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Just wanted to say that I had the worst brew day ever two batches ago, what went into the fermenter looked like gray/gold pablum, my temps were all bad through the whole fermentation, and STILL, my botched AG maibock came out of the the fermenter straw gold, crystal clear, and awesome. Put...

Target in Pleasanton, CA has 48 qt cubes for 10 bucks. I picked one up, and there were a few more there as well. 10 gallon all grain batches, here I come.

Something you might want to consider is when you move to lager, you lager in a keg with an airlock. Then, force carbonate after 4 weeks in the keg, and once the beer is carbonated properly, counter pressure fill any bottles you want. You'll avoid the carbonation fermentation, and ensure that...

When I do a 90 minute boil I skim, since I've got 30 minutes until my first hop addition. After the hops go in though, I don't touch it.

Just a quick update. I brewed a schwartzebier/brussels black ale clone this weekend, and made two changes to my equipment/process before i started. The changes were I replaced the vinyl tubing on my false bottom with reinforced vinyl tubing. Turns out the regular clear vinyl tubing was...

Well, at least you still got to take the youngest to be with the family AND got to get your beer brewed. Maybe not the most relaxing/enjoyable way to do it, but if your two kids are anything like mine, then relaxing isn't really a normal state in your household. Brewing is great, but I'll...

Thank you all for the great tips! I'm going to give it another go this weekend with another all malt recipe. Thanks again everyone!

Ok, so I took a shot at my second all grain batch this Sunday. First, the recipe: 9 lbs German Pilsner 2 lbs Marzen 1.5 lbs CaraPils Second, the equipment. 5 gallon Igloo round cooler, with a B3 stainless steel false bottom and stainless ball valve. Third, the method. Batch sparge...

Thanks Raceskier, that recipe looks promising. The lager yeast is key. You might be right on the money with the oktoberfest/marzen yeast. That will leave enough of the malty character behind while providing enough esters to give it that kind of coca-cola spicy flavor it has. I know what...

We just pitched a Columbia IPA with a pint of yeast slurry from a previous IPA. I basically racked it down to the trub, gave it all a good swirl, then poured out a full pint to a sterilized pint glass. Pitched that, and blew the airlock out of my fermenter in about 12 hours. I know you're...

Ok, I'm not normally a fan of New Belgium beers (Fat Tire generally tastes like beer brewed from a Home Depot kit) but I have really been enjoying their Brussels Black Ale this spring. It's malty, roasty, stouty, but effervescent and refreshing at the same time. Has anyone done a Black Ale...

7 lb Pale 2 Row Malt 2 lb Victory Malt 1 lb CaraRed Malt 1/2 lb Chocolate Malt 1 1/2 lb Raw Blackberry Source Honey (60 minute boil) .5oz Magnum Hops (pellets) (60 minute boil) 1oz Fuggle hops (pellets) (added last 1 minute) White Labs WLP022 Essex Ale Yeast White Labs WLP004 Irish...

Although I'm normally a fan of the brand, the Sierra Nevada Summerfest was a HUGE disappointment for me this year. I was outside BBQing, my wife brings out a beer for me in a lager glass, I took a swig, smelled it, and went "Is this a PBR?" because it tasted EXACTLY like canned PBR I keep...

I can relate, my first AG was full of less than optimal events. Such as... Stuck sparge. Nothing like shoveling out 5 gallons of grains and wort then putting it all back in. Ran out of propane with 20 minutes left to boil, had to move 5 gallons of boiling wort into the house and put it...

I'll be tackling a 1/2 barrel project this weekend, converting it to a HLT. I already have the stack of sawzall blades and very nice earplugs ready to go. I'll be making a trip to my local welding shop to put in a female fitting though, just easier in all ways than dealing with weldless...

Brew it, you'll regret not having it when you get home if you don't. I've had heffeweizen sit on the primary trub for two months, then racked to a keg for another two months, and then served it at my wedding. Folks that were at my wedding still say it was the best beer they've had, and most...

I'm with you on this, I'm selling my three project motorcycles that have been taking up space in the garage and using the proceeds to build my brew sculpture. Poor wife, she thinks she'll be able to park the car in the garage after the bikes are gone. Poor, poor, misguided wife...

I've had really good results with this Light Ale recipe from B3 if I'm trying to convert folks over to "real" beer, but YMMV.

I can relate to staring at your carboy for hours. This batch of dubbel I have in seoncdary provided me with hours of enjoyment. I double pitched it with a fast acting dry ale yeast as well as the White Labs Trappist yeast, so it started quickly with a fairly normal fermentation, then on...

Yeah, don't be impressed by my usage of Metheglin, I had to look it up before I posted it. I had a strong suspicion that if I put up "Mead with cloves and cinammon" someone would have piped in with "You mean Metheglin, noob?". Oh well, it's honey, water, yeasty bits, and whatever I had on hand...