Messages

1081

Equipment and Software / Re: Regulator won't seal...

« on: March 24, 2010, 10:06:02 AM »

Sometimes the oring doesn't seal properly.  My gas supply house gave me a plastic gasket to use in addtition to the oring and this works great.  They give me one every time I fill one of my tanks.

1082

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 3/26 Edition

« on: March 24, 2010, 09:54:29 AM »

This weekend will be a German pils.  Need to keep that lager yeast turning over, so I'll do a lager every 4- 6 weeks.  I'll probably keg the hefeweizen I did a couple of weeks ago, too.

1083

Beer Recipes / Re: Red Ale

« on: March 24, 2010, 09:45:08 AM »

Carared works well, as Denny said.  My favorite combo is 1/2 lb 60 and 1/2 lb 80 with and oz or two of 120.  I would lose the Carapils, it is not necessary.  IMHO Carapils is useful only in yeller beers like a Dortmunder or Bo-pils.

1084

Beer Recipes / Re: Wee Heavy Recipe Check

« on: March 24, 2010, 09:39:39 AM »

MO will work well for this and the first gallon of runnings down to syrup is classic and will give you the character you are looking for.  May even warrant a run down to Sterling to check it out!

1085

Beer Recipes / Re: RIS recipe check!

« on: March 24, 2010, 09:36:56 AM »

Ron, I'm thinking that as long as you plan on aging this beer, the Hallertaus at the end will be lost and even your flavor additions may be quite subdued and over come by the roastiness over time.  That being said, I'll bet it turns out pretty good and we'll have to trade bottles or have a tasting with a few commercial examples next fall like our soon to be annual Oktoberfest contest.

1086

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: How To Clean Bottles For Your Homebrew

« on: March 24, 2010, 07:34:23 AM »

When I do clean bottles,  I soak them in PBW or the equivalent.  The stuborn ones I take a scrubby to, and the glue comes right off with minamal effort.

1087

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: When is it cheating?

« on: March 24, 2010, 07:25:56 AM »

Not to go on about blending or anything, but in my opinion, if you are willing to put in the time and effort to make all the beers and experiment with blending and the results, you are putting in way more work than someone who brews in a single pass.  I have blended one beer in the past.  It was a special bitter, that seemed to be missing something. I added a little bit of wee heavy to it and it improved it (to my tastes anyway) quite a bit.  The addition of lactic acid is similar in my book, YMMV.

1088

Kegging and Bottling / Re: New Bottles vs Used

« on: March 23, 2010, 09:57:57 AM »

I don't have any issues with reusing old commercial bottles as long as they are properly cleaded and sanitized. It's a waste of money IMHO.

+1  I bought two cases of new bottles once, when I hadn't collected enough commercial empties when I started brewing again after a hiatus.  I don't even know if I have too many of them left.  I give a lot of beer away and I rarely get the bottles back.

1089

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 3/19 Edition

« on: March 19, 2010, 09:32:44 AM »

The hefeweizen is fermenting away great.  Nice, subdued banana aroma, should be drinking it in a couple of weeks.  Thinking about sending a bottle Denny's way.

1090

The Pub / Re: Beer Drinking Music !

« on: March 18, 2010, 10:33:53 AM »

Steppenwolf was the first rock band I really got into.  I think I was 11.  A true classic.  Not pop though.

1091

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 3/19 Edition

« on: March 18, 2010, 10:29:19 AM »

Nuthin' brewin' here.  Just working around the house.  Waiting to get home to check on last weekends hefeweizen that is hopefully percolating away in my basement.

1092

The Pub / Re: Revisiting old hobbies

« on: March 18, 2010, 07:04:32 AM »

Our guys like to go down by the river.  We need to look out for different species of raptors going after our little guy.  Nothing like walking down the trail and having a bald eagle or red tail eyeing you up.  They say we have coyotes around our area as well, but I haven't seen any.  Got tons of foxes though.  Here is our Aussie Shepherd being a goofball.

1093

The Pub / Re: Beer Drinking Music !

« on: March 18, 2010, 06:00:29 AM »

Shoot me now.....

To name a few and in no particular order......
Fleetwood Mac - Only for the girlfriend after Buckingham/Nicks joined Bob Welch and before - I'll give ya.
Foghat - A band I love to hate
R.E.O. Speedwagon - Didn't get much radio play outside the midwest before 1980.
The Doors - I'll give you this one
Jefferson Starship - I'll give you this one
The Bee Gee’s - pre disco OK after that the taste of gunmetal in my mouth
Led Zeppelin - I don't consider LZ pop.  They only had one song that got got radio play back in the day WLL.
Elton John - After Madman, I just couldn't listen to him anymore
Pink Floyd - Again, no radio play before The Wall not considered pop to me.
Rolling Stones - I'll give you this one
The Eagles - I'll give you this one
Paul McCartney & Wings - Meh
Chicago - Early stuff was good, but again, Meh
Lynyrd Skynyrd - I'll give you this one
Aerosmith - good but meh
Rod Stewart - I'll give you this one
Deep Purple (My all time favorite song “Smoke on the Water”!) -  SOTW didn't get radio play when Machine Head first came out.  At least in New York.
Three Dog Night - I'll give you this one
Doobie Brothers - I'll give you this one
ZZ Top - No radio play before Tres Hombres.
BTO - Good partying band but meh otherwise
Santana - I'll give you this one
Grand Funk Railroad - I'll give you this one
Kansas (I've requested “Dust in the Wind” be played on that final day. Hopefully a long time from now!!) - I'll give you this one
Styx - good but meh
Nazareth - I never heard these guys on the radio until they had been around for five years or more.  Don't really consider them pop either.  Kinda like ACDC maybe.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - I don't consider these guys pop.  Didn't get much play in the early days either.
Rare Earth - I'll give you this one although there best stuff was never plyed on the radio.

1094

Beer Recipes / Re: RIS recipe check!

« on: March 18, 2010, 05:35:25 AM »

I set mine for 65% for big >1.090 beers as well although my DIPA is ususally around 72-75%.  I attribute that to the cane sugar addition.

What was your actual efficiency for your RIS?

I think it was 65%, but it may have been 63%.  I don't have acces to that information at the moment.

1095

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beginner questions. . .

« on: March 17, 2010, 12:28:23 PM »

+1  And if that bogs you down a bit, get Papazian's  The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.  Less technical and a little dated, but more entertaining and an easier read.