Search results

I would agree with Calder, feel free to use sugar in your British style beers, but limit the amount you use. Historically speaking, a lot of British brewers used sugar to some degree and it totally fits the style, provided you don't overdo it. Brown sugar, raw sugar, white table sugar are all...

Sorry for the delay, and thank you for the suggestions! I don't know why I struggle with IPAs, and I appreciate the recommendations. TheHaze's recipe sounds really good, and I'm really intrigued by Skleice's recipe. Here is the recipe I used: 3.0 lbs Golden Light DME 2.0 lbs 2 Row .25 lbs...

Hey folks--with all the years of brewing I have under my belt, I've yet to really work out a good IPA recipe I'm happy with. I've played around with different hopping rates, dry hopping, first wort hopping, etc., but nothing really hits on what I'm looking for. I get great aroma and flavor, but...

Boiling water alone will work, but in my early days I always used a bleach solution because it was cheap, effective and readily available. I would dilute 2 oz. bleach in 5 gallons of water (or scale down as needed), and rinse everything thoroughly with hot water. You'll be able to smell if there...

Keep your bottled beer away from direct sunlight, if at all possible. The darker bottles and higher six pack holders from some breweries will help, but sunlight and heat are your main enemies here.

Haha, sorry, I meant 1.013 for the FG. I usually do bypass doing a secondary, but I'm planning on dry hopping this one. I usually like to dry hop in a bucket, instead of a carboy, as it's easier to get the bag of hops out during cleaning.

Definitely give it a little more time, and like JPDosey and McKnuckle mentioned, maybe even warm it up a bit. Saison yeasts tend to take a little longer to do their thing, and generally favor warmer temps. I've made some great beers with that yeast strain, but patience has been my friend.

According to the app I use, it should finish at 1.103, but since its still going I haven't checked it yet. I'm planning on transferring to a secondary tomorrow or Wednesday anyway (7-8 days after pitching, respectively), so I should have an idea of where its at then.

In my experience, that should be totally fine with that schedule. I've done similar fermentation/dry hop schedules with bottling and the beers have turned out great. Even though you're transferring out of primary after a few days, provided you had a good, strong fermentation going, 10-12 days in...

Totally understood =] Since you're force carbonating, you could probably still get away with a week in primary, two weeks in secondary, and then straight into the kegs for carbonation. I haven't done a ton of kegging (beyond helping a buddy a few times), but it definitely shouldn't take you six...

Here's a robust porter recipe that I've been really happy with. It's converted from a partial mash recipe, but don't let that turn you off to it. It's a pretty easy recipe, and steeping some grains will add a lot of character and flavor to your beer beyond what just DME can give you. This is for...

I would agree with Immocles' comment. I've lengthened my primary fermentation and shortened/omitted entirely the secondary fermentation, depending on the beer, with no real negative effects. Are you conditioning in the keg or force carbonating?

It was manufactured in September of this year, so it was pretty fresh. The shop I use is pretty diligent and reputable, and on my end at least, it went straight into the fridge when I got home. I did let it warm up to room temp while I was prepping/brewing (a couple of hours), and my pitching...

Hey all--I brewed a west coast IPA (partial mash, OG of 1.065) six days ago, and my airlock is still bubbling intermittently (about every 8 seconds). I used the full package of yeast and pitched into 3 gallons, so there shouldn't be any issues with under-pitching, I followed all of my usual...

I'm probably reading too much into this, but I can't help but feel a little like I'm being attacked, or at least ridiculed. You make a good argument for the yeast and fermentation being to blame, and I agreed with you-how is that indicative of me sticking to my original viewpoint and not being...

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think it's been mostly, if not entirely, American versions of Belgian beers. Given a lot of the comments here, I'm inclined to think that the yeast strain/fermentation is largely to blame, but I still feel like the sugars are partially to blame. I know everyone...

Congrats on the the little one! I've definitely had less time to brew since I became a dad (I currently have a one year old daughter), but I agree with mdbrewer1-it's easier when you pick a day and commit to it. That way, it's easier for everyone in the family to plan around it. I've been...

Madscientist-I've considered that it's my overall intake, and at times, that has admittedly been to blame. However, the last time I experienced this I had one Belgian beer and then, two hours later, two dry Irish-style stouts (approx 5% ABV), and woke up with one of the worst headaches I've ever...

Recently (over the past two years or so), I started to notice a correlation between drinking certain Belgian beers and my hangovers. Specifically, Belgian strong ales seem to be the greatest culprit, but often Belgian-IPAs and other "Belgian inspired" beers have been responsible for some of my...

With my limited experience (2 +\- years all grain), everything I've read seems to suggest that 2 qts/pound was the upper limit. I'm not too familiar with BIAB techniques, but if your mash gets too thin it becomes harder for the enzymes in the grain to do their job converting starches into...