Search results

DME = Dry Malt Extract. LME = Liquid Malt Extract. The difference here is analogous to the difference between dehydrated milk and condensed milk. Both are preserved forms of "milk" that take up less space than fresh milk; they're simply reduced to different extents. They are largely...

Thanks. My only hunch on the color is that the DME caramelized during the boil. I think I've read somewhere that this can happen.

FG actually came in at 1.009. Carbonated with 4.5 oz. table sugar for est. 2.5 volumes CO2. This is hands down the best thing I've brewed, and easily beats my favorite commercial recipes. A strong malt backbone provides a good vehicle for the Warrior, Cascade, and Simcoe hops. Bitterness is...

Quick question: when I've entered this into a recipe calculator, it's coming out much darker than a "normal" porter. I'm happy to make a non-conforming beer, but I wanted to make sure this was right before I bought my ingredients. -Chris

Another update: Final gravity ended up at 1.010, for an estimated ABV of 7.88% before bottle priming. The hop flavor is nice right now, and it should be even better once the dry hopping does its magic. It's a little bit thinner than I had hoped, and I'm sure this can be chalked up to the...

Brew day went fine for the most part, but my OG was off the charts when I first measured it. I had to bring the total to 6 gallons before I hit my target of 1.070. To those with questions: yes, I was stirring vigorously to make sure it wasn't just a random spot, and yes, I took a second...

Bob- Thanks for your input! Adding the dry hops directly to the primary is something I had wondered about. Glad to see it's not an unreasonable way to proceed. Two questions: What's your rationale behind a pound of corn sugar apart from jacking the alcohol level? Also, can you...

Thanks for the advice. I picked up my ingredients and will be brewing next weekend. Will begin a yeast starter tonight. Hopefully this will be good to drink in six weeks' time--way better than the months of turnaround I've had on my other brews recently. Chris

All, I'm trying to make an IPA that falls somewhere between a Bell's Two Hearted and a DFH 60-Minute. I've come up with the following, and would love an extra few sets of eyes to make sure I haven't made any egregious mistakes. Thanks! Chris Recipe: 8 lb. Extra-light DME 0.75 lb...

I'd recommend racking this to secondary for a little while to make sure the oatmeal proteins and yeast can settle out. I had a lot of that stuff coagulate in the bottle, and it was a pain to explain it to people who hadn't had home-made beer before.

Two weeks into fermentation and the gravity is at 1.014. That's slightly higher than anticipated (1.012), but I think I've bottomed out. Even though the temperature is a tad cold, I've had no airlock activity for over a week. The plan now is to leave it in primary for another 6 days just in...

UPDATE: My batch of this has been in the bottle for a month, and I've been pulling a few bottles to test the results. Over the course of the last week it's gotten a lot better, but it still tastes a bit one-dimensional. I'm thinking it could use at least another few weeks. One strange...

Final recipe: .75 lbs 2-Row Caramel Malt 60L; Briess info 3.3 lbs Liquid Light; Muntons info 3.3 lbs Liquid Amber; Muntons info 1 lbs Honey info .5 lbs Oats Flaked info .5 oz Willamette (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 60 min. info .5 oz Willamette (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 25 min. info .5 oz...

I can confirm that you want to toast those oats. I wasn't able to do it--my homebrew store crushed the oats along with the other specialty grains--and it tasted like something was missing when I put it into the bottle a week and a half ago.

How much amaretto did you add? I'm planning to make a Christmas ale and plan to do this, but I don't know how much I should expect to use. I don't want a very strong almond flavor--just a hint of it to compliment the hop character and spices. Thanks! Chris

Thanks, all. Was looking at flavor profiles last night and (foolishly) forgot to check the AA on the varietals. 1/4 to 1/3 oz. Chinook sounds much more my speed. I like the idea of using a little lactose to give it some creaminess. At what point in the process should I add that to the wort...

All, For my next beer I'm trying to work up my own recipe. Up until now everything I've done is from kits or recipes on this site. I was wondering if somebody could take a look at the following and tell me what they think. I'm trying to make an ale that evokes the flavors of Italian...

Just bottled the batch I brewed 29 days ago. Gravity came out at 1.013 or 1.014, so everything looks good there. I'm happy to say that no crickets made their way into the liquid when my lid blew off in the first stages of fermentation. Sadly, however, this means I can't call it my "Jiminy...

Thanks, BigB, that was very helpful. Brew day went off without a hitch, apart from dropping my hydrometer and having to run out to buy another. The "sound of victory" this morning was a bit louder than expected, however: krausen forced its way into my airlock, clogged it, and eventually blew...

I'm hoping to try this recipe tomorrow. It will be my third beer and my first partial mash. I'm wondering if you can provide some more detailed instructions for the mashing process. Specifically, I'd like to know if this calls for a true step mash where I'll be extracting fermentables, or if...