Recent content by TheBrewingBear

Great product!

Vitals for this beer are OG 1.056, FG 1.003, 27 IBUs. I was a bit worried about the acidity vs IBUs at first. I took some comfort in that my dregs were from Bier de Miel (26 IBUs) and Wytchmaker (55 - 71 IBUs). However this beer is more tart than what I vaguely recall about the beers I drank 6...

FINALLY! Kegged this up today. Sample was delicious. Fruity and tart with a touch of phenolic. Can't wait until it's cold and carbed.

1st time brewing a funky beer... I brewed a saison and pitched the belle saison yeast. After about 24 hours, I added the dregs from Jester King Bier de Miel. About 1 week in I added the dregs from JK Wytchmaker. It's in a carboy right now, so it's airtight. Long term plan is to keg it. I also...

A heavier bottomed pot will scorch less. I did a coil top 1st which sucked. The glass top wasn't much better. Going propane burner makes the wife and I happier. To clean, boil water in a different pot. Add oxyclean or PBW to scorched pot, then pour the boiling water into it. Use a dish brush...

Guys, thanks for the feedback. I'm gonna give barbs a go in the short term since they were cheap, and I have them. My 2nd hand BK has a camlock and matching hose for it, so at least cold side will be scratch free. In the long run, I may go camlocks from BF. I bought my bulkhead from BF, and...

I understand that quick disconnects are the preferred way to connect hoses in a HERMS setup. Is there anything wrong with just using hose barbs? The main drawback I can see is convenience when moving and reconnecting hoses. Are there any other drawbacks I'm overlooking? Maybe scratched hoses...

My ground water temp hits 80s in the summer. I'm thinking about getting a submersible pond pump to recirculate ice water to get those last 20 or so degrees. I figure with a hose splitter and some fittings I could have both tap water and ice eater rigged up and switch from tap to ice when needed...

I just shove the plastic tubing directly into the rubber grommet. The tubing is cut at a 45 degree angle to make the insertion easier. Look at you people with your fancy connectors! You might want to make sure your fitting is lead free. I undersrand some metals have to be "pickled" before...

You might want to get a Rubbermaid tub that holds your fermenter and blow off vessel. It will catch any drippings in case your lid doesn't have a 100% seal. When things get a little crazy in the bucket, I've had some lid leakage.

I would avoid bleach anywhere near metal fittings since it can corrode metal. Hot PBW soak gets my vote. Fire up your HLT to get it to strike temps. Be sure to let some cleaner into the valve to dissolve deposits in the fittings. Use a soft sponge or a paper towel to wipe. Residual smells...

The clear stuff looks like condensation. If you have warm fluid inside a closed container in a relatively cooler room, you get that sometimes. There looks like some milky or yellowish residue as well. It looks like yeast slurry from when you pitched the yeast. Whatever it is, there's no...

So I never did come back to report how everything turned out. I emptied the flavor pack into the keg and racked on top of it. The cider had a very noticeable sulfur bite. I scrubbed it with CO2 by connecting my gas line to the liquid post on the keg and giving it bursts of CO2 followed by...

There are some interesting dogma-breaking points here. More details on how to handle specialty grain steeping and how to change your approach to hop bitterness versus flavor would be helpful. Some sample recipes would illustrate your approach.

Hooray for free stuff! :rockin: