BeerTools Discussion Forum

The brew didn't have any vinegar-like flavors, it just tasted like excessively bitter beer. There seemed to be some nice malt flavor in there, but it was overpowered and beaten down by the bitterness. It did smell good, though. I will check the specific gravity tonight and see if it has gotten above...

I really don't know what the IBU rating is for this brew. The recipe calls for one ounce of Norther Brewer hops to be boiled for one hour and one ounce of Kent Golding for the last minute of the boil for aroma. I let them steep for another hour while I fought to get the wort temperature down. (The h...

My five-gallon carboy of stout has been fermenting for nine days now. It had a six-hour lag time and the blow-off phase was over in about 24 hours. Now it's poking along at one bubble through the airlock every 45 seconds or so. I used Safale S-104 ale yeast and the carboy temp is about 70 degrees. I...

BillyBock Thanks for the info. I didn't stir the wort before I siphoned the hydrometer sample. I probably should've shaken the carboy before taking the sample, right? (I did shake it for a solid two minutes to aeroate it before I put the blow-off tube on.) I didn't check to see if my thermometer and...

How far up the bottling bucket should you mount the spigot? Should the bottom of the spigot nozzle be flush with the bottom of the bucket, should it be lower the bottom of the bucket, or am I just thinking about this too much? On another topic, I brewed my first batch July 4. The estimate OG range w...

I am looking at getting into home brewing. I like sweet stout (Sam Adams Cream Stout is quite good) and would like to try my hand at brewing it. Any simple recipes for a complete newby?