Search found 206 matches

by andytv
Mon Jun 17, 2002 3:28 am
Forum: Tasting & Experiencing
Topic: Thanks Guys
Replies: 5
Views: 15156

Good Old Mill

If given the choice between Budweiser's piledriver headache and Old Mill's well.....gastro-intestinal side effects; I'd chose Old Mill. As far as American Macro Crappy Lagers are concerned, I'd say Old mill represents well. Besides, it's the official regional drink of rural western PA and comes in p...
by andytv
Fri Jun 14, 2002 8:22 am
Forum: Tasting & Experiencing
Topic: Thanks Guys
Replies: 5
Views: 15156

Careful!

Best be careful..... As you get better at brewing, people will start saying "this is great", and next thing you know, all of your beer is gone. As for the "uncultured swine"; I keep a few cases of cheap cans (i.e. American, Old Mil, etc) in stock to keep them away from the good s...
by andytv
Tue Jun 11, 2002 8:28 am
Forum: Equipment
Topic: all the "mills" I loved before
Replies: 6
Views: 9120

JSP Worked Great!!

I just tried out the JSP mill Saturday am I am quite impressed; 1) It was easy to use with a drill motor 2) There was very little dust/flour and I was able to grind inside my home w/o my wife freaking out, 3) Sparging was noticeably quicker/easier 4) The wort was much clearer/cleaner looking that wh...
by andytv
Mon Jun 10, 2002 3:33 am
Forum: Brewing Problems, Emergencies, Help!
Topic: Sour off-flavors
Replies: 7
Views: 10357

Thanks All for the Info

Thak you all for the info.... in retrospect, I believe the root cause of my issue is impatience. I stopped buying beer last October?? From that point until now, I've been drinking only homebrew, which may sound unimpressive to some, but I drink about 5gal per week. In several cases, I've been forced...
by andytv
Fri Jun 07, 2002 11:10 am
Forum: Brewing Problems, Emergencies, Help!
Topic: AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Replies: 10
Views: 14279

Dump???

I've made a few bad beers, but I've never dumped a batch. I say as long as your bowels can tolerate it, we drink our mistakes!!
by andytv
Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:03 am
Forum: Equipment
Topic: all the "mills" I loved before
Replies: 6
Views: 9120

JSP

I just bought a JSP mill, but have yet to use it. Here's why I chose JSP; 1) I read an independant report that put the JSP's performance above the other homebrew mills out there. 2) The test data on the JSP site is pretty impressive when compared to the data from a brewery grade mill. 3) My grain su...
by andytv
Thu Jun 06, 2002 2:59 am
Forum: Brewing Problems, Emergencies, Help!
Topic: Sour off-flavors
Replies: 7
Views: 10357

Water

As much as I hate to admit it, I think it may be the water. My water comes from a spring on my property, and whenever I started all-grain brewing, I figured I'd just use it and hope for the best. Remarkably, I've had great results with this water over dozens of batch, but I'm afraid that the quality...
by andytv
Wed Jun 05, 2002 4:27 am
Forum: Equipment
Topic: Cork lined bottle caps
Replies: 2
Views: 5092

Beware!

I'm not sure, but I would guess that cork, being porous, is a great medium for bacterial growth & difficult to sanitize. Perhaps if you boiled them for a while it would be safe, but I think I'd stick w/ plastic.
by andytv
Wed Jun 05, 2002 3:56 am
Forum: Brewing Problems, Emergencies, Help!
Topic: Sour off-flavors
Replies: 7
Views: 10357

Yeast

For the IPA, I used the cheap el crappo muntons dry yeast (wanted to brew, but didn't have the time to order wyeast), but for the Wit, I used Wyeast Belgian White. I had used dry yeast before w/o issue. No matter....the beer is drinkable and good homebrewers drink their mistakes. I do intend to moto...
by andytv
Tue Jun 04, 2002 10:07 am
Forum: Techniques, Methods, Tips & How To
Topic: adjusting recipes ???
Replies: 2
Views: 4918

Half & Half

I have had good results w/ this method; Add 1/2 cup of corn sugar dissolved/boiled with 1 cup of water. (per 5 gal keg) Fill keg, fit lid, and purge oxygen by letting the CO2 in , then releasing the pressure several times. I then add about 10lbs of pressure just to keep the lid on tight. Good luck!
by andytv
Tue Jun 04, 2002 10:02 am
Forum: Ingredients, Kits & Recipes
Topic: rich red color ?
Replies: 2
Views: 5047

Victory!

I've used victory malt to give a redish hue w/ good results. Also lends a bit of a "bready/biscuity" flavor.

Andy
by andytv
Tue Jun 04, 2002 3:32 am
Forum: Brewing Problems, Emergencies, Help!
Topic: Sour off-flavors
Replies: 7
Views: 10357

Sour off-flavors

I have had a little bad luck in the last two batches and would like your thoughts; I brewed a Wit a few months ago that had a sort of sour/astringent bitterness that I thought may have been due to excessive use of bitter orange peel (I only used 14IBU of hops). Turns out that an IPA that I just brew...
by andytv
Tue Jun 04, 2002 3:23 am
Forum: Techniques, Methods, Tips & How To
Topic: Boil w/lid or w/o lid
Replies: 3
Views: 5930

DMS & Diacetyl

Boiling with a lid will likely cause DMS (corn/veggie) and/or diacetyl(butterscotch) off-flavors in the beer which are scrubbed out during the boil. The compounds, which are released from the beer with the water vapor will re-condense on the lid and drip back into the batch. I think it was "mes...
by andytv
Sat Jun 01, 2002 8:04 pm
Forum: Techniques, Methods, Tips & How To
Topic: Need a little help here...
Replies: 4
Views: 7247

Vanilla Beans

I think that you just "crumble" the entire pod, exposing the beans and breaking up the husk so their oils are more likely to be dissolved by the alcohol in your fermented batch in the short period of time they are in the batch. I always just used pure vanilla extract, which saves a little ...
by andytv
Fri May 24, 2002 9:28 am
Forum: General
Topic: brew time: just how long anyway???
Replies: 7
Views: 9329

Jet Engine

Although I admit to being a bit of a fire aficianado, I don't intend on getting too carried away with my burner. Right now, my 15gal brewpot spans two burners on my kitchen stove. It's really not enough to bring that amount to a good rolling boil. My boils are very weak, and as a result, I do have o...