Delle Units
The Mead Stability Manifesto: Delle Units and Beyond
In the pursuit of the perfect sweet mead, the "bottle bomb" is the ultimate horror story, except maybe broken glass carboys.
Yeast
Brewer's Notes
SNA vs TOSNA: A Comparitive