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It's a hobby for me too. I'm a fan of decoction mashes and will have 12 hour brew days. I just want consistency and simplifying water allows me to get that on a scale that many said wasn't possible in small batches of home brew. It has also greatly improved the flavor to the point that I'll put...

I buy my water. I don't have an RO system. If your water is good and without any flavors, don't waste your time with spreadsheets and computer software to calculate what you need to add to get where you want. Just pull the ph down with phosphoric acid. Only add back CaCl or gypsum in the kettle...

I use the Gordon Strong technique and it works wonderful. I started using it about 3 years ago and I've never made better beer. It takes all the guess work out of water and ph. I start with RO water and treat it with a small amount of phosphoric acid to 5.5 ph. Yes, you can get a ph reading...

It's a myth that you can't get an accurate ph reading in RO or distilled water.

Acidulated malt is used to lower the ph of brewing water slightly to the level where it's needed if it's too high. That was always it's intention. I treat all of my water (RO or distilled) with phosphoric acid to a ph of 5.5 before I ever start my mash. I do this for all beers. I want mash ph to...

I buy all of my brewing water. I use only distilled or RO water. My logic is that I can easily add things to the water to get what I want out of it. It's much harder to add things to water to offset something that's already there that I don't want. At the end of the day, it's all still there...

Properly is the key. Improperly can absolutely hurt it. That includes not only adding a protein rest to grains that are well modified but also having too long of a rest time. Too long of a protein rest, even on lower modified grains, can absolutely hurt head retention.

I do decoctions all the time. I messed up on that one. When I say no head retention, I mean NO head retention! Even properly carbonated I had a hard time building up a head on it while pouring and what was there was gone in seconds. The guideline that I follow for a protein rest is based on...

It's hardly a myth. I messed up my Oktoberfest decoction schedule and rested at 122 for 20 minutes before pulling a decoction. That was the wrong time to pull it. Be the time I added it back after boiling to raise the temp to 144, the main mash sat at that temperature for over 50 minutes. I was...

I don't know what base malt you are using but if it's American 2 row you'll destroy your head retention with that protein rest. I'd dough in at sacc rest temp. If you insist on doing a decoction with a highly modified grain, do so as a single step to raise the temperature to mash out temp and...

I wouldn't be surprised if that warps under pressure when recirculating and just pops right up out of there. Watch out for that. Hopefully it doesn't happen.

Why did you use Magnum hops at flameout? I'd only use them for bittering.

When I load this recipe in I get a predicted IBU level of 13. That's actually slightly low for a Cream Ale, or even a Blonde Ale for that matter. 8.55 is just through the floor low. Strength and color are about right for each though. I have a Cream Ale right now that's at a predicted 18 IBU and...

I used 1 oz bags of hops too. Just 2 of them.

For me it's just 2 row, some Special B and a small amount of roasted barley for color which closely mimics what brent just said with his.

I've got a beer aging right now that is 9 lbs of American 2 row and a 1/2 lb of Carapils. Mashed at 149° for 45 minutes. I changed it up a bit in that I pulled almost half the grain from the mash and did a 15 minute decoction boil on it and then added it back to hit mashout temp of 168° where it...

I can't wait to hear how this brewing system design works!

I know them personally. I'll see if I can get some info for you.

If you modify the recipe a bit I'm sure you can get something that is in the spirit of the recipe but is palatable. I'd start with doing a full volume boil and even then limit it to 60-90 minutes total. Add the hops to the boil as you normally would. I'd also substitute the cane sugar for corn...

When I used Fuggles, I admittedly was using a hop already known for a grassy character.