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   1. Birthday Cheers

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      by hashie, 15 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      Happy Birthday qsr (46).
      
      I'll have an extra pint of ESB tonight to your health :D
      
      Cheers
      
      Gavin

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      Merry Christmas!
      
      It does fall into the Birthday category.
      :lol: And a Happy New Year to you :peace:
      680 Replies
      586521 Views
      PistolPatch
      5 years ago
   2. The Old Speckled Hen (clone)

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      by hashie, 14 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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      OVERVIEW
      
      Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
      Name: The Old Speckled Hen (clone)
      Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
      Fermentation Temperature: 16°C
      Original Gravity: 1.053
      Total IBU's: 38.4
      Colour (EBC): 27.5
      Efficiency at End of Boil: 81%
      Mash Length (mins): 90
      Boil Length (mins): 90
      Your Vessel Type (Pot/Keggle/Urn): Keggle
      Source/Credits:
      Notes/Instructions/Comments: A very malty example of an English Pale Ale, Great drink on a winters night.
      
      Volumes etc.
      
      Your Vessel...

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      I've been brewing this for a few years now - Thanks Hashie :)
      
      This will be up to your individual tastebuds.  But I've kept the aroma hop as East Kent Goldings but changed the flavour to Styrian Goldings and while I love the original recipe, I personally prefer this modification.  It's a tad (an amateur homebrewers term for a bit ) fruitier, but I'm having a struggle to place it.  Maybe loquats?
      
      I just replaced like amount for like amount from the recipe and it seems about right (dependant on...
      56 Replies
      84475 Views
      DanIAm
      8 years ago
   3. Wiring an stc 1000 temp. controller for cooling.

      by hashie, 13 years ago in Fermentation (Wort to Still Beer)

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      IMPORTANT, electricity is dangerous. In some countries it is also illegal to do this type of wiring unless you are qualified. If you are in any doubt get a licenced electrician to check things for you, or get them to do the job for a few home brews. Do not risk your life just to try and save a few $$$
      
      Below I will attempt to show, with pictures, how to wire an stc 1000 temperature controller for cooling ie, to turn your freezer into a keg fridge, or a fridge into a fermentation fridge.
      
      When...

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      Looks alright to me. I made the same mistake on my first one and ended up hacking a car outlet appart to get my DC voltage. I can't verify the pins because mine is in a box buried somewhere.
      
      Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk
      Cheers, guys! Put it together tonight and all seems to be working as expected with a hair dryer, so I'm feeling rather accomplished! Now to make some beer with it...
      22 Replies
      65095 Views
      Aidan
      9 years ago
   4. Crown Beer

      by hashie, 11 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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      Let me first preface this post by saying that I am not trying to clone, copy or otherwise mimic another beer, commercial or otherwise. I simply wish to discuss and experiment as to the merits of Crown Beer.
      
      For a long time an Australian brewery, Carlton and United Brewery (CUB), has, in my opinion, been ripping punters off. They have done this by selling 2 different beers from the one fermenter. This is done by bottling the lower 2/3 (I really don't know the amounts, this is just a guess) of...

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      50% of one, 50% of the other Lumpy.
      
      A keg of beer isn't homogenised, kegs (universally?) draw from the bottom and in 2 days the hops have changed.
      
      But back to the stratification of a bottle of chimay. Put into a bottle of water, vinegar and oil and observe the stratification. Shake it (create a salad dressing)and see how long it takes to stratify again - pouring a beer isn't as radical as shaking. So depending on if you are sipping on $20 liquid or skulling a small beer after a hard days...
      13 Replies
      20827 Views
      DanIAm
      9 years ago
   5. Adding specialty grains at mash out versus mash in.

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      by hashie, 15 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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      I'm having a go at a small scale experiment today and was wondering if anybody had thoughts on what I can expect in the final results.
      
      Last week I made a German black beer;
      
      Munich 2.9kg
      Pilsner 1.65kg
      Chocolate 0.2kg
      Crystal (dark) 0.1kg
      Carafa 1 0.1kg
      
      Perle to 19.6IBU 80 minutes
      Hersbrucker to 4.3 Ibu 20 minutes
      Hersbrucker to 0.4 IBU 2 minutes
      
      Salt 1 tsp
      
      Final volume post boil = 27 litres
      
      US-05 Ale yeast
      
      Today I am making the exact same recipe, but I will be adding the specialty grains...

