Messages

1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What is your favorite music to listen to while homebrewing?

« on: March 09, 2013, 08:47:38 AM »

derek trucks and a second for umphree. maybe some north mississippi all-stars

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Suggestions for Beer for Cinco de Mayo

« on: March 09, 2013, 08:44:58 AM »

last year i made a "mexican-american maibock". basically a malt liquor. 1.070 50/50 2 row/pilsner and 20%corn. added a touch of munich/carapils and for some reason that i dont remember some rye. dry-"hopped" with a roasted anaheim pepper. fermented with re-pitched bock lager yeast and fermented a little warmer(52) to get a few esters. sort of morphed it from daddy's little helper. it wsa a good beer but if i brewed it again i'd shoot for more than the 33 ibu's that it had. right to style but just a little too sweet to drink much of.

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Equipment and Software / Re: Better Bottles or Glass Carboys?

« on: October 06, 2012, 12:42:29 PM »

i did have one bb rupture. i dumped pbw into a water filled bb and forgot to mix it. noticed water running out of the bottom 1 day later. it was less than a year old and it was left sitting on concrete and it surprised me. there were still granules sitting on the bottom over the area where it cracked. now i mix well(swirled not stirred) and leave the bb sitting on a towel just in case.

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Shift in thought regarding optimal mash pH

« on: August 18, 2012, 04:32:11 PM »

i'm doing about the same as you except that i like a little more sharpness so i shoot for 5.2 - 5.4(room temp). i always assumed that i was helping to preserve my beer a little better by keeping a slightly lower ph. interestingly, i was re-listening to an interview with dr bamforth last week and he commented that although beer
"cleanliness" was enhanced with acidity its "freshness" was shorthened. i'm paraphrasing on the terminology. no reference for the data but it was his visit on the brewing network session last year. anyone have input on this subject? does the source of the acidity make a difference(phos or lactic acid versus dark malt with their included anti-oxidants?) so much research to be done!

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All Grain Brewing / Re: Shift in thought regarding optimal mash pH

« on: August 05, 2012, 11:56:39 AM »

sierra nevada mashes at 5.2 from what i've read. i'll trust that they've done their homework on outcomes from hitting that number.

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Equipment and Software / Re: Stir plate wont mix a 5l. flask

« on: July 29, 2012, 06:18:39 AM »

if it wont get enough traction on the bar you can try taking the top off of the stirplate(if it has one) to get the magnet a little closer to the stir bar.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Headache City

« on: July 28, 2012, 03:01:14 PM »

sorry to follow myself up but after thinking about it briefly the most logical answer would be acetaldehyde right? budweiser... local brewpub rushing beer and covering it up with other flavors.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Headache City

« on: July 28, 2012, 02:59:28 PM »

this is fascinating stuff! no need to worry about liver damage with ibuprofen and alcohol at any reasonably combined level(bleeding from a stomach ulcer would be a bigger worry, especially if over-indulging). tylenol and alcohol would be the real concern. i have also gotten 2 of my worst migraines at rangers games(both several years ago) and one at a saints game(i rarely get migraines and all three happened within 1 hr- also all three involved budweiser). so that gets me to wondering(mostly about trace wood residuals as a migraine trigger). also the contaminated line thing is somethinhg that i've never thought about. there is some research to be done but dont look at me - i'm only an m.d.

9

Ingredients / Re: a question about pickling lime v. chalk

« on: May 03, 2012, 02:23:43 PM »

since reading everything that i could from aj/kai/martin about 18 months ago and switching from palmers spreadsheet to bru'n water(and from chalk to lime) my mash ph has been much more predictable(+-0.1) and both my light and dark beers have improved significantly(no lime in the lighter beers obviously). no side by sides done but the difference was obvious enough to me so as not to need one to convince me. go ahead and switch and never look back- you wont be sorry.

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Other Fermentables / Re: Calcium hydroxide instead of potassium hydroxide?

« on: March 22, 2012, 08:55:19 PM »

i used some over the first week of fermentation of a mead 2 weeks ago and it did ok. after 2 days without any caoh the ph was 2.8 so i added 0.5g with my other nutrients. ph came up to 3.2. after 2 days the ph was back down to 3.1 so i added another 0.5g and had ph of 3.4-3.5 the next day. you gotta go very light on the lime. i pick up no mineral character.

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Other Fermentables / Re: Calcium hydroxide instead of potassium hydroxide?

« on: March 08, 2012, 05:53:03 PM »

i was just thinking of the same question. i'm gonna make a mead this weekend and i'll titrate the lime per ph and try to post results down the road. i figure that this has been done before but i'm not finding anything on it. we should ask martin. hey martin?(said in fred flintstone voice calling for kazoo)

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Equipment and Software / Re: borosilicate flask and ceramic cooktops

« on: January 21, 2012, 09:11:59 AM »

you can crack them - twice if your me.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: any opinions on how to enter these beers?

« on: January 15, 2012, 05:08:07 AM »

thanks guys.

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Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Boiling starters in a flask

« on: January 14, 2012, 08:29:55 AM »

mines gas but instead of a solid platform it has the spiderweb design. pretty easy to see why i should have been using a defuser anyway with those concentrated hot spots.

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General Homebrew Discussion / any opinions on how to enter these beers?

« on: January 14, 2012, 06:16:39 AM »

i've got 3 beers that i'm trying to work in to a comp. only one entry per category. i have a 1 year old saison brett beer(fairly strong brett character). i know that traditional saison would have brett and the bjcp style guide says some sourness/tart is ok. it also mentions lacto but not specifically brett. i could enter it in belgian specialty but i have a 100% brett beer with honey, 2 sugars and a little oak that i think needs to be in that category. it doesnt have enough oak to stand out in the oak category. also i have a clean belgian version of that beer that could be entered as belgian specialty or maybe belgian pale but the little oak and the slightly dark color from the buckwheat honey dont quite fit in the pale. i'm thinking brett saison should go into the saison category but what would you do with the other two?  i also thought about the experimental category for the clean or 100% brett beer but they dont stand out enough(the brett had a big starter and no o2 so the character is subtle). if anyone can make sense out of my rambling and has some insight it would be appreciated.