Search results

makes sense...thanks!

For a Saison, is there an ideal temp to mash at that will allow you to leave something behind for the bugs but still allow a clean saison sacc yeast to dry it out a little on its own? 149-150??

Both great ideas...thanks! And, great points on the mash temps and IBUs. There may not be a perfect match for this, but perhaps styles that will offer a little flexibility. Should help get me dialed-in on controlling mash temps. Maybe Belgian and French styles are the most likely candidates...

Occasionally I'd like to brew split batches where I can get some non-sour ales that will condition quicker, but then use half of the wort to pitch different yeasts, bugs, dregs, and get sours aging as well. Are there certain styles/recipes that serve this type of situation well? Ideally...

Maybe a dumb questions, but wouldn't be my first: Is there some reason why, when harvesting dregs from a bottle, that people use heat to sanitize the mouth/neck of the bottle as opposed to starsan? or even a little alcohol or vodka wiped on the lip? I use starsan to sanitize everything else...

So, cracking cold bottle from high heat is not an issue? Do I want to heat it under blue flame for more than a few seconds?

I have a propane torch. any reason that wouldn't work just as well? or a std biclighter?

Brewed a small batch blonde ale last weekend based on the recipe in “Brewing Classic Styles” so I can get used to new system. I mashed a little high, so I’m expecting some residual sugars to remain. I also added a little bit of sanitized water to the fermenter, which will dilute the Willamette...

Great info, thanks Seabrew. I may not sweat the haze on the IPA, but will definitely use the gelatin the next bitter. thanks!

Well, after brewing an extract beer 2 yrs ago, I'm back and doing all grain! Started doing small batches so I can brew more often and ramp up the learning curve, not just reading. Did an English Bitter that is done and ready to drink (BIAB), tasting better with each bottle (but some...

Anyone done anything like this before?? I’m looking at doing some BIAB smaller batches that would allow me to use a 3 gallon carboy. After one batch, I’m already not a fan of the swamp cooler, so I am looking at turning this large rectangular cooler on its side and making it a simple...

Ok homebrewers, first batch is bottled. Bottling system needs lots of tweaking...LOTS, but the next run will go WAY smoother. The tasting today is way different from a few days ago. Maybe because its 2:30am and I'm exhausted, but the boozy ness has subsided significantly, and bitterness has...

Newbie bottling questionthat is probably answered many times in this forum, but here goes: When bottling, if you ahve some overflow when filling bottles, and the beer spills over the lip of the bottle, do you need to do anything special to sanitize that, or do you just cap it and then maybe...

The yeast rafts that mhurst111 mentioned do not seem to be a problem. Tested gravity again last night and it had gone down again to 1.015 Will test again tomorrow night before attempting to bottle. When I tasted the gravity sample, tehre was not enough bitterness to balance the...

Took a gravity reading last night and its now at 1.016. Used the outer tube of my auto siphon as a thief, which was a Pain but worked. I was really careful about sterilizing everything. Now this morning there is evidence of some renewed airlock activity, and the top if the beer looks a little...

unfortunately I don't have a space large enough in a fridge to cold crash. I thought about getting a one gal apple juice jug or two to use for small batches and cold crashing at least a portion of my 5 gal batches, but I don't know how much apple juice I can drink in a week. Maybe I'll just...

You mention "for a standard beer", does that mean that with my high OG of 1.077 that it could use more time on the yeast? Yes, carboy has been covered with a black t-shirt in a dark closet for entire fermentation. (Also forgot to mention that I will certainly be taking a few gravity...

Ok, so it appears that primary fermentation has ended. (It's been 12 full days since airlock activity began, i think due to the high OG of 1.077), and I think things are looking pretty good, fingers crossed. I'm not dry hopping, so my plan is to avoid transferring to secondary and to just...

Thanks Mhurst. The other concern I have is that I added an ounce of cascade at 1 min, and I have now read in Palmer's book that very late addition hops or flameout hops can cause a grassy flavor. The aroma coming from the airlock is a bit grassy now. I'm hoping that some time in the bottle...

My swamp cooler temp has been in the 60-68 degree range through the first 9 days of fermentation (us-05), and I should be able to keep it in that range for the next 10-12 days. After that point I may not be able to monitor temp as closely. So my question is, will slightly higher temps in the...