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      wow, this article gives me some ideas! Im right in the middle of switching between a 5 gallon BIAB setup to a 15 gallon setup, so my processes are all kinds of mixed up right now. Currently I'm mashing 10-10.5 lbs in a 5 gallon SS pot then dunk sparging in the 15 gallon pot with the rest of the water to reach 7.5 gallons. Ive done 2 batches this way (only recieved my 15 gallon pot 2 weeks ago) and so far my efficiency has increased (except for 2nd batch, which was my fault). After reading this,...
      72 Replies
      82867 Views
      speeddemon190
      11 years ago
   6. HELP, I've made beer

      by hashie, 11 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Sampled my latest beer this weekend. It's the beer I'm doing the crown beer experiment on. And it tastes great, just not what I expected.
      
      The recipe is as follows and apologies if the format is incorrect.
      
      3.6kg Marris otter
      1.15kg Munich
      0.7kg Dark Crystal
      
      1tsp salt
      
      37 litres strike water
      mashed at 64°c 90 minutes
      mashout at 77°c 20 minutes - Dark Crystal added at this step.
      
      Boil 90 minutes
      
      Northern brewer 52g 60 minutes
      East Kent Goldings 27g 15 minutes
      East Kent Goldings 10g 5 minutes...

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      I think it's the yeast.
      At first I thought it must have been an infection, albeit a good one. However I believe my sanitation process to be robust enough to counter this thought. I brew in a 30 litre stainless conical fermenter with 2 x stainless ball valves. The valves are stripped and sanitised between each brew and the fermenter is sanitised before each use with Starsan . I think there are a number of factors such as;
      under pitching, double pitching and perhaps a triple ferment.
      
      I first...
      9 Replies
      13040 Views
      hashie
      11 years ago
   7. ICA - Indian Cream Ale

      by hashie, 13 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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      OVERVIEW
      
      Style: Blonde Ale
      Name: ICA - Indian Cream Ale
      Yeast: Danstar Nottingham
      Fermentation Temperature: 18°C
      Original Gravity: 1.048
      Total IBU's: 30
      Colour (EBC): 5.31
      Efficiency at End of Boil: 80%
      Mash Length (mins): 90
      Boil Length (mins): 90
      Your Vessel Type (Pot/Keggle/Urn): Keggle
      Source/Credits:
      
      Volumes etc.
      
      Your Vessel Volume (L or gal): 50L
      Your Vessel Diameter (cm or in): 37cm
      Water Required (L or gal): 37L
      Mash Temperature (C or F): 64C
      Volume at End of Boil (L or gal): 27L...

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      Hi, do you have more detail on the pilsner, i wanted to give this a go and the shop has 10 different types of pilsner malt??
      3 Replies
      6749 Views
      simontap
      11 years ago
   8. First brew, for some time.

      by hashie, 12 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Well, hello all. I finally got a brew going last week after nearly 2 years without a brew.
      
      I made my version of the Old Speckled Hen . So far so good.
      
      I made it with grain that has been stored in airtight barrels for ... I think 3+ years and the yeast was a packet I still had in the fridge and was only 2 years past it's best before date.
      
      Don't ask me for figures or measurements, as those that know me, know I don't take them.
      
      I'm just glad that it all worked, as it used to, and the yeast is...

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      Thank you for the reply's and the master file.
      
      Ill have a mull over it and post my questions in a more suitable thread. Sorry guys!
      
      Cheers.
      21 Replies
      23769 Views
      balli1990
      12 years ago
   9. Can PBW be Used to Clean Beer Lines?

      by hashie, 15 years ago in Cleaning and Sanitisation

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      Just a quick question, can I use PBW to run through my beer lines to clean them and my beer gun?
      
      Thanks

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      I just wanted to post here to clean things up a bit, that's all. :evil:
      7 Replies
      22784 Views
      Lylo
      12 years ago
   10. Pizza anyone?

