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I have to ask -- have you actually tried a short mash? I was dubious until a pro told me my beers were thin and dry. His suggestion was a shorter mash. Problem solved. It is not unusual for pros to mash less than 60 minutes I have been informed. Granted, I have a RIMS, so this may not apply...

Mash for a shorter time. I see you're at 70 and 80 minutes. Try mashing for just 30 or 40 minutes.

To my knowledge the pros don't chill their wort when they whirlpool. I've heard of some breweries whirlpooling for 40 minutes or longer.

Much much flaked oats did you use? How much wheat?

There have been many, many posts about gelatin on HBT. Do a search and you'll get all of your answers. It works very well if you do it properly. Prepare the gelatin like you would if you were using it in a dessert, then add it to your cold beer.

I made a batch with 4.5 cups of sweet rice and I have had no luck with it juicing out yet after more than a week in the container. It smells boozy and yeasty, but there's no liquid. I didn't steam it but instead cooked it in my Zojirushi rice cooker. Perhaps this is the problem...

Does your arm ever get tired from patting yourself on the back so much?

Acetelaldehyde tastes like apples. Really bad cases can taste like apple cider. If it's really bad I don't think it will go away, but in my experience, a faint taste will recede with an extended cold conditioning.

I guess I always have to scratch my head when small-batch brewers make a stink about efficiency. Efficiency matters if you're brewing 15bbl batches and need to maximize efficiency for your budget's sake. It doesn't matter when you're brewing 5 gallon batches and only need to increase your...

Pardon me if this has been brought up before, but can this method be used for preserving Lactobacillus? Edit: I probably should have googled this prior to asking here. A quick search shows yes, you can preserve bacteria in a 15% glycerin solution with viability up to a year.

A Belgian golden I brewed many months ago was, like you describe, undrinkable after an extended secondary and 4 weeks in the bottle. After a few extra months in the bottle (probably 6) it is now quite good. Don't lose hope.

Many people who make wine out of blackberries and other berries/fruits don't boil their fruit. That said, they're just throwing pectinase right into the fermenter.

I used 1 pound of raisins in a 5-gallon batch that had approximately 15 lbs of grains in it. It was way to winey for my tastes to be considered enjoyable. I don't know how the book suggests using them, but I shredded mine and threw them into secondary for a few months.

I had an accident with some lactic acid one time... Long story short, I used about the same amount you describe and it was very acidic. I suffer from acid reflux and just drinking a few sips would make my stomach burn. If you used about 1.5 oz. I think you would notice a good tartness.

Looks good.

Blackberries are almost in-season. I'm planning on making 2 types: normal blackberry wine and sparkling wine. I think I'll more or less follow the same recipe for each: Roughly 5 gals crushed berries with a little pectic enzyme. Maybe throw in a pound of dextrose. Champagne yeast. Am I...

I guess this goes to show you the differences in taste. I recently used about 10 oz (estimation) of JD in a batch and I thought it was a little overwhelming. Maybe 10 oz and 16 oz into 5g is splitting hairs.

What would the difference be between pureeing and adding to the last minutes of boiling and chopping and adding towards the end of fermentation? I kind of feel like you would get more flavor from them if you didn't cook them.

I've never used Sitka spruce, but I have used Engleman's before. I was kind of disappointed with the results as I couldn't find much spruce flavor or aroma. I think I was apprehensive to use too much. Congrats on the MS in fisheries. I work as a fisheries biologist in Washington.

I can't speak for flaked rice, but I have used whole grain basmati before. If I remember correctly it was 50% of the grist. I cooked it like normal and then added it to my tun and mashed it with the barley. Edit: On second thought I think I ran it through my grain mill before cooking. I'm not...