Recent content by Sansnom

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I hadn't thought of a mini mash, I'm definitely going to give that a try when life is a little less busy! I'm going to give a full extract batch a try first, I'm going to do a 30 minute boil and do late addition and see how it goes. Thanks again for the advice...

Hello all, I had to stop brewing for personal reasons a while back and I am looking to get back into it, but my current situation (living area) isn't really workable with the 3 vessel all grain method I was accustomed to. Basically I don't really have anywhere to put a propane burner and such...

68f is about as low as I can get it during this time of year, my tap water is just too warm. Since summer is nearly over, I'll probably wait until next year to invest in a better chilling setup. When it's cool out, I have no problem getting the wort to 64 or below. Aeration is something that I'm...

I thought I’d share my results with it: I had a packet of it kicking around for a while. I realized it was nearly expired, so I decided to do something with it. I brewed a strong bitter with 5% crystal and 7% kilned malt. I mashed at 149F, 1.050 OG. I re-hydrated as per the instructions and...

Brewed August 2016. I checked it two weeks in and it was sour, so I didn't bother bottling it. I ended up leaving it in the fermentor until today. The smell is hard to describe, it's very fruity and sweet, almost pleasant but overwhelming at the same time. It stunk up half of the house when I...

A Final, final gravity? That's confusing... I would think it's basically impossible for anyone to know how far it has progressed over the internet. Why not just take a gravity reading? There's too many variables to even know... Like the recipe, yeast used, fermentation temp, etc...

I guess the only thing to do is let it ride out and see what happens. My very first batch ended up turning into 23L of malt vinegar. It happens, don't let it discourage you if it really is infected. If the malt extract wasn't pre-hopped, what kind of hops did you use?

I haven't had experience with any bacteria test kits so I can't really say. Do you have a link to one? Unless the lid was open enough to let bugs like fruit flies in or even dust, it's unlikely. If the lid was just sealing poorly, it probably wasn't an issue. What kind of fermentor do you...

It's entirely possible that it's infected, it's hard to say. If the extract was old or poorly handled prior to you getting it, you might be experiencing "extract twang". Was the extract pre-hopped? I would let the batch sit for another week and see if it gets worse, if it's infected it will only...

I'm sure the people here can help you pinpoint the issue, but we'll need some info: Recipe/details about the batch in question Type of sanitizer used Was this your first batch ever? Or have you done all grain before? What does it taste like?

For what it's worth... I've used S-04 twice, each time in the dark mild that I like to brew. In the two batches that I used it, there was a noticable "tartness" to the beer that I didn't care for. I usually brew it with Nottingham, it turns out great with that. I brewed each batch around 68f. I...

My oldest bucket is almost 5 years old and still makes good beer, it still looks like new on the inside. As long as you don't scratch the inside they will last a long time. I bleach my buckets after every few uses, you just need to let them sit for a day or so to let the smell evaporate. Edit...

The Canadian Blonde basically tastes like a slighty more bitter version of the Original Lager. They claim that it has some aroma hops, but I honestly can't tell. If you're looking for more malt flavour, you could always add some dry malt extract. I haven't done fruit beers, so I can't really...

I brew a lot of IPAs and still bottle... I usually try to drink them within 3 weeks, because I find that the hop aroma/flavour tends to drop off quickly after that.

Dark Belgian sounds really intriguing. I've never had one before. I guess I should search for some recipes!