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I'm using a metaphor - if the starch macromolecule is a tree then simple sugar molecules form sawdust. Not talking about grinding the malt at all and especially not advicing anyone to grind malts to dust.

No, I did not say that. I mean that you won't see the exact level of fermentability by doing the simple iodine test (the ratio between short chain dextrin and fermentable sugar (maltose etc.) and thus it won't reveal the FG of the beer. I'm not saying that it is useless to test with iodine. It...

I would simply start with standard ~one hour mash (recirculated). If this leads to a higher than expected FG you can start adjusting mash time and maybe even mash temperature in your future brews. The color seen in the simple iodine test does correlate with the progress of the mash but it is...

It is about the same color now as Fuller's beer (could be even a tad darker since I put a bit of medium crystal back in the recipe for the color) that I'm trying to mimick. The pictures can be sometimes misleading when the beer is put in a smaller vessel. Plus some brewers expect/prefer strong...

Joseph Drouhin AC Givry red wine from Burgundy. One of my QPR favourites that is available in 375 ml bottles, too.

Bottled the latest version of ESB. Let's see how it develops in the bottles.. WLP002 yeast from 1.058-9 to 1.013.

I'm waiting for the finings to work before bottling the brew tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm experimenting with a traditional Finnish Christmas dish that is called something like sweetened potato casserole (I don't think there is any official name for such a dish in English). In this dish, the mashed...

If you are brewing a hazy & hop forward beer, I would probably try to give it some time in a very cold place and preferably under co2 to minimize the oxidation that could also reduce the hop aroma and flavor that you are looking for. Time depends on the size of possible dust particles and the...

Yes, polyphenols from hops plus there could be even small, solid hop particles coming from the pellets that cause astringency that will persist until these tiny particles or excess polyphenolic aggregates drop to the bottom. This may take several days in a cold place. Some finings may also...

No. I prefer plain silicon hose prefilled with starsan and pinched between your fingers (sanitized gloves on) or a shutoff clamp near the tube ends. Or carboy cap + copper tube when transferring from carboy using co2 tank (similar to picture above but some co2 from regulator instead of blowing...

Do you use dry yeast or is it liquid yeast (did you do starters if liquid)? Yeast health and proper pitch rate is quite important, too. Old or poorly handled lots of liquid yeast could be problematic, especially in a strong beer such as Belgian ales. So there are many sources of off tastes that...

Three five liter glass carboys, two 2 liter glass jugs. Also two 8 liter big mouth bubblers that I don't use too much these days as the lid is somewhat difficult to a) seal and b) open when it gets stuck..

You should probably re-check the recipes and ingredients and ensure that you give your beers enough time so that yeast can take care of the possible off flavors and flocculate more effectively. How long do you typically ferment at 17-19 C ambient temperature and have you ever checked the actual...

Adjusting the manual waterbath to higher (diacetyl rest) temperature as the fermentation is slowing down.

The sulphurous smell of Hefeweizen fermentation would probably not be that great idea for a product. But the smell of hops could be nice in an air freshener. I mean for the non-brewers who do not have any real hops to sniff on a regular basis..

They now produce some new specialty liquid malt extracts for homebrewers under brand name Senson (subsidiary of Viking malts). E.g. gluten-free (< 20 ppm) light & roasted extracts. At least light is based on Viking pilsner malt. Then there's an acidulated liquid malt extract acidified by lactic...

Mashing a strong bitter right now.

The elevated pH is especially useful for the ferulic acid rest that should enhance the clove flavor or its precursor e.g. the first step in the hefeweizen mash schedule (around 110F). If you start at, say pH6.0, it is possible to add some acid, acidulated malt etc. for the saccharification step.

I've found that a great cleaning/rubbing device especially for steel pots, glass etc hard and smooth surfaces is the magic eraser/sponge/foam that comes in many forms and brand names.

I bought the Rhino coffee gear bench scale for ḿy small scale brewing. For such an affordable scale it seems to be reliable. Although the range is 2-2000g (ounce mode incl.) it consistently measures the small quantities starting from ~2 grams and can be re-calibrated. For example, 7 grams of...