An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar and each orders a pint of beer. When the drinks arrive they notice that all three pints have a fly in them. The Englishman just looks at his pint in disgust and pushes it away. The Irishman picks out the fly with his fingers, throws it...

jonny, what Nosybear said is the answer. yes, John Palmers book is great, and readable online for free. quick answer.. wort contains sugars from the mash... you want to keep those in the wort. Clear, hot water is used to rinse all available sugars from the grains (sparge). any more...

my batches are 12 to 14 gallons, the trub is not significant as I use a hop screen for the hops, which are contained, the remainder of the trub is diluted with only about a gallon of water, just to rinse the kettles prior to cleaning. I just add water, swirl and toss onto my fruit bushes... I...

I use iodophor (more or less, I use iodine solution for sanitizing (yodogen plus) ) and I do use it for anything around the house once the color has gone due to exposure to air (as in an open bucket)... I have added it to tomato plants and the plants appear to enjoy it (no negative effects)...

Hey Jonny, you have a lot of good advice above. take it all... mash longer (no negatives of this, other than a little more time involved). sparge with 170 deg. water, don't recirculate wort during or after sparge.... if you recirculate wort, do this prior to sparging to get a clear wort...

It doesn't matter if you don't bother with it. that being said, the blow off tube isn't needed once fermentation has become less violent, it makes a nicer setup and look with just an airlock.... as well as the slower fermentation (activity) is easier tracked, monitored with an airlock.

decided to make an attempt to get an idea about the taste....prepared a little coffee with some cacao in it and drinking my newest ale while adding small amounts of the coffee to the glass prior to filling. at 1ml to 150 ml of ale, the taste was hidden but could be found with some careful...

Hey ya, if you (or anyone else) find yourself in this part of the world... whichever language you order your beer in... I'm sure I'll figure out enough of what is being said to pull several pints out of the dusty shelves and share some good company.:)

Iliff, I would definitely appreciate your advice, input and recipe.

Hello All, First of all... to get this out of the way, yes... I'm a Beer Snob, Coffee Snob. I prefer to make my beers without seasonings, additions, etc. And I like the taste of them that way. But..... I do attend Beer Festivals and sample the offerings which are prepared... The majority...

A quick sampling of the latest... only out of the fermenter now for 3 days, most in bottles but took a sample from the remainder in the keg and it will improve with time... but I would already be proud to serve to friends. the 'Crony' and after a sip.... (or gulp) ;)

'I understood that I had the 'right' to remain silent, but I lacked the 'ability' to remain silent' Ron White

appears to be working fine, the pile of trub looks contained. I have the character flaw... 'can't keep my lips pinched when something appears different than what I imagine it should be'. LOL I can understand the ideas being mentioned and can accept them... I think it creates some...

LOL.... seems like a recurring situation. no matter what size you get.... you will push the limits of what you have! you will have boil overs! prepare your flooring, catch pans, etc... for them.:p

to Franken, I think you would be OK with the -04 a year old, but better to make a starter with it to be sure. I am using some -05 which I purchased 2 years ago... (I purchase 500 gm packs)... and using a starter with dry yeast isn't necessarily normal..but it is my way to verify activity as...

your calculation works. I always calculate and measure my yeast on a gram scale. the package is a typical 11.5 gms. The manufacturer recommends 50 to 80 gms per hectoliter, therefore, .5 - .8 gms per liter. if you use a third of the package, it gives some additional insurance for a decent...

Hi Megary, I just did this last night; however, my keg is a 30 liter sanke... so a little different, no need to pressurize to keep the lid sealed. I actually use the keg as a conditioning tank. I put in priming sugar, transfer from fermenter.. after purging with CO2. I pressurize to 4 psig...

Yes, they are fermentables, and will be in that section of many recipe builders. as TrialBen stated, when you use oats, you will need enzymes from base malts... otherwise the starches which oats contain will not convert to fermentable sugars. Munich malt has enzymes, but most possible, not...

hey Ben, lol.... yeah, I do see Kviek mentioned a lot. I just checked and it appears on the list of available products from the Capital, Santiago. I haven't tried it before, but I do see a lot of members here mentioning it often. Would you be able to describe a little, the character that...

I'm seeing that. I am not intending to make one, but reading for information and learning. yes, they have their own yeasts, handed down through generations.. many are pure, and are the same family Sach. Cerv. as we typically use... but a different pure strain. Looks like they are fairly...