Recent content by bergman1118

I'm looking to make a good, hoppy session IPA and was wanting to get some feedback on this first recipe draft: Style: Unassigned OG: 1.049 Type: FG: 1.012 Rating: 0.0 ABV: 4.85 % Calories: 160 IBU's: 61.00 Efficiency: 75 % Boil Size: 7.25 Gal Color:***10.5 SRM** Batch Size: 5.50...

Nice! Thanks for sharing. As I said before, I really have limited experience with honey malt, but BM's recipe and feedback make me want to try it out in some hoppier beers. Cheers!

I have limited experience with honey malt (maybe one or two batches using it), but it would add some sweetness for sure. It might complement the Munich nicely, but the beer would be sweeter - more along the lines of an amber ale. So.. if you want to go with the IPA recipe, I wouldn't use the...

To me, it has a resiny, herbal/floral/spicy flavor and aroma. Sources say it's similar to Northern Brewer, but I've never used NB so I can't confirm that notion. I DO know that I enjoyed the all Nugget beer very much.. YMMV if you use another malt besides Munich, but I thought they paired...

Definetly give it a shot! This was a great, malty IPA, and I think your recipe looks solid. Since you aren't doing a FWH, I think cutting back on the bittering hops is a good move. Increasing the dry hops should give you a better aroma contribution as well. I learned from this beer that I...

In my experience, I have to get the sparge water up to at least 190 to get the grain bed up to 167ish. I tend to go 185-190 as I'd rather end up getting a little under 170 than over. I went with 195-200 once and the grain bed hit 174ish - I picked up a noticeable astringency to the beer which...

Well, it's OBVIOUSLY been a while, but I just wanted to report back that I got it to work! I chopped off the connector at the end of the pump cord, stripped back the wires, spliced it to a a 230 v cord...

I've heard from others that out of the keg, Hopslam is not quite as good. It doesn't "pop" as much with the hops, apparently. Myself, I only had it on draft this year and it was smooth, but lacking in hops to me compared to years prior. However, previously I had only had it in bottles.

+1 on 2 sparge additions adding nothing to efficiency. I've done it both ways, and the efficiency gain with 2 sparge additions has been no better than 3%. Is 3% worth the extra time and effort of splitting the sparge into 2 separate batches? In my opinion, and I'd assume most others, no...

Cool, thanks for clarifying. I may try just building a wooden base and then constructing the sides and top out of foam board (including the door/opening) to save on material cost and labor. But who knows? I may change my mind again. In any case, thanks for sharing your work. I can't...

Not sure how that answers the question.. though that's a pretty bad ass build. I'm working with an upright freezer (the link deals with a chest freezer) and my question is whether building a collar out of just foam board (instead of the typical wood frame insulated with foam board) will work...

That's what it looked like from the picture, but I wasn't positive I was seeing it right. Thanks for the more detailed picture. How is the box attached to the freezer itself? Is it just snug with the freezer and sealed with caulk / weather tape? Sorry for the noob questions, I'm not that...

In that case, I might just build a base for the bottom (where carboys would sit) from 2x4's and plywood, then apply the foam and some waterproof layer, but keep the sides and top simply foam. I don't plan on moving it around , but I can see hitting the sides occasionally while jockeying carboys...

Great! Glad that it is working well for you. I do have one question right now - I have not seen many ferm. chambers that actually use the fridge/freezer door as part of the setup. Do you find that using the existing freezer door works OK in sealing the unit? How did you end up getting it...

So, I recently became the owner of a ~5 cu. ft. mini upright freezer, and am looking to build a fermentation chamber as the cooling coils are actually the shelves themselves. I have a good idea of the work that would be required to do this (basically build an insulated box that attaches to the...