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       by hashie, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       My wife asked for a pizza oven for her Christmas present, so I thought I should get onto it, to be sure it's ready to go.
       
       So over the last week I have had a go and this is the result.
       
       It saw it's first small fire today and I will slowly burn it in over the next week.
       
       So, any of you buggers interested in some home brew and wood fired pizza?

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       Oh wow! That thing is AWESOME! Nice job on building that!
       
       It is a long dream of mine to have a wood fired oven for pizza's! (I need to perfect my pizza!)
       
       My 2 cents: try and shape your dough by hand after its has done a 2nd ferment. So its soft and full of bubbles. And then slowly shape it, thickish edge on the outside and thin in the middle. Combined with that oven and you will be making such good pizza that you won't eat any better in Naples itself! :D
       
       Good Luck with that oven :)
       26 Replies
       25187 Views
       Dauthi
       12 years ago
   11. Why make brewing difficult?

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       by hashie, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Why do we make brewing difficult? why do we try to over analise things?
       
       Brewing is a simple process, we turn malted barley into fermentable wort. We then boil the wort to kill any nasties, while adding hops to add bitterness (aroma and flavour) and to preserve the brew. After that the yeast gets to do it's thing.
       Pretty simple really :argh:
       
       Why then do we get all worked up if our numbers aren't right? If our gravity is off or volumes down? Does it really matter? Surely we all still have beer...

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       thughes,
       
       Nice outfit matey! We had a outdoor beer meeting last night and during the class on different types of mashing we had a violent wind storm. Then the sky's opened up and dumped hail on us. The grills and my pot of chilli were filled with ice and water! The thing that hurts me most is that I made such a big deal about talk like a pirate day but with all the commotion I forgot about it until the clean up! Arrr! The scurvy bilge rats scattered after being soaked and the night was a...
       41 Replies
       31797 Views
       BobBrews
       13 years ago
   12. Smoooth

       by hashie, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Oh yeah!
       
       I couldn't decide what I wanted to drink tonight, so many choices. So decided to have a look in the cupboard to see what was there.
       
       I chanced upon 2 bottles of Barley wine I brewed a bit over 2 years ago. lovely I says, that'll do .
       
       And oh is it smooth :yum: age has definitely made this a great beer, shame there's only 2, no, 1 bottle left, possibly none by tomorrow :drink:
       
       Guess I'll have to make another batch, 2 years seems so long to wait, why can't I be more organised?

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       I had my first commercial Barleywine a few weeks back, it was Bigfoot made by Sierra Nevada. I really liked the beer and would love to brew something like that.
       Hashie, please post your recipe when you brew. I would love to take a look at it.
       1 Replies
       3300 Views
       rockbotton
       13 years ago
   13. Green Goblin

       by hashie, 13 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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       OVERVIEW
       
       Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
       Name: Green Goblin
       Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
       Fermentation Temperature: 18°C
       Original Gravity: 1.050
       Total IBU's: 36.1
       Colour (EBC): 30.39
       Efficiency at End of Boil: 81%
       Mash Length (mins): 90
       Boil Length (mins): 90
       Your Vessel Type (Pot/Keggle/Urn): Keggle
       Source/Credits:
       Notes/Instructions/Comments: My version of a Wychwood Hobgoblin.
       Volumes etc.
       
       Your Vessel Volume (L or gal): 50 L
       Your Vessel Diameter (cm or in): 36...

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       Ok cheers Hashie, I always have an early sample just to see how things are going
       16 Replies
       16648 Views
       rich27500
       13 years ago
   14. 52 qt pot in the states

       by hashie, 13 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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       Found this while surfing this morning, bloody thing hit my board :headhit:
       
       Looks like a good cheap pot for anyone looking to go gas fired. I think the steamer base would/could be used as a false bottom to keep your bag away from the heat?

