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tl;dr: This company has become a scam I wanted to share my experience to warn fellow brewers. I purchased a barrel with them in 2014 and things went well, so I figured I'd return for another barrel. I preordered an FEW bourbon barrel in October. When the barrel was due, he contacted me saying...

yup, I cook the rice ahead of time, and allow it to cool to room temp so I can calculate the strike all at once. I don't add any other grain to the cooked rice, as it would denature the enzymes. I also do regular cereal mashes, were I cook the rice with a larger portion of water so it remains...

I cook rice the night before to gelatinize it, and add it to the mash the next day. It works great.

I just made this, and it's awesome. For those of you on the west coast, this keg post fits the connector the OP posted: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/mobile/SPARTANBERG-PLUG-BEER-P125.aspx

If you have an Emily style wing capper they sell 29mm bells. I got mine from Williams brewing

I have a 15 gallon used bourbon barrel that I soured after two clean beers. Here is my advice: If the barrel smells nice you can fill it with sour beer or. Lean beer and pitch dregs. If it's been a while since it has been dumped you'll want to wet the barrel before filling it with beer to...

The thought of brewing another 15 gallons of sour to blend with overly oaked sour isn't something i am capable of doing with my current setup (not enough arboys). I agree that i want to use the barrel for its strengths, not fight them. What I ended up doing was buying a flat of overripe...

I bought a used 15 gallon bourbon barrel, and it's on its fourth beer. I did two clean beers, then finished a Flemish red that was already 8 months old. It's currently full with a 3 month old blonde sour. The flavors from the barrel have been outstanding, but it's still a very oaky barrel. I'm...

I've made beer with just built up dregs. It came out fantastic. I had friends over to drink some lambics, and all the dregs went into a starter. I built it up a few times and then pitched. A year later I bottled and it's delicious. Highly recommended

10 days is my fastest from grain to glass. I'd stick to cream ales or pale ales

Brewing a grisette today, 10 gals split between French saison and dupont

I got a used kegerator for $300 that came with a co2 tank. It was only a single tap on the tower, but fit two kegs. I've picked up used kegs from $5-$40. If you are patient, there are great deals to be had on Craigslist

Downsides to kegging: -Setting a beer to carbonate and there is a small leak in your line and you lose a full tank of co2. -big beers can take a tap for a while creating a bottleneck -cost I tried but I can't think of any other serious downsides. I too love 4-6oz pours, bottling from the...

Whenever I make a beer this big, I run extra water through the mash to make a small beer. It's almost free, just yeast and hops, and is a great way to experiment, as it's not the main focus of he brew day. I got barrel last summer and gave aged 2 clean beers in it. I make 2 ten gallon beers to...

I had great luck with the farmhouse sour. I put a heat wrap on it, and I haven't finished the temp regulator I'm building for it, so it fermented in the 80s I'm guessing. Targeted 1.056 og and 10 ibus. I also pulled .5 gallon off the mash immediately and chilled it before it converted. I the...

Bing cherries are mostly sugar, do after that ferments out the flavor isn't as strong as the sour types

I have used dried Montmartre cherries with great results. Try to find them without sunflower oil as it kills the head retention. Michigan grows several types of sour cherries, not sure another the northeast. I used 3 lbs in 5 gallons. You'll need more fruit if using fresh

I use clear 375ml flip tops to bottle my mead. I have also removed paint from bottles, but found that to be a pain in the ass. If you do go that route, use cranberry juice not clr. Works great and is non toxic

When I switched from a 5 to 10 gallon rig, my process changed such that I now pump into the fermentor not pour through a strainer. I was worried that all the trub and hit break from the beer would affect the taste or clarity of the beer. From my experience all the trub settles out just fine, and...

Wine corks may dry out as they arnt as compressed as the Belgian style corks. It is also why it's recommend you store wine on its side to keep it wet. If Belgian corks let O2 in then Belgian sours would turn into vinegar. Capping can potentially have a permissible seal, so the waxing can help...