Recent content by ioo

Depends on what your tap water tastes like. If it's good water, then it's fine. My local tap water is not so good, thus I always brew with bottled spring water that I like. If you do brew with tap water I recommend boiling it all before adding any ingredients, use a filter system and or use...

Been to Germany. A couple of times. Drank lots of beer there. Never seen warm beer or beer that takes 10 minutes to poor. Not only is your boss an a-hole, but he may also be on crack.

Protein + sugar + heat -> browning Think crusty Italian or sourdough bread and how tasty it is.

I always do a mash out. Some people skip the mash out and just sparge with really hot water. You risk extracting tannins and other flavors from the husk. Best to mash out and sparge with water around 168.

You can pick up a flask or 1 gallon carboy at most local homebred shops. If you can't find one, a mason jar can work. Really any container will work, so long as it's clean and sanitized. You can simply cover the opening with tin foil (sanitized of course)

1. Of course. Just give the flask a couple swirls every time you walk by. 2. Well yeah, but that gets expensive quick. 3. Dry yeast generally doesn't need a starter. Just rehydrate in warm water while making the wort.

Sounds like you know your problem then. Pitch some fresh yeast and you will probably be fine.

I have never been a fan of dry yeast either. If it were me I'd get a white labs vial or wyeast smack pack and dump it in.

+5 gal ESB +5 gal pilsner +5 gal Vienna lager = 19183

Something similar yes. Gruit itself was a mixture of herbs like Yarrow, mugwort, ivy, Heather and other stuff. Hops were not made the defacto bittering agent until around the 1300 or 1400's, when the Church and nobility started levying taxes on Gruit. Everyone started using hops, liked the...

Try the t-shirt trick. Very helpful for summer brewing before I got my temperature controled frig setup.