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       My pot came today. Not real heavy. .045/1.15mm thick. but it is a keeper. The false bottom is going to work very well for BIAB. A 52qt/ 49 liter pot for $35 delivered is a screaming deal. The price has gone up to $60 now. I guess I will have to use it to brew beer with as well as cooking crabs.
       5 Replies
       7813 Views
       greyghost
       13 years ago
   15. Best urn options

       by hashie, 13 years ago in Electric BIAB

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       I am an outdoor gas brewer, but I have a mate who wants to get into BIAB. He wants to brew in an apartment with an urn.
       As I have no idea on eBIAB, I can't give him any ideas on what's best for him to purchase and get started.
       
       What is the best advice? ie.
       
       concealed element v's open element?
       40 litre, 60 litre, more or less?
       Are any brands better than others?
       Do they need an added temp controller?
       
       These are just the questions that come to mind as I have no idea where to start, any help will...

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       I am using a 30L urn and I get by with it but I think that 40L would be better as the minimum volume to recommend. I bought a cheapie of ebay that is still going after 40 batches or so. I do use a power regulator which acts to protect the element to some degree (it is a phase fired controller). It is not absolutely necessary but helps a lot. My urn has a concealed element and I use a scraper several times during the boil so I don't get material building up on the bottom of the urn.
       3 Replies
       7246 Views
       dick
       13 years ago
   16. Free Beer Friday

       by hashie, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       :thumbs:
       
       I'll kick it off with free beer at my place today for Free Beer Friday, all welcome :drink:
       
       Today we will be enjoying a beer I call Munchel Jim . I designed it loosely on a Munich Dunkel, however it is fermented with an ale yeast so it's not to style, enjoy :pray:
       
       Amt Name Type # %/IBU
       3.00 kg Munich Malt (17.73 EBC) Grain 2 57.0 %
       2.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (5.91 EBC) Grain 3 38.0 %
       0.13 kg Carafa II (811.64 EBC) Grain 4 2.5 %
       0.13 kg Special B Malt (354.60 EBC) Grain 5...

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       Ahh, you can see straight through me Bob. I'm sure you are just taking your time to ensure a quality product :)
       22 Replies
       16779 Views
       hashie
       13 years ago
   17. Improving wort through storage.

       by hashie, 13 years ago in Chilling

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       After having the same question asked in 2 different threads, I would like to pose the following question for discussion;
       
       Does storing fresh wort (slow/no-chill) in a sealed cube improve the finished beer?
       
       My initial thoughts are that it is entirely possible.
       
       We know that the sugar (maltose) will remain constant. Therefore the Gravity will/should remain constant.
       The volume will remain constant, assuming a proper seal.
       
       Is the wort alive? Once fermentation starts we have live beer and it...

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       Of course, then you'd had to do an experiment on chill vs freeze ;)
       So many ways to make and drink beer, so little time :thumbs:
       15 Replies
       15587 Views
       hashie
       13 years ago
   18. 110 brews

       by hashie, 14 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       110 brews, that's all my bag was capable of.
       
       When I pulled my bag today it sprung a leak. I had hot wort pissing out of a pinhole and not going in the kettle. It was easily enough staunched but I will have to retire the old girl.
       
       Got my daughters sewing machine out and ran up a new bag in between hop additions today.
       
       In the words of a famous Australian Knight - Such is Life .

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       Thanks fellas :)
       
       It was just a pin hole and I believe it's wear from my paint stirrer mash paddle thingo. I've noticed it previously, but yesterday was the first time it leaked.
       
       I'll keep the old bag as a spare, in case of emergency, so she might make another beer yet.
       3 Replies
       5650 Views
       hashie
       14 years ago
   19. What's your oldest bit of kit?

       by hashie, 15 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       This is my oldest bit of kit, it's almost as old as me :)
       
       I inherited this from my Grandfather. He obviously didn't do big beers, as it only reads up to 1050.
       
       It was purchased in 1969 for the princely sum of $1.73

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       Or anything else in this world of ours..it was a sad day when the bean counters got to be in charge.
       
       Sorry for going OT, but there is a mining company that operates in Western Australia that has placed an order for ~150 driver-less mining trucks, trucks that will drive themselves on a predetermined path and operated remotely by a single person. The excuse they give is that there is going to be a shortage of labour. I'm sure the real reason is, see how much money we will save in wages!
       
