Recent content by Inkguy

I was curious as to opinions on a step I read about, implemented, and found that my beer improved quite a bit, both in cleaner flavor and clarity. The step is this: After the boil, I use a chiller to get the wort to 80 degrees or so, then strain it into my bottling bucket, where it sits from...

This is a very interesting thread to me, because of points made regarding secondary being an old school of thought due to the yeast available. I started brewing in 1999, using Dave Miller's Complete Handbook of Brewing, and he wrote over and over about autolysis. All the recipes mentioned...

OK thanks for the info. Winey and tangy - that sounds right. I bottle condition, so I'll definitely give it a few weeks before sampling, as well as a decent time in secondary. Would a cooler secondary (high 50s) help smooth out the flavor? I was surprised that the temp was so high. The...

I used this yeast for the first time a couple of weeks ago, to make a Landlord-ish best bitter. It fermented 65, down to 62, and finished at 1.007, around 83% attenuation. Saturday I made a mild, and decided to repitch onto the yeast cake. I siphoned the bitter out and poured in the mild wort...

Glad I sparked some interest. I never would have thought of it either. I think it's a cool idea. I wonder what hops are best for it. Would 2 oz of Cascade be better suited to FWH that, say, an ounce of Magnum or Columbus? I must have worded one question poorly, though: If I/you do FWH and dry...

So, a guy I work with is in a brewing competition where the guidelines vary each one - odd ingredients, odd gravities, etc. His newest challenge is to make an IPA with no hops added above 200 degrees. So FWH and dry hops are the basic options. It made me curious: if you're doing FWH and dry...

Just curious about the lowest temp any one has used for this yeast. I ask because I was planning to use a repitch of this for a barley wine, after firsr brewing an alt with it. LAst winter I made an alt with WLP001, which performed flawlessly at 59F ambient for fermentation, then 4 weeks at...

Is it wrong to just say I like my stuff best? By that, I mean drinking most commercial beer makes me say, 'eh'. Fat Tire is one, as with other ambers, that makes me think - "8 bucks a sixer for THIS?" Then I can go out and make something more interesting and to my liking, using several crystal...

Awesome. Thanks for the responses. I have to admit I'm still a bit fuzzy on the math,at least as far as figuring out what I'll get with my mash. 15# is about the max I can do on my equipment, so I will have to figure out if it will be enough; not that a brew in the 80s is bad, or that I can't...

I'm just curious about how to figure out the gravity on a parti-gyle batch, namely a high gravity 3 gallon batch and a small beer 5 gallon batch. My thinking is that the 3 gallon batch will basically be the first running of the mash, and, using 2 quarts/pound of grain sparge calculation, get two...

After looking at the link for the malt, I got an idea from the following recipes and wondered if anyone had ever made date beer? I love dates, and wonder what sort of flavor they would impart. I assume they'd just go in the fermenter, rather than in the mash; since I have little experience...

OK. Thanks for the tips! That recipe was 5 gallons actually, with OG around 55. Are those Saison yeasts dry or liquid, and is there and reason not to use White Labs? Also, I'll have to figure out a good GF saison recipe, as the one I was looking at - from a brewery here - has not only...

It's been my experience that, if you set the numbers/letters high enough on both the fridge and the freezer, the fridge will stay around 48 or 49. I have done that for nearly a dozen lagers and an alt, cold-conditioned for a month at 42 - brewed in three different units, over 15 years. Of...

I've been trying to pin down the flavor in an IPA I made last year. I thought it was Citra, bought a bunch, brewed...nope. I also had used Columbus and Cascade at the end, and dry hop. I know Cascade's flavor well enough to think that wasn't it either, at least by itself, leaving Columbus. But...

Got it. Thanks. I am thinking my APA will look like this: 4# sorghum syrup 1.3# BRS (21oz jar) 1# brown sugar .5# maltodextrin As for hops, I guess .5 oz Magnum or Columbus @ 60 a blend of Columbus/Cascade/Centennial @15 and 5 (or 0) dry hop with said blend I'd use .75 ounces at each...