Recent content by jtdrowns

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Hey everyone. I am looking into getting into kegging, and I rather buy a kegerator than modify a fridge or freezer myself. Does anyone have a recommendation on a good kegerator for homebrewing? I am looking to have 2-3 taps. Thanks!

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I think the commercial for Guinness' new blonde lager stated it uses willamette and mosaic hops. If so, you should pick up one and try it out. Though I can imagine it being low on the hop flavor.

Simcoe, Chinook, and Northern Brewer are known to be piney. You could use a combo of those for flavor/aroma, bitter with Columbus or Magnum.

Bottle hopping... interesting. I will definitely have to try this for a future batch.

I always run the wort through as strainer as it enters the carboy to collect hops and misc additions. However, I have added orange and lemon peels to the secondary before, so I can't imagine anything bad will happen if you keep them in the primary.

Victory's Hop Ranch is all pilsner malt. I would recommend moving the 30 min addition later in the boil, to like 10 mins or less. To me, a 30 min hop addition is a waste as it does not utilize bitterness or aroma/flavor.

The number of yeast cells needed for a batch depends on the type of beer. A 5 gallon batch of a 1.040 OG beer needs only 142 billion cells; while a 1.080 beer needs 274 billion cells. You can play around with Mr. Malty's or Homebrewdad's yeast calculators to determine the amount of yeast...

Magnum is a bittering hop, I would move it to 60 mins and modify the amount to achieve the desired IBUs. I would also remove the 45 min addition. Focus the hop additions on last 10 mins of the boil to help get the fruity/spicy flavors and aromas of the hops. Select fruity/citrus hops.

I would just make sure you read up on the brand of smoked malt you are using. I have found that they vary in intensity greatly. Weyermann's gives a little smoke, while Briess' cherrywood and peat malt are very strong. As for the bill, I like using black malt in my porters. I think it would...

I would move the 15 min addition closer to flameout, like 5 mins or less. Or keep the 15 min addition and add a 5 min or less addition.

I have seen wits made with flaked oats and a small amount of Munich malt. You could also try using malted wheat instead of raw. To me, wits are not an easy beer to brew.

The longer you cold crash, the clearer the beer will be. I typically cold crash at around 38 degrees for 4-5 days. If dry hopping the same beer, I cold crash first then bring the temp back up to dry hop. I believe dry hopping is more effective at higher temps; the low temps may make it harder...

Thanks. From those threads, seems like there isn't a big difference in color from a 60 min boil to a 120 min boil.