Recent content by thehesitantchef

Thanks! A lot of people are so intimidated by brewing because it can be so technical, but it really doesn't have to be! If people only knew...

Hello Everyone, I just wrote an article for Food Bloggers of Canada and I'd love to know what you think of it. If this article goes well, I may be writing a series for them. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. I would love some feedback from my fellow homebrewers! Can I ask you to...

Thanks! I'll look into it. I know on the higher end models they have a fairly decent control panel on them. I think to start, I'd probably just throw the carboys in, set my lagering temp and forget about it. At least to start anyway. If I need to change things up I will. Anything wrong with...

Hey, I was wondering if anyone has used wine coolers for controlled fermentation temps! I think it'll work but I thought I'd ask here first... I really want to do a lager! Thanks,

Alright, here's the finished product with pictures and everything! http://www.thehesitantchef.com/cider/peppered-strawberry-cider

Great questions. I think you could possibly get the same level of cranberry flavour using fresh cranberries. I'd through them into secondary. Make sure you soak them in vodka for an hour or so to sanitize them or use frozen. The only thing I could see that could go wrong with that is that...

Ok, thanks! That's a great help! I'll take your suggestion and will see how it goes. I was thinking that I would put the strawberries in secondary for maybe a week? Should I consider going longer? I'll be starting this in the next week or so, as soon as I find apple juice on sale. haha...

Ok, thanks. I will take that into consideration. I'll be making this in the next couple week and let you know how it goes.

Haha totally a typo. You are welcome. It's much more aggressive!

Hey, I've been mauling this idea over in my head the last little while. One of my favourite summer snacks is peppered strawberries so I think it would be nice to try and recreate it in cider form. I have two questions. 1. How much Black Pepper do you think I would need to put into...

Yeah, That's what I thought. Here's a picture I took of it when I put it into secondary. It was the same colour in the carboy so I didn't bother taking a picture of it in the carboy. And here's a picture of the finished product. I know the lighting is different but I swear the beer darkened in...

Hmmm that might have been it but I cold crashed it and I also put into secondary. Could their have been that much still in suspension? I can't make sense of it.

Hi! I recently developed and brewed my first patch of Irish Red ale. In fermentation it was really blonde in colour. It was this colour for the longest time. I bottled it and conditioned it for 21 days. After this time it was still blonde in colour. I thought nothing of it, just an error in...

Thanks! I hope you like it. I'm lazy and called it Cranberry Orange Cider. If you come up with something better let me know!

I made this a couple of months ago and I loved it. You can see pictures of it on my site. http://www.thehesitantchef.com/cider/2016/1/11/cranberry-orange-cider Here's the recipe, let me know what you think. Next time I make this I will add in some more orange zest so it's more pronounced...