successful small business owners are out to rip off their customers. There undoubtedly are a few, but they likely won't stay in business long. They have to look at all of their costs of doing business and...

First of all, I didn't say that any of the reasons I posted were THE reason, only some possibilities. I only wanted to point out that it's easy to sit back an criticize without having all the facts. As I said before, unless you've walked in their shoes you really have no idea. As for the...

I'll apologize for sounding like a jerk in advance, but I don't know how else to say this: true understanding requires the ability to put yourself in their shoes. I cant speak for their specific situation but there's a few off the top of my head. 1. When doing mail order, they don't have to...

Yes, you are.

Have you seen the size of the warehouse that NB has in St. Paul? They buy on a whole different pricing level with that kind of volume. They can keep their store prices lower because they are buying most everything WAY cheaper than most small brew shops. I would also guess that they own their...

Well I certainly don't take or give any attitude when it comes to all-grain vs. extract. I've done both. I know lots of brewers who do both on a regular basis. I think the "stigma" comes from the fact that most new brewers start out with extract. It takes less investment in equipment and you can...

I've done two no-sparge batches now. The first, a schwarzbier, I mashed at around 1.5 qt/#, then added the remaining water at mash-out temps. I got 71% efficiency on that batch. Yesterday I brewed a sweet stout using nearly all of my water in the mash (3 qt/#). I got a touch over 69%...

Thanks for the great info. I'll definitely give option 1 a try. You mention that option 2 is better for maltier beers: can you elaborate on that? In other words, do you feel that you've not getting enough dextrins from the full volume mash? Did you find flavor to be of lesser quality? Just...

Yes, your setup is very slick and it's where I want to move towards as my current dream system. I just don't yet have the funds for it yet.

I thought about doing that, but I was concerned about mash pH. The water spreadsheet I use (ezwatercalculator 2.0) says it is less accurate for mash thickness above 2.4 qt/#. A full volume mash would have put it over 3.25 qt/#. I haven't been able to invest in a pH meter yet so I wanted to stay...

I've done two no-sparge batches now because I was curious about it. The first batch was a brown ale, the second a scharzbier. I got about 60% efficiency into the bk the first time, while the second one got 71%. It will take a few more batches to see what I get consistently. The OG for both beers...

Didn't Mike McDole win the Sam Adams Long Shot competition a couple of years ago with a Pliny clone? That beer went on to be brewed, packaged and sold by Boston Beer Co., which is a pretty interesting development. Since that's legal I see no reason why a clone kit should not be. Bottom line is...

Brewed a American Brown yesterday.

I usually go ahead and pitch the whole packet, vial, or smack pack. For any recipe with an OG over 1.050 you'll need a full package of liquid anyway. I've never been too confident on keeping a pack of dry yeast after opening it and I hate wasting them so I just chuck the whole thing in. This...

Today I brewed Tasty McDole's APA. I'll probably bottle my winter warmer on Sunday.

Not intending to sound snooty or anything, but this old taste chart is really not accurate, and has been out of date for decades. There are currently five recognized "flavors". The fifth is umami, and is most often described as "savory", and comes from glutamate. Also, the entire surface of the...

He states that he already has the cooler though. Yes the bag is cheaper than buying the ball valve and screen. But you can also make a screen yourself pretty cheaply if you like. But the convenience is well worth it. I've done it both ways, and not using the bag is much easier IMHO. The bag...

I've also noticed that beers with a lot of late hop additions or dry hops tend to have more haze too, but figure it's more the hop oils causing this than proteins. Does using gelatin in these kinds of beers reduce the hop flavor/aroma noticeably?

I used to do something very similar. I'll tell you what I found though...the bag ends up being a real pain. I decided to spring for a ball valve kit and a stainless 6" bazooka screen for my 5 gallon igloo cooler. It's made huge difference. Much easier to work with, faster to drain, and the...

Yesterday I brewed a Bohemian Pilsner, today I'm bottling a Dortmunder Export.