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Thanks, Cameron.

Thought you guys (and girls) would like to know, we were well represented at the homebrew competition in Vail: Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines Festival. Jason Christian got a Bronze for his Belgian Dark Strong and I got a Bronze for my Strong Scotch Ale!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the pH calculations are not working properly, if at all. At least not my copy...

I just got a pH meter...opens a whole new area of study (and stuff to worry about).

Quick question for those of you who use Pro-Mash. I've found (long ago...just not becoming interested enough to do something about it) what I think is a bug in my copy/version of this otherwise really good program. When building a water profile in the Brewing Session module, it does not adjust pH do...

Not me...took a weekend off. Last week I did a Weizenbock and Hefe, Saturday I brew an Octoberfest.

I doubt that we will ever have to worry about freezing brewing equipment again!

No, I simply use RO water, heated to 170 for the sparge and whatever the mash temp is going to be. But I was kidding about getting bacteria in the water...that's one of the few things I don't worry about. But I should do a Star San rinse every now and then...

Thanks Cameron. I'll get my water there next time. (I like the idea of sanitizing the containers prior to filling. Every time I empty my containers I tell myself to Star San them...and I never remember to do it. I'm probably introducing all kinds of bacteria, tadpoles, and other scum into my beers.....

Hey guys. I thought you might find this article about Hefeweizen by George De Piro interesting. http://www.evansale.com/hefeweizen_article.html He's brewmaster at a brewpub in NY and has several professional beer awards under his belt. He basically contradicts most everything we've been discussing l...

Hey Cameron. What is the place on 1171? That's .03 cheaper than I pay at Walmart!

Yes, cloudiness is going to happen if chalk is added to the water. It does not disolve well in just water, needs the malts to better go into solution.

- Someone (Chris?) stated that the best place to add minerals is to the sparge water. I have to take a little issue with that. This may be fine for most minerals but not for CaCO3 (chalk). Chalk needs to be added to the mash in order to dissolve. I think this is because of the acidity of the mash. ...

Hey Leroy. No, I was not kidding...you never DID like my beers...waaaaa!!! OK, seriously, I was intrigued by Phil's comments...so I went to a higher source...Kai, the Braukaiser. Kai is what I consider the "source". He's well learned and actually tests his theories. Take a look at this pos...

All that math is correct. But you might want to verify that 37 oints per pound I threw out there. That was based on a really old book I was reviewing. But you have the formula ((pounds X points)/gallons) so you should be good to go. Regarding the OG, it sure would be easier to just validate it eithe...

Correct. Put the thermostat in the water, like Dave suggested, along with the temperature probe from the new controller you're going to buy. If you set the controller to 40, but the thermometer says 50 (like mine), you'd need to lower the dial on the controller to 30. Make sense? And you can "s...

That's great you're getting a fridge. Now you can make a real lager. Just don't let the wife put too much of that annoying food in there... Also, do calibrate the fridge and temp control unit. The temp in my fridge runs 8 degrees warmer than what is set on the temp controller. So it's important to k...

Not pea brained at all. In fact, that's similar to the regimin Eric Warner recommends in his book on brewing hefe. His is (of course) a double decoction: He mashes in at 99 for 20, then raises the temp 1 degree per minute to 117, then again to 122 and 127. Then he pulls the first decoction and raise...