Search results

Have you contacted Southern Tier. There may be a warranty.

I'm there with you tipfeister. What do they call a box with 24 bottles in it? I hear it's real hard to find Brandy outside Wisconsin too. And.....I thought Thursday night was the night for house parties in Mad Town.

A coworker came to me totally bummed. Seems some friends got their hands on some live lobster (not real prevalent here in Wisconsin), and needed a big pot to cook them. She being the kind sort that she is, offered up her brew pot. After the standard detergent, baking soda and vinegar (not at the...

That's what I was going to suggest. I have done this with raspberries multiple times, and currents this past fall. Freezing and thawing will break down the barriers holding in the juice, without totally breaking down the fruit. You will keep most of the solid part of the berry intact, but...

Check out "All About Beer" magazine. I have subscribed for about 3 years, and really like it's over-all content, and it's a nice looking magazine, something you can leave out on the coffee table in your living room. Every issue includes: A buyers guide of a certain style, rated by the...

I may be going off on a tangent here, but my wife bought me the equipment to homebrew 6 years ago, because she said I needed a hobby. I read a book (can you believe it, an actual book?). I made 2 kits, and bought a magazine (Brew Your Own). I was hooked. I took the information from the book (The...

So hows the wine?

Thanks, grimsawyer, for the rant, I'm with you 110% (is that metric?) Metric is much easier.

I've made both a cherry and a raspberry porter, and made the mistake you suggest on the cherry. The sugar in the fruit will ferment leaving tartness. Your specialty grains will balance nicely if you leave them. Don't decrease your "porterness". I've never used blueberries, but 3-4 Lbs won't get...

This is the way I always aerate, and have never had a problem. By the way good point by littlehop.

Expand upon the LME "twang". This is the first I have heard of this. I brew exclusively ales, due to temperature constraints, and prefer them on the darker side. I partial mash, and use LME way more than DME, and always partil boil. Is this a flavor preference, or does my process just avoid this?

Don't use dark extract. For 5 gallonns, use light, 3.3# LME, 1# LDE, 2 oz black patent, 2 oz chocolate malt, 8 oz 20L crystal. 1 oz bittering hops, 1/2-3/4 oz flavoring hops, 3/8-1/2 oz aroma hops. 2.5# honey using leghorns method. Smooth, Brown ale with subtle honey flavor, I promise.

This is the thread I've been looking for, the point I've tried to make a few times over the last few years. I don't come here often, because I'm a casual brewer, but I've said it before. "Making good beer is easy, making great beer isn't hard." Learn from these people, but don't feel pressured...

That being said, don't be scared by smell either. I dumped a 5 gallon batch early on because it smelled bad at bottling time. Not obnoxious, just bad. Next time, I said what the hey. I bottled it anyhow. It turned out great.

Thanks for all of the responses, I feel good about my water. However, this raises a different question. It appears to me that these "filtering" systems don't filter, but somehow chemically remove atoms, or molecules, of detrimental chemicals (lead, mercury, chlorine), which are considerably...

I would agree, but I read somewhere that freezing, then thawing breaks down the cell walls (or something to that effect), releasing more sugar and flavor.

I have always been an extract brewer, and always topped my primary with tap water (~2 gal), with no detrimental effects. My water is chlorinated, but I don't taste it. I read all the time that you need to boil any water added to the brew process. Is this needed? I have never read of anyone who...

Thanks, Nerro. for setting me straight. I'm old, and old school, basing my "knowledge" on books I read when I first started, not stuff spewed on the internet. I don't brew enough, and get here less, but I'm glad when I do that I can learn. I'm sure the quality of yeast, as well as the experience...

If you want to optimize the honey, take about 2qts of water and heat to 180, add the honey, and bring back to 180. Cover and throw in a 180 oven during the boil. Add to the wort while cooling. This should retain as much honey flavor while killing off any wild things that may be in it. Now, your...

6 weeks in the primary? I thought the unwritten rule was no longer than 2 weeks, assuming near completion of fermentation, to avoid off-flavors from the yeast bed. I have gone as long as 3 weeks due to time constraints with bottling and had no issues, but just figured I got lucky. Has the...