Search results

My recollection is that LME is 20% water. So you would need 0.8 * #s of LME in DME. So that would be 2.64 #s. That's a hazy recollection, though...I could be wrong.

John Palmer's chapter on the subject I'd recommend reading the whole book...it's great reading.

My recollection is that John Palmer's book recommends diluting the honey with water and taking a gravity reading to determine the sugar content. This will allow you to hit fairy close to your target carbonation.

I'm pretty new at this, so I apologize in advance if this is ignorant, but: a pilsner kit? Doesn't a pilsner need to be lagered? My understanding is that lager yeast, if not properly lagered, produces all sorts of sulfur compounds...which will, naturally, smell like farts. That's just based...

Depending on your definition of "sour", that taste could also be tannins from grains steeped at too high a temperature. Alternately, it could just be green -- my first brew had a harsh flavor that I could only describe as "the bottom end of hops flavor" that went away after a few more weeks in...

Oooh...Smokey Mountain Brewery. I love that place -- I once spent an entire afternoon eating giant pretzels and drinking beer there. I don't miss much about living in Knoxville, but I do miss that place.

I re-read the series about once every two years -- I've probably read Dune about six times. I'd say that the last time was the first time that I didn't get anything new out of it (meaning, I didn't sit there and go "Ohhhhhh...duh!" when reading). God Emperor, on the other hand, still bakes...

No. We should judge them, and judge them harshly. They are philistines, with no place in proper human society. We should judge them, and shun them. And burn them. But in all seriousness: I live in a small, "rural" town, where drinkers of real beer are vastly outnumbered by drinkers of...

One day, I would like to tackle Spice Beer from Dune. From the description in the books, it should be deceptively strong, and taste predominantly of cinnamon. I'm thinking Belgian...

I have not yet tackled a lager, so I can't help you there, but you could attempt a California Common ale, which uses lager yeast at ale temperatures. John Palmer has a recipe for one here. It looks like you could hit the style using all of the LME (for a SG of about 1.043). An ounce of the...

1.) I aerate my wort by shaking. Since I am doing 3 gallon boils, I will generally add the cooled wort to the carboy, and then shake for five minutes. Top off to 5 gallons and then shakes some more. Then pitch (and shake some more). Good aeration is essential to good fermentation, as yeast...

This page from John Palmer's site covers OG, FG, and attenuation. You should be able to track down the attenuation for your yeast (from the manufacturer, or the place you bought it), and do the math. Or you could just trust Bike N Brew.

+1 on mail-ordering StarSan. It's not very expensive, and a bottle will last forever if used wisely. I only do one batch at a time, so I usually make a 5 gallon bucket when I make my starter, and that lasts me (covered) through bottling day. At this rate, I will need another bottle of StarSan...

I brewed a wheat a couple of weeks ago that only bubbled for a few days, before it settled down to one bubble every ten minutes or so, and eventually to nothing. So it's probably nothing to worry about -- you may have just had a few days of really active fermentation. Extra tip: I read...

My first batch did the same thing -- still turned out great. +1 on getting a blow-off tube -- after that initial explosion, I do the first couple days of each batch with one. The "bloop bloop bloop" of fermentation is music to my ears.

Now I'm concerned. I've been using StarSan to sanitize my bottles, but I have not been drying them. I just pop 'em out of the sanitizer, fill 'em, and cap 'em. My impression was that StarSan is mostly harmless at those levels. True or false?

Brew day went smoothly -- nailed the OG on my Belgian Strong Ale (always gratifying), and had a healthy fermentation going by the evening. It is currently bubbling away (with a blowoff, so I get to listen to the "bloop bloop bloop" while I sleep). Things I learned this batch: 1.) I hate...

I have nothing to contribute but sympathy -- I, too, was trying to create a wheat clone for SWMBO (in this case, In Heat Wheat from Flying Dog), and completely botched it. I made a very bad yeast choice, and ended up with something that tasted more like a Belgian Weiss than an American Wheat...

On a related topic: I have been attempting to build up a starter for a Belgian Strong Ale, but I have been having a devil of a time pouring off the spent wort. I chill the starter in the fridge for about 8 hours to flocculate the yeast, and then attempt to decant the wort, but I freak out...

Apologies if this is idiotic/obvious, but are you keeping the source for the siphon well above the destination? I had a similar problem (bubbles) the first time I used my auto-siphon, as I was a.) using the wrong tube, and b.) not raising the source significantly above the destination (I think...