Recent content by LowerMillHillBackyardBrew

Yeah, I've read and heard that maximum bitterness extraction is achieved in a wort with a gravity of 1.030. So you can use your favorite brewing software to figure out how much extract to add to your volume of water to get to 1.030. Add that amount as your wort comes to a boil, then add...

Fantastic article! Well-written and hilarious! "To bottle, one donned a bathing suit, waders, fireman's helmet, and a grim but determined countenance." :D That's what every bottling day feels like! (At least before I got my tap-a-draft setup. Real kegs next!)

How long did you let it sit? Did it sit in a fridge or in room temp? I'm about to rack into TAD bottles for the first time myself, so I'm no expert. Instructions for forced carbonation say "fill bottle, attach valve, insert CO2 cartridge, put in refrigerator, wait about 7 days". Also it says...

My first mead: JOAM, made as per the recipe, except I didn't add any spices except the orange, and used 71B yeast. Made october 10, 2011. Bottled December 29, 2011. Tasted today, February 5, 2012. I've never really tasted mead before, but I think this is delicious! I can mainly taste the orange...

I'm no expert on mead, but I think 1.050 seems way too high! And as you say, extremely sweet. The recipe for JAOM says FG ~1.030. Have you bottled it? If so, I'd say there's a high risk of bottle bombs. What was the OG? At 1.050 there's definitely still lots of sugar left for the yeast to eat.

Alright, thanks for this information! I'll probably pump up the dry hops even more then! Og wow, du skriver jo en nesten perfekt blanding av norsk og dansk! :mug:

Thanks, I was unsure/worried about that - I'll drop the crystal down to about 5% then :)

OK, thanks! I'll up the dry hop then! Can I assume the malt bill is ok since no one has commented on it? From what I've managed to gather, Caraamber ~= Crystal 30-40L Carared ~= Crystal 20L Is 11% "Crystal" too much? OK, so I made several changes to the hops: 28,00 g Admiral [15,30 %] -...

That's why I originally thought 5 days would be good. I'm from Norway, so I haven't tried many American IPAs, and don't know exactly what you mean by "reserved Two Hearted style", but some of my highest ratings on ratebeer are: Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Mikkeller Green Gold, Epic...

Alright, thanks! Maybe both? 20 grams, or even 1 ounce (28 grams) for a week?! (BTW: the hops are pellets)

Hello! I'm planning some "almost single hop" IPAs, and would really appreciate some critique on this recipe: 2,00 kg Extra Light Dry Extract [Boil for 60 min] (5,9 EBC) Dry Extract 44,4 % 2,00 kg Extra Light Dry Extract [Boil for 15 min] (5,9 EBC) Dry Extract 44,4 % 0,25 kg Caraamber...

This is all true, but I think this "airlock means nothing" thing comes from some facts: CO2 can escape without any bubbles in the airlock, if there is a leak. Therefore there can still be fermentation even though you have a non-bubbling airlock. Also, CO2 can get out through the airlock after...

Made 2 gallons today (with somewhat expensive apple juice, and brown sugar instead of dextrose). 21,789.5 + 1 = 21,791.5

I've done one 5 liter batch which I fermented together with about a pound of (frozen) raspberries. It looks and smells delicious, but I haven't tasted it yet. It has a very dark red / crimson color. I haven't tried aging with fruit after fermentation though. Sent from my HTC Desire using Home...

What kind of finings? I believe I've read that some kinds of finings can break down complex sugars to simpler sugars digestable by the yeast, but I'm not sure about that. Bubbling could be just CO2 coming out of suspension after you disturbed it, but it's difficult to say anything for sure...