Recent content by Ollie8000

Thank you @BigEd. Having tried them all now, I like the Vienna and Helles and my partner likes the Vienna and Pilsner. It'll probably be a while, unfortunately, before I'm drinking anything on tap, but I'm definitely going to have a go at brewing a reasonably faithful Vienna. As it happens, I...

Slightly, but not entirely, off-topic, what is your (or anyone else's) opinion of Von Trapp beers? I tend to view beer as a local drink and so have only very occasionally had a german/austrian-style one, and haven't really paid attention when I did. Are the ones Von Trapp makes good quality...

Not the weekend, but I'm brewing a chocolate oatmeal stout, inspired by the deliciousness of McVitie's dark chocolate hobnobs.

Rather than mixing thoroughly, how about mixing as little as possible and then adding whatever fraction to each batch? This way the beers will probably be more different to each other, which, other things being equal, I'd regard as an advantage. Or how distinct are the grains? Presumably...

I'm far from an expert, but it looks good to me. I'd be tempted to add something to make it a little darker. Either have some of the crystal be darker, which will add some heavier sweet flavours, or a few ounces of midnight wheat or chocolate malt or something. I think either hop schedule...

My BIAB system for five gallon batches uses six vessels, depending on your definition. Two pots (3- and 4-gallon), three big mixing bowls for sparging and draining, and an electric kettle. I like to think that this gives me all the benefits of BIAB while also being twice as good as a...

This is still true. I've recently had Valley Malt 2-row, pale, warthog wheat, crystal oats and maybe some others from there. I'm not discerning/experienced enough to discrimate on taste and quality, but I always prefer the Valley product if they have it or a reasonable substitute for what's...

All done bar the cleaning. The only hiccup was a Zoom work meeting that went longer than expected during the mash, so I mashed about 100mins rather than the 60 or so I was intending. OG: 1.045. The basement has been at 57F all day, despite it being one of the warmer days of the year so far...

Lack of temperature control is the main one. I haven't looked into what it would take beyond that to do lagering successfully, but maybe as I add new equipment and learn new skills it'll happen one day. (Also, and maybe you know this already, the WL029 recommended in the recipe is a Kolsch...

I'm brewing this today. The only ingredient change is WY2565 instead of WL029. More seriously, I'm just mashing at a single temp, probably about 152F, and then fermenting without temp control in a basement that's consistently high 50s. It's my first time brewing with Kolsch yeast so I'm...

Brew Lives Matter. (Maybe not the vibe you're going for...)

We brew using BIAB and fill the bags before putting them into the water (I have recently discovered that this is not how most people do it, but that's not the point at the moment). This means we get some "beer flour" coming through the bags and onto the work surface. We collect this and get...

Cool, I didn't know that.

Yes, not the most informative ingredient list. I guess it at least tells us there's no oats or corn sugar or anything (assuming it's true). And thanks for the tip, that looks like a great beer.

Ha! Yes. A bit more info from the back of the Saturday lager can: "Unfiltered helles lager, Alc 5% Vol, 11P. Ingredients: water, barley, yeast hops."