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I should add that I make the vanilla extract by soaking vanilla beans in vodka for a month or two. I always have some on hand. It helps ease my paranoia over contamination. Using the cocoa powder and extract is just sooo easy. YMMV

I add 2 oz or Hershey cocoa powder with 5 min left in the boil - 2.5 gal batch. Then 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the primary a few days before bottling. Comes out great.

I wait until the gravity is about 1.010. This usually takes about 10 days with US-05 at 65F. Then I bottle including one plastic soda bottle. No additional sugar. I wait until the soda bottle is hard, this usually takes another 2-3 days. Then heat pasteurize. I am drinking delicious...

I picked up a gallon of fresh pressed apple juice from the local orchard. I have made some great cider with this stuff in the past. I was getting ready to mix up a batch and found that my little plastic jar of Pectic Enzyme powder had solidified. I mean hard as a rock. I got it to soften...

I follow the package directions for cooking the rice. Add the rice to the water, bring it to a soft boil, turn down the heat, cover the pot, simmer for 20 min. I think that very little water is lost to boiling. All is absorbed into the rice. I also think that pre-soaking the rice for an...

Does the amount of water that you use depend on the kind of jasmine rice that you buy? I am about to start my 4th batch. My first batch I rinsed then soaked for 2 hrs. then boiled. Then I thought it looked too dry so I added some more water. The wine was a little harsh but mellowed after a...

Just passing along what I heard hoping that and expert might chime in and set me straight. I wish I could remember which podcast it was. But, starches can be converted to sugar in the grain. That is how they make crystal malt to the best of my understanding. They take the grain just after it...

I was wondering the same thing. I recently listened to a Beersmith podcast (can't remember which one) and someone said that the conversion from starch to sugar takes place in the first few minutes of the mash. This would be the critical phase to form the right kind of sugars. The rest of the...

The night before I brew I boil a big pot of water for a few minutes on my kitchen stove and let it come to room temperature overnight. I can then use this sanitized water for several things. I use it to rehydrate my yeast, top off my fermenter, and rinse my tools and fermenter after using...

"Awesome... looks like 4 or 5 gal will do just fine. Do you have an electric range?" Yes. Just a regular kitchen elrctric range. Has no trouble getting the water to boil using just one of the larger burners. I usually back off on the power a little during the hop boil and it is still...

I do only 2.5 gal size batches. All BIAB. I have done about 20 of them. I use a 16 quart (4 gal) aluminum IMUSA pot. It is easy to store, heats and cools fast, fits nicely on a burner, and I can use it for other things. Lobster, corn, etc. Usually I have to top off the keg with some water...

I also use a thermocouple (K-style). I have been using it for several batches. Much easier to read the digital scale than a dial guage. The wort will not hurt the thermocouple. Mine has a braided outer sleeve. I just rinse the wire afterward. I tie the wire around the pot handle so that...