Recent content by msarro

Yup, the sulpher smell is largely due to nutrient deficiency. If you brew it again, either grab fermaid O, or fermaid k + DAP and dose as directed. Either one should work. I did this and outside of a yeasty cidery smell, I don't really get "rhino farts" anymore.

Hey everyone! So, I have been making beer, meads and ciders for a few years now - close to 10. However, I had some personal revelations recently, and want to learn a lot more about traditional wine-making (from grapes). I figured the easiest way to kick things off is the same way I got started...

Most likely any concentrate will be bug free. The juice going into it was most likely pasteurized, and the sugar/acid level in the concentrate is probably too high for any bacteria/spores to survive. Our local orchard just had its first pressings! I'll be throwing 6 gallons of cider into my...

There really isn't any reason you couldn't use it. You can either pasteurize, or add 1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulfite/1 crushed campden tablet (your LHBS should have them) per 5 gallons. Add your juice to your carboy 24 hours before you plan to add your yeast, along with the p meta/campden...

After 2 years of brewing hiatus, I decided to get back in the game with this recipe! I basically stuck to the recipe as much as possible, with some very minor tweaks. I am making a cheapo batch first, and then in 2-3 weeks when our local orchards have fresh cider, I'll make a more expensive...

Hm, I'm trying to find out when it was packaged so I can calculate viability, so "best by" doesn't really help :/

I personally like glass. It's what I've found in the area for cheap, and it works just fine. Can it have problems? Yup, possibly. But so can a gun. I'm not going to get rid of either of them because of things that *may* go wrong if I don't use my tools properly. In a perfect world we'd be...

Hey everyone! I am trying to calculate the viability of a package of Lalvin 71B yeast, and unlike most yeast packages it doesn't seem to have a "packaged on" date, only an expiration date. Here's the embossed label: 0222874N BBD-12-2015 Any idea if there is a way to figure out when this...

I am undecided on brewtoad. I used to exclusively use beer calculus. However on some things I simply can't trust brewtoad - for instance, an english barleywine recipe shows as 12.7% ABV in beersmith, and ~8% ABV in brewtoad. Seems like a lot of the ingredients are missing too (no fault of the...

Just curious about this one. Our local HBS seems to never have certain hops in stock, and a recipe I'm working on requires several of them. I was considering ordering them online, but I've always been told that hops need to be more or less constantly refrigerated. What has everyone's experience...

Thanks for the input guys! i'll give it a shot.

Just make sure it isn't sulfited.

Hey everyone. I am working on a recipe now for a pumpkin braggot, and have been reviewing it with a couple of BJCP's. A big concern is that the honey is going to get swallowed up nearly immediately by the yeast thanks to all of the simple sugars, instead of the malt, which is very valid...

Hey everyone! I'm going to be building one of these puppies. But since SWMBO may not be a huge fan of me having vials sitting around the kitchen, I'd like to pretty it up a bit. I haven't had a chance to read through all of this thread, but has anyone played around with using an LED fan...

Ever had Wells Banana Bread Beer? It's lovely, for about a half a bottle. At that point, the cloying sweetness becomes overwhelming and you can't stop thinking, "Gosh, is this thing done yet?"