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Yeah, when I was stationed in Libya I looked everywhere for a good tasting NA beer mostly because I needed the bottles. I never found any. I mean, there are NA beers that are better than Bud or Coors but that isn’t saying much. I got in the habit of drinking Beck’s NA beer when I...

I haven't visited in awhile. Since evacuating Libya I have been bouncing around. I was holding out some hope that I would eventually be able to get my household belongings back from Tripoli but the places were either looted and/or burned. So it is all gone. But that is OK! My family is...

I wasn't actually scheduled to leave until May 2012. Right now I am on TDY (temporary duty). It looks like they will be sending be around to embassies where they are short handed for a few weeks or months at a time. I think I will be headed over to Zimbabwe for a bit.

I was there on vacation. It was a toss up between the Cayman islands and Libya. So of course I went with Libya. ;) No, I work (worked?) at the US embassy. All my worldly possessions, to include my homebrew gear, are still there. But I am just happy, thrilled, ecstatic to have my family...

Ahhhhhhh, back in the US. I evacuated out of Libya about a week ago. I was the last person out of the embassy. I spent the last week in Germany getting my brain picked. And now I am back in the good ol' US of A. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in the beer in Germany. Don't get me...

It is insane here. As I type this I hear heavy automatic and artillery fire along with the yells of thousands of people. Tracer rounds flying overhead. Trying to get folks out. It is not easy. I have evacuated my house. I may never see my homebrew gear again. :(

I am always living in countries where you have to be extra careful eating produce. I usually disinfect them with a diluted bleach solution and then rinse them off. But I got to thinking. I always have a bucket or spray bottle of Starsan on hand for my brewing needs. Could I disinfect my...

aaaand I'm done.

I am on vacation in Cambodia and have found a pub that has canned Guinness Draught with the widget. I like Guinness Draught a lot. It isn't my favorite, but I enjoy it. Most beers, even those low in alcohol, eventually wear on my palate over the course of the night. The delicious hops and...

Libya and Cambodia. ;) I am glad to see things changing.

Cans are definitely better, assuming the beer going into them is good. At the moment, though, it is mostly crap macro breweries using them so they have a bad rap.

Wouldn't matter if he did. The beer would still be fine to drink. 1. No. 2. Yes, assuming it is a decent beer to begin with. 3. No. Not because there is any risk. There isn't. None whatsoever. but because if they later found out about it they might get pissed. People aren't rational...

I am back in Cambodia for vacation and the beer scene here has really picked up. Beers like Guinness Foreign Extra Stout are now available and a new brewery opened up here called Kingdom that, to my surprise, makes a pilsener that isn't half bad. In a couple bars, though, I have had both the...

Seems to me you are doing everything right. The only thing I can think of is the caps aren't going on tightly enough. It may not be evident when you hold them under the water because it is only slightly loose and is leaking very slowly. Maybe others will have some ideas. I would try...

Congrats! Leaving it in the bottle for a long time won't cause it to overcarb. That is a product of how much yeast is still active and how much sugar is left unattenuated. Agreed on leaving it in primary longer.

I have stopped giving beers to people who don't return my bottles. I specifically ask people to give me the bottles back. I am in Libya and to get new beer bottles I have to buy non-alcoholic Becks. So obtaining beer bottles here is neither free nor enjoyable. At least in the US acquiring...

I have now brewed 4 batches: an APA, a Scottish Ale, an oatmeal stout, and now I have a blond ale in the fermenter. The next beers I will be making are a Texas bock, a vanilla porter, and a Bavarian hefeweizen. And even though all the beers I have made so far have been outstanding and I...

Yeah, I gave up way too much of my first batch. I am being more stingy now. Perhaps once I have a continuous pipeline going I will become more giving again. Watching my boxes empty out is very depressing. :(

12" should be high enough and I doubt the diameter matters. What does matter is how much of a sample you are putting in the tube. If it is bottoming out continue to add beer to the tube until it floats. If it is bottoming out and the tube is filled to the rim then something is likely wrong...

Buckets are cheap. You shouldn't have too much trouble convincing SWMBO.