Recent content by bierhund

I just kegged an Irish coffee brown ale and we added 1 liter of cold brewed coffee. The flavor is subtle but present. There a bunch of factors. Depends on the beer it's being added to, the roast of the coffee, the strength of the coffee, etc... The beauty of adding it at bottling/kegging is you...

Thanks for the help?

I currently live in Michigan, but I might have a job opportunity that will be bring to California. My one problem is I know nothing about the city and surrounding area of where my job would be located. It would be an Azusa, CA. Can anyone provide any information about this city and the...

A good rule of thumb is simple sugars should not make up more then 20% of your fermentable sugars.

I'd be careful not adding too much sucrose. You can get off flavors, specifically apple.

Also if you don't have it, "Yeast" by Chris White of White Labs Yeast is a must have book in your library. Very informational. I'd argue one of the most useful in the Element series (haven't brought myself to read "Water" yet, though I hear equally useful).

You should be fine just using a stir plate. You could aerate your wort before the stir plate if you wanted. It won't hurt but not nessecary, especially at a homebrewer level.

So I entered my first homebrew competition this weekend and had a blast. I was wondering, other then the Michigan Beer Cup, what other brewing competitions are there in Michigan?

It was a really good feeling. I mean, we think our beer is good, but it was exciting/humbling to gain the respect of complete strangers/judges. We will definitely be entering more competitions.

It was a really small at our local library here in Lansing, MI. The local homebrew supplies shop sponsored it. There were 11 beers entered.

We brewed a Belgian Dubble. It came out really great.

Just because I'm really excited, my wife and I just took 2nd place in our first Homebrew competition. Given it was a small local one, but still a good feeling to know your doing something right.

Welcome, welcome. My wife and I are homebrewers in the Lansing Area. Cheers!

Check out New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, MI. They've been doing this for awhile. They age their Dragon's Milk Bourbon Stout in Bourbon barrels then age their Bourbon in the used Dragon's Milk barrels. It's pretty damn tasty.

Listeria is another common pathogen in dirt (lettuce, melons, spinach, etc...).