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Yes, I was pleased with the color - very dark I'm not really good at judging the srm's but it was porter like I'd say. It turned out nice despite the fact that I forgot the jar of srm 80 dark candy syrup that was in the recipe inside, so its still on the counter which may have darkened it a tad...

I have mine fermenting now. I brewed last Saturday and as of Thursday a.m. it was down to 1.014 (I think going from memory at work) and of course I drank the hydro sample and it was delicious! Here is what I did: - created the recipe then doubled the dark grain quantities (this is based on...

I'm going to attempt a CDA using Deschutes' technique tomorrow. Corwin, did you brew this beer? How did it turn out? The recipe I came up with is fairly close to yours. I have grains cold steeping now, but the reading I've done indicates I should be using using more for a cold steep. Maybe 2x...

Well I finally got this brewed and kegged (hate with life gets in the way of my brewing plans!) I used Willamette hops since I grow them and had a bunch on hand. Its got a lovely roast flavor / aroma that is complimented by a touch of sweetness from the brown malt. Delicious and very distinct...

When I used honey it was advised to cool the wort to around 110* then add the honey (honey is antimicrobial I believe, so no worries of bacteria). The aromatics / flavor compounds will boil/evaporate off if its added to very hot wort. Like Houblon I used an orange blossom honey and mine also...

This reminded me of an article I read about Deschutes Hop Henge awhile back in regards to the discrepancy of calculated vs actual IBUs... http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/2009/02/two_batches_of_hop_henge_to_tr.html The gist of it is that they created a batch of beer that on paper...

I like the sound of this one, I might try to brew it up this weekend. I've been wanting to try out using brown malt to get a feel for it, and this is a nice simple grain bill to show that off. Thanks for posting your recipe Airborneguy! Quick question though, is black malt and black patent...

One of the local papers in Portland had a full page Widmer ad in yesterday's edition. It contains their actual Alt recipe, and I figured I'd share since its a delicious beer! This Alt was the Widmer Bro's first commercial brew, however, it was the Hef that caught on and became popular... So...

You should make a starter, its really the only easy way to verify viable yeast at the home brewing level... I agree with BigB though, my washed yeast has always been more robust, etc than a new pack, even after 2-3 months in the fridge.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will look into those agents and see what will work best for me. I do use Irish moss in the boil so the fining agent really only came up with the Kolsch I made recently (and an empty pipeline causing me to look into ways of clearing it faster, lol). I'll definitely...

I started reading a few other entries on the blog as a work avoidance activity and noticed there's a part 2 that just went up recently: http://backyardbrewer.blogspot.com/2011/05/life-with-homebrewer-part-2.html

Great read, its scary how much I resemble that!!

I have been told by a local brewery that they use a silica based fining agent so that would be my guess. If that is the case, I'd love to know where you got the product since I am veggie I'd really like to have a fining option available.

I use the 10-12psi my regulator is normally set to and in my experience that is plenty to give the gasket a good seal before letting the keg condition.

I made a similar beer in December and it turned out great! (I only did the chocolate not coffee in that particular batch) My recipe was fairly similar to yours, except that I was had about 1 lb of the chocolate malt and roast barley. I'm not familiar with coffee malt, however, so that may make...

I use an aquarium pump through a diffusion stone also. Aeration has made a huge difference in how quickly my fermentations start, and they have become noticeably more vigorous (to the point where I "had" to go get a chest freezer to control fermentation temps). I usually run the pump for an...

Oh, yeah 81 is really high, somehow I got 75 in my mind, from the second post. Most of the fusels and esters will be produced in the first part of fermentation, and your fermentation is producing heat so it may not cool down in a 67-70* room... I would try a tub of cool water or something that...

At that high of a temperature you're likely to get a fair amount of fruity esters. If it were my beer I would cool it down.

I've been looking at using a 1/4 bbl keg for fermenting as well. From the research I've done it seems like there's a few different ways you can set it up. You will need to remove the original valve, then you have the option of using an orange carboy cap (easiest and cheapest solution) which...

I have to give another vote for Oakshire. Every beer I've had from them, which hasn't been too many unfortunately, has been delicious. I love their Stout! Beer prices in Portland definitely took a little jump a little over a year ago. The $6 sale priced 6ers are now about $6.99. Fortunately...