Recent content by vadem

I didn't look at the date, but I presume it's pretty fresh. I'll see if I can rescue it from the trash. It just came from AHS a couple days ago and with their turnover I would hope much of what they have is fresh. I'm hoping I'll see it taking off by tomorrow morning. Thanks!

I just brewed an AHS IPA this morning. It included the alcohol boost and the OG was 1.062. This is the highest gravity beer I've done so far and I was wondering if it would be advisable to double pitch. I pitched a packet of US05 but I do have some US04 in the fridge if needed. And is it even OK...

Thanks for all the replies. After a few more batches I think I have somewhat of a routine down: First I soak in Oxyclean for a number of hours (depends on when I get back to it), then I give them a quick rinse in starsan to prevent the white crud from forming. I store them covered with foil or...

Thanks for the responses. I think I might just try dividing it in half and seeing what happens just to get a baseline efficiency. Then when I do the second "half" I might add grains and measure again. How much wort would you all say evaporates off during the boil? For a 2 1/2 gallon batch, how...

Hi, I'm thinking of diving into all-grain (after having done several mini-mash kits) by getting a "regular" all grain kit and dividing it into 2 batches and doing brew-in-a-bag method. It was suggested to me that because this method might have less efficiency, it might be wise to add some...

"horse sweat" -- I assume they don't use that in their marketing :D

Thanks for the reassuring input everyone. Brewed a couple nights ago and it started going pretty vigorously between 11pm and 6am, so I'm happy with the start. One more question though: I've only had a couple saisons before so not exactly sure what I'll get. It was just a good thing to try in the...

OK, so I guess this looks alright then? (actually does look a little different than this morning). Yeah, I know I don't have a flask or stir plate yet, but I'm hoping at this point it doesn't really matter what I use.

Thanks all. I'll keep an eye on it and see if the yeast at the bottom increases. As of this morning it still looked pretty much like it did an hour after pitching, but I'll keep shaking. There is no noticeable "fizz" when I rouse the yeast, no krausen that I have seen either. But I will hope for...

I have a saison kit from AHS that arrived about a week ago. Came with White Labs AHS yeast blend vial that had an ice pack attached but was definitely warm. I put it in the fridge for a few days and took it out a few hours before making a starter (1 Liter water and 1 cup DME). This was my first...

Thanks everyone! I hadn't heard about using Oxyclean, that sounds like a good option. For those of you who use dishwasher, I was kind of under the impression that the water might have a hard time really getting up into the bottles, but maybe that's not the case.

Still on single-digit brews here so I am developing techniques and processes as I go. Here's a question about my bottle prep procedure: --About a week or less from bottling day, I soak my bottles (partially in order to get the labels off of some) in a water/bleach solution. Longer for the ones...

I was thinking something similar about a Red I bottled 3 weeks or so ago (from Homebrewers Outpost in AZ). I describe the taste as reminding me of the aroma of the steeping grains. Pretty sure I kept the temp right while steeping but I assume this flavor will mellow with time. First sip was...

Thanks everyone. True, I was fermenting during warm times but I did keep it in a swamp cooler and tried to maintain in the mid 60s or so (with ice packs), with occasional rises to 70. I'm going to just sit tight and see what happens in the next months. I don't want to taste too many of them too...

I brewed AHS Oatmeal stout (extract) and it has been bottled for about 6 weeks. The few I have tasted (the latest about a weeks ago) have had what I would describe as a fairly strong alcohol taste, maybe even a whiskey or bourbon hint. I added the 1% alcohol boost (might not have needed it). I...