Been a long time since I've posted. Our small beer / homebrew group finally got back together about a month ago; and before the "meeting" ended, we all agreed to do a SMaSH beer to bring to the October meeting. I've been wanting to try to do an NA beer. And it will be fall. And it's fun to try...

I bought one, because at the time the place I was ordering from didn't have any non-flow control in stock and figured what the heck for an extra $10.... so it worked fine the first keg. Now it's flowing like a bottle of honey being squeezed very gently. I'm told you need to reset these flow...

I brewed the KBS clone from AHA and I'll be damned if it doesn't pretty much taste like KBS (so far). The instructions stated to let it sit with the oak cubes (1/2 ounce) for 2 to 6 months. So I'm going to the long side and would plan to bottle this one in October (it's been sitting for a month...

I make a Light Lager that turns out really nice. Clean. Easy Drinker. Been said like Coors Light. (have at it, break out the canoe jokes, ask why, etc. The style has it's place and it's fun to actually be able to pull it off clean) Anyway, it mixes really good with lemonade for a shandy, so...

Just ran into this two weeks ago with yeast calculator... per date on package it was past date, expired, zero. Came up with my own way of interpreting new longer shelf life. This morning I find this. Good to know: http://www.whitelabs.com/news/purepitch-shelf-life

Kegging problems: Beer one, tap line split beer spewing out, so fixed that. Beer two: pulled out the next keg that has been sitting cold (lager) for 2 weeks, to add gelatin, no seal on the lid (it fell off apparently), was in the bottom of the keg... so it went to a new keg and screw the...

I'm making for the second time what some proclaimed as the best beer I've made yet. http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/441445/chartreuse-microbus The only change I intended to make was to increase the bittering hops to account for closer to 40IBU (the first time was only 30). I...

I'm done with it for the night, but.... Second time getting kegs flowing. Bought some new connectors and such. One keg going to an exterior tap. Flowing just fine. The other keg, hooked up to picnic tap, same one I used on the first keg, not flowing. I know it's got pressure. And it's not an...

Got a really good deal on a couple of kegs, CO2 tank, regular, etc. a couple of weeks ago. Kegged my first beer. Not that I ever thought bottling was all so bad, but questioned "funny flavors" (like acetaldehyde) once bottle conditioned that weren't there previous. Kegged and carbed over the...

Well there it is, finally, "My" beer on tap at Stormcloud. Not going to be there until tomorrow night. Once again, I'm like a little kid the day before Christmas: http://www.stormcloudbrewing.com/on-tap/

Planning to make a saison next weekend. I chose Yeast Bay Saison Blend yeast for this. Looking at the single vial I received, with a best by date of 4/21, I'd be severely under pitching my planned 1049 OG Saison. Given that it's a blend, it's said that one should not make a starter as the...

So I realized I screwed up my order, didn't by any DME or FastPitch. I have two beers to make over Christmas break here. An Imperial Stout (1.10 OG) and an Amber (1.051). I have just enough DME for the starter for the RIS, so here's my plan. Make that first (starter wort is boiling now). Then...

More fun in local contests... Took 1st and 2nd at Frankfort Beer Week contest today. 1st place gets a brew session and beer served at Stormcloud Brewing. So didn't do well with Pumpkin Beer after making the first round cut in the Cadillac contest, but made up for that here for sure. 2nd Place...

Made it past round one, now have to brew (and keg :shock: :? ) a Pumpkin Beer for local beer festival end of September. http://cadillaccraftbeerfest.com/homebrew-competition/ So that was cool today. And so happens I do have a pumpkin beer that I've brewed a couple of times that gets good...

This looks cool: http://www.brewjacket.com (looks like their website might be jacked up at the moment, but you get the gist). MrBIP

Not sure of my plan .... Got a Cream Ale, 2nd iteration, in fridge at 35, will be three weeks on Sunday when I bottle it. Plan was, based on some reading, to rehydrate a US05 pack in 200ml water, and use 35ml of that "slurry" to bottle, about 2mg dry yeast, along with the corn sugar (5 oz). But...

Temp Controller arrived yesterday and picking up fridge Thursday. I've kept very good records of ambient temps that turned out best with the several beers I've been making, so plan to reference those notes for those beers, however ...... At some point in the near future, I'm going to want to...

De-labeling bottles this evening, I realize that, when I purchase beer, at least a small part of the decision making process is whether or not I know (or think) that the labels will easily be removed so that I can use the bottles for my own beer. I'm finding that I have a lot of Bell's and...

Anyone got a recipe? Seems all the rage on the interweb after the AB superbowl commercial.

This hobby is becoming a problem ..... no, not because I'm drinking more beer! I just finished the last of a 3rd iteration brew, it is not my brew schedule until early April, I can't figure out what I would bump to plug this one in sooner. I don't have enough time or equipment to brew more than...