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Thanks everyone. About how long do you usually wait after mixing before your mash temperature settles?

Thanks, malkore. I'll have to make a note to preheat my (10 gal.) cooler next time, and maybe only heat strike water to mash+10. I've also been adding water to grain, rather than other way around.

So I am wondering about how long you all typically observe for mash temperature to stabilize after you mix strike water and grain? I'm on my fourth AG batch, and I've been following Papazian's suggestion that the water temperature drops 16 to 18 degrees when mixed with grain, but that gives me...

5 gallons, and OG was around 1.043. I did a partial mash with 3# of 2-row malt and a pound each of Munich and crystal 10L. I mashed at 149F for about 45 minutes. I used US Saaz for bittering (60 min) and flavor (10 min), and Mt. Hood for aroma (1 min). I added 3# of light DME about 20 minutes...

So I brewed up an altbier last Sunday, and aside from dropping my strainer into the fermenting bucket, and having to strain the wort twice (it was good and aerated), all went fine. When it got down to a temperature in the low 70sF, I pitched a package of Wyeast 1007 German ale yeast, and took...

Also check out Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. He does a good job of explaining what different ingredients contribute to a recipe, and how to combine ingredients to achieve the basic characteristics of a particular style. He goes into the details of how to calculate a malt bill and hop...

From a recent Northern Brewer catalog. The description seems a little suspect. Or maybe there's a typo.

Thanks for the replies. I am pressing on...boiling now for another 40 minutes or so, and will add extract, orange peel and coriander for 10 minutes. I am sure it will be fine...

Because I was using the torrified wheat, it was recommended that I do a protein rest. Papazian puts this in his generic partial mash instructions as well, so I tried to do it. Based on the Palmer book you linked to, though, it sounds like it is rarely necessary. I guess this is how you learn...

So I decided to brew a Belgian witbier as a partial mash, with 2 lbs. each of pilsner and wheat malt, and a pound of torrified wheat. The guy at the LHBS, as well as my Joy of Homebrewing book, recommended a protein rest at around 130*F. So, as the book suggested, I heated my 5 quarts of water...

About a week ago I posted this recipe and got good feedback. I brewed this weekend and so far so good. I ended up substituting centennial hops for the cascade during the boil, because LHBS was out of cascade whole leaf. I still got cascade pellets for dry hopping. It's now bubbling away, and...

Out of curiosity, what exactly does the crystal malt add to the brew that counteracts the expected dryness imparted by the yeast? Why does this give the beer more body?

Thanks for all the responses. I may increase the crystal to 12 oz, and the dry hop to 1 oz. I'll let you all know how it comes out.

So I've been reading through Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers (a great resource, by the way), and decided to try my hand at concocting my own potion. I thought I'd post it here to see if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for me before I actually brew it. I am looking to do an American...

So it's been a few weeks since I first posted this message about off flavors in my brown ale. I am happy to report that given the extra time in the bottle it is shaping up into a respectable beer, as you all said it would. The plastic/medicine flavor is still there, but very faintly, and seems...

I've brewed three batches so far. The first, a brown ale from a kit, produced maybe an inch of froth in my Ale Pail. The second was Papazian's Palace Bitter from The Joy of Home Brewing, 3e. The kraeusen was all the way to the lid after about 18 hours. The most recent is holiday Cheer, also from...

I feel much better now. Thanks for all the anecdotes about similar experiences with dark beers. I'll give it another couple of weeks at least and try again.

Thanks for the reassurances. I'll give it another couple of weeks. I am pleased that it is at least drinkable!

I left it in the primary just short of a week (6 days, I think), then racked to a secondary where it stayed for 16 days. It will be two weeks in the bottle on Saturday. I tasted the stuff when I bottled it, and I remember thinking then that it tasted sort of medicine-like then as well. My...

I just cracked open a bottle of my inaugural homebrew, a brown ale. It has only been in the bottle for 12 days, so I know it is still underconditioned. It was carbonated about right. It's nice and clear, with a deep brown color. The problem right now is that it has a sort of bitter medicinal...