Recent content by Skiffy

I responded originally that I agreed with water chemistry and mash pH. Although I still think that's important my working theory is now oxygenation, even just the rigors of racking and bottling. I know people that swear by kegging in closed systems to get the best IPAs. You said that your...

Thanks! Usually get Destihl in cans but I remember the Adambier now. Not sure which Old Dominion I had but I do stumble into them often. I can finally relax and focus on filling the rest of the map :mug:

So I have one of those wooden beer cap maps (awesome btw) hanging on my wall, and I can't for the life of me remember what breweries these two caps were from. Any help would be appreciated!

Haha. Not sure how I got some in Philly but that beer won't make very good impressions. I have good brewing water, which if not ideal for an IPA, should be close enough to make a solid beer. I wrote off mash pH as not being the issue since I made a Belgian single completely devoid of this...

Funny you mention this because you just revived this thread, and tonight I had a Funky Buddha More Moro which I dumped cause it had the same awful taste as my stupid homebrewed IPAs. No hop aroma whatsoever and that odd aftertaste. I haven't tried to nail down my issue yet, but I'm convinced...

I'm not really following the logic in the previous two replies. You are correct. I check after mash to make sure things went well and so I can make any adjustments with dry extract if desired. I also check before pitching just to confirm, especially since I don't have a method to measure post...

I'll actually answer your question. I asked the original question about Special vs Regular, but I did not brew this recipe. However, I have enough experience now to give you at least some insight. The OP stated "Black IPAs should have enough dark malt flavor to justify their color (not...

That all may be true, but I have to disagree with your suggestion. IBUs are quantifiable and until you have lots of experience, it's all you have to go by. It's his first recipe. What if he likes the bitterness and grain bill but wants to change up the hop schedule to include different hops or...

No something is wrong. I'm not home to verify but assuming you input the boil times and alpha acids correctly the only other variable would be gravity of the wort, which could be trickier to figure out. Also there is a ten percent boost (I think) if you are using pellets over cone, which could...

http://byo.com/grains/item/1717-yeast-pitching-rates-advance-homebrewing Jamil and Palmer include pitching rates in their recipes. There is no number a calculator can spit out that is "correct" for every beer. Sure it's a good starting point, but Mr. Malty puts you at 30 percent underpitch. Is...

Pitching the "proper" amount of yeast just because an online calculator says so seems a tad bogus to me. These calculators are just estimates first of all and secondly they do not take into account the yeast strain and the desired profile from the yeast. To make an equally irrelevant hop...

Yea we need some more information on your brewing process. The fermentation temperature is fine.

I have to imagine he is talking about cold crashing in the keg. The CO2 tank provides constant pressure to the keg (I'm pretty sure?!), regardless of temperature, so cold liquid will absorb the CO2 more quickly. While bottle carbing, the yeast are more active at warmer temperatures and...

I agree with water chemistry. And not just mineral additions, but also mash pH.

Looks like a solid recipe to me. It's definitely a good thing to ask for people's opinions to set you in the right direction, but don't forget you also learn a lot from pushing boundaries and messing around! My advice for recipe building is to do your research and then keep it simple so you can...