Recent content by Blackdirt_cowboy

Not a thing for me.

I think that mash pH may be a little high. Full disclosure, I primarily brew lagers. But with a lighter colored beer, I like to be in the 5.2 range.

$15 to fill my 5 pound tanks at the local carbonation place.

Not frozen, but I just built up a pack of Wyeast 2206 that I stored in the refrigerator. It had an expiration date of May of 2017.

What was the use by date in the original package of yeast? 36° is fine to store liquid yeast. Did you buy it at your LHBS or order it online?

I’m thinking the umm was because the guy you talked to doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You are supposed to store liquid yeast in the refrigerator. Heat kills yeast. And, of course, freezing them.

I carbonate and lager at the same time. Never had an issue doing it this way.

I put my pot in the sink in an ice water bath. My groundwater is over 80° right now. I don’t have the patience to cool it with straight water. Just a thought if you’re in a warm climate.

It really doesn’t matter. If you take the reading when it’s warm, you will have to use a calculator to adjust the reading to the temperature your hydrometer is calibrated, usually 68° or 60°. If you take the reading when it’s cooled, no need to adjust the reading. I use a refractometer and...

I made a spiced dunkel wiezenbock for Christmas a few years ago. I’m not big on spiced beers, but this one turned out really good. I did a 5 gallon batch and added 1 tsp each of allspice, Star anise, and caraway, and 1/2 oz of orange peel to the boil. I also added 2 oz of candied ginger to the...

Man this looks nice. I’m just not sure I want to move away from BIAB and go back to a system like this.

I’m in the camp that says 2-4 malts is plenty. Most of my brews have 2 or 3 malts. The only ones that have more than 4 are porters and stouts.

Just curious what you would use to get the correct color with this combination with no caramel malts. I brew an altbier that everyone that has tried it thinks it’s wonderful. My malt bill is 81.3% pilsner, 17.2% Light Munich, and 1.5% Carafa III. The color of this beer is 12.0 SRM, so just...

I don’t know what to make of all this. My refractometer measures in brix. I’ve been using it for years. I constantly test it against my hydrometer and it always gives the same readings. Even when I check after fermentation and run it through the calculator on brewers friend, same reading as my...

I’d go with a monster mill and a thermapen thermometer. Buy once, cry once.