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Thanks. I did continue with full boil, etc. It's fermenting now (Belle Saison) and does smell nice. I was worried about the mold possibility but I couldn't find any pictures of mold matching what I saw (still mad at myself for not taking a photo of it!).

Hi, I've done a few kettle sours (typical BIAB mash, quick boil, cool to 95*, add lactic acid to adjust pH, then 1-2 days with a few Swanson probiotic pills, etc). But due to out-of-town scheduling, with my most recent kettle sour I needed to leave the kettle at room temp for 4 days. When I...

64 and brew around once a month.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I remove them to clean.

Hi, I bottle in litre size brown Easy-Cap bottles (think of Grolsch type caps). Wondering if any can reply with their experiences replacing the (rubber?) gaskets - the part that actually seals. On average, how many times do you re-use the bottle/caps before needing to replace the gasket? I...

My thinking is similar to the OP. I use a spare BIAB bag for my late (post flameout) hop additions. Seems to work fine and I feel I get better aroma and flavor.

Ya'll might think this is strange since I'm a musician. But when I brew I prefer to not listen to any music or even talk radio. I read during the down parts and think of the whole process as kinda a Zen thing. Nice and quiet (except when I mess up something and then I disturb the quiet with...

You've got a good start with Wicked Weed and SN. I'd also recommend The Wedge and Twin Leaf. Have fun!

I've used cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, a melted chocolate bar and cocoa nibs in various combinations. But last time I used chocolate extract and that has worked out the best for me. Added at bottling, you get some control of the flavor intensity.

I've used both yeasts fairly recently - although not in a side by side comparison. This was for a pretty big Hefeweizen. With good starters, both took off pretty quickly. In particular I recall the 3068 really needing alot of fermentor headspace. Quite vigorous at 66-68 degrees. And yes...

Due to commitments, only made it to Mad Beach Brewing. Turns out I was staying in Indians Shores which is only a few miles from Madeira Beach. Mad Beach Brewing has a HUGE taproom with basically a full stage for (I assume) rock and country bands. The beers are mighty tasty. Now that I've...

So, as a build to the original post's question... this would mean the salt component levels are more concentrated. Is this bad? Or good? or little effect on flavor?

Wow! Thanks for all the responses so far. Looks like I won't be lacking for things to do. Cheers!

Greetings, I'll be in near Clearwater, Florida for a few days in April. Any suggestions for good breweries to check out? Tours? Brewpubs? Many thanks, -Ellis

"Beer can make ya smart, ya know. It made bud wiser."

I use Brewmate to create my recipes. On brew day, I print out the associated recipe to follow along. And I add alot of notes (temps, times, etc). Then after the yeast has been pitched, I transfer my "numbers" into a spreadsheet. The original paper gets put in a 3-ring binder. I also don't...

I'm in.

That's what I get for reading "Brew Like a Monk"! In that book it's stated that American brewers are afraid to use enough sugar. I do keep it at ~15% or less. I suppose I'll try eliminating the chlorine next time and see if that eliminates the off-flavor. Only other thing I can think of is...

Regarding the yeast, it was a 1 liter starter (one smackpack). My volume into the fermentor was 2.5g (half batch). And the OG not counting sugar was 1.076. Over several days, I added a total of 1lb cane sugar. I'm starting to think maybe the temp is at least in part the issue - it got up to...

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly, I was under the impression that you need the higher temps with Belgian yeast in order to attain that nice fruitiness which is a characteristic of Belgian ales. I have a lot to learn (which is good).