Recent content by mroakley

Nice!   I picked up a third place (out of 70+ entries) at the first round of the 2014 National Homebrew Competition for my IPA.  Didn't place at the second round (scored a 34) but will hopefully win one of these days...

I make an Atomic Fireball Mead that seems to be pretty popular with the NCHF crowds every year.  It's fun to do...but I can't drink a whole lot of it at any given time.  Perfect for a festival with small pours.    The recipe is in the book Radical Brewing.  I assume it's also on the AHA web site...

Welcome from San Jose!

Congrats on the silver medal!  That's awesome.   Checked on my pils over the weekend.  Hit my FG no problems and no detectable diacetyl.  Will probably let sit for another week or so before transferring and lagering.

Sulfur smells can absolutely be a byproduct of fermentation.  100% correct.  Happens all the time with tens (more?) of various yeast strains.  Much to my wife's chagrin, I've stunk up our garage on a number of occasions.  None of those beers had sulfur in the end product.  The conversation is...

To me, diacetyl (movie popcorn butter or butterscotch) vs sulfer (rotten eggs) are pretty different things.  And don't these have different causes?  Isn't diacetyl related to fermentation while sulfer tends to be an infection of some kind or autolysis maybe?  (Total disclosure - I'm skeptical of...

Thanks everybody for the input.   Regarding the diacetyl, my understanding is that this is something that occurs during fermentation. Whether I have the beer for a month or a year, if there's diacetyl, it will always be there.  Faded a bit over time maybe, but always there because of it...

  For a diacetyl rest?  The beer fermented at 50-52 for the first 48 hours.  The gravity was down to 1.010 after the first 48 hours.  The projected FG is 1.008.    Wyeast 2124 - This Carlsberg type yeast is the most widely used lager strain in the world. This strain produces a distinct malty...

Yup. The last couple of pils I've brewed have had diacetyl in the finished beer.   Looks like I might be a bit late on a diacetyl rest for this batch.  Took a gravity reading last night.  After 48 hours of fermentation, the gravity was at 1.010.  Still a lot of activity going on though.  I've...

Thanks guys.   I've never boiled anything with a lid on.  When I use pils malt, I'm almost always doing a 90 minute boil (berliner weisse being the exception...but then I'm doing a double decoction).   Just seems like the diacetyl rest doesn't work for me.  I wonder if I'm waiting too long to...

Brewed one up over the weekend.  Have it fermenting in my chest freezer at 50-52 degrees currently.  Any advice on a diacetyl rest?  I always seem to mess up that part of the process.  I always thought you waited until the beer was 5 points or so from the final gravity and just raise the temp to...

Thanks everyone for the welcome.   Most of my pepper plants are now (finally) starting to flower.  Guess I got a late start getting my seeds going this year...   When do most start the germination process?

  I've used him for the last few years for jalapenos and a variety of habaneros.  He's thrown in various free packs of seeds as well.  Never had a problem with anything he's provided for what it's worth.

Yup, just the flowers.  The problem with homegrown hops is that there is no easy and cost effective way to measure the alpha acids (source of hop bitterness) in the resin glands of the flowers.  It's very expensive to have a lab analysis done.    Essentially homebrewers are limited in homegrown...

  Generally speaking, with the jalapenos and habaneros I've grown in the past, I've had a lot of success.  San Jose isn't typically wet and cool.  This is especially true for the south end where I'm located.  We've been in a years long drought and temps are expected to be in the triple digits...