       Aint...
       23 Replies
       20776 Views
       hashie
       14 years ago
   20. 3D Chocolate Stout

       by hashie, 14 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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       OVERVIEW
       
       Style: Sweet Stout
       Name: 3D Chocolate Stout
       Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
       Fermentation Temperature: 16°C
       Original Gravity: 1.062
       Total IBU's: 28.3
       Colour (EBC): 51.94 - Beersmith 2 does not account for the chocolate or cocoa, so colour will be darker.
       Efficiency at End of Boil: 95.8% - Beersmith 2 does not account for chocolate or cocoa, this is why efficiency seems so high.
       Mash Length (mins): 90
       Boil Length (mins): 90
       Your Vessel Type (Pot/Keggle/Urn): Keggle
       Source/Credits:...

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       Thanks hashie,I missed your earlier response re: lactose,because that Stux distracted me. :? That is exactly what I needed to know.I just finished drinking a Dble Choc. Porter, and can't wait(but will) to start this on the weekend! :P
       22 Replies
       23777 Views
       Lylo
       14 years ago
   21. Weekend project

       by hashie, 14 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Top bar bee-hive.JPG Hi all, just wanted to share my non beer related weekend project.
       
       I, with the help of my 11 year old son, have built a Top bar beehive .
       
       It took us about 5 hours to put together. Now we will wait and see if a swarm adopts it as their new home. Otherwise it will be a request to a local apiarist to get a swarm next spring. :)
       
       Maybe if I get some good honey I will be able to make some mead?

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       Beeautifull!
       
       Im considering a similar project this winter here in Colorado. Let us know when you get some bees! From what Ive learned, Go for what we call a nuc. Its stands for nucleus. Its a small hive complete with its own Queen.
       7 Replies
       7298 Views
       2trout
       14 years ago
   22. Cheap pot in Oz

       by hashie, 15 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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       For any Australian brewers looking for a cheap pot to get into BIAB, Ray's Outdoors have a crab cooker on page 7 of their catalogue . It is 40 litre aluminium pot with a lid and aluminium basket for $89. This would be big enough to do standard 23 litre batches.
       
       No affiliation, just trying to help.

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       Great reply Bob, sounds like you have a busy calendar ahead of you. A buzzard hat would work well with extreme brewing in the desert, but a brew demo for Halloween will have to do. I look forward to seeing some pics :)
       
       Good to have you back Bob.
       10 Replies
       11502 Views
       hashie
       14 years ago
   23. Dark beer or light?

       by hashie, 14 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       As the title suggests, which do you prefer dark or light beer?
       
       I like dark beers, stouts, Porters and the occasional Irish red :)
       
       I do like pale beers, I make a nice cream ale for the summer. But if it was 1 beer, it would have to be a dark beer.

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       Beer is beer. Who cares about the colour? :yum:
       
       :thumbs:
       14 Replies
       15003 Views
       Beer O'Clock
       14 years ago
   24. Up the Duff

       by hashie, 14 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Hey all just thought I'd share this.
       
       I was using Boozle today, looking for some Christmas drinks and found some Duff beer at one of the local bottle shops. So I went and bought a carton, along with a sixer of White Rabbit Dark Ale :)
       
       I have no intention of drinking it. I think I'll keep a sixer for myself and then give the other 3 sixers to my boys when they turn 21.

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       I have no intention of drinking it. Yep by the look of the reviews, I'd leave them for Homer :lol:
       2 Replies
       4930 Views
       PistolPatch
       14 years ago
   25. Over pitching - under pitching

       by hashie, 14 years ago in Fermentation (Wort to Still Beer)

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       As the title suggests, this thread is about over pitching or under pitching yeast.
       
       There is any amount of literature available on the subject and it all sounds bad. In fact, if you believe everything you read, we all need fancy microscopes so that we can count the number of live yeast cells prior to pitching!
       
       Now, I've been brewing for a lot of years. I am no expert and to others, my beer may be crap. But I have both over pitched and under pitched and I have never had any undesirable...

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       I've recently had a devil of a time with wild yeasts so have gotten paranoid with yeast sanitation and health. Early results seem good :)
       10 Replies
       13722 Views
       stux
       14 years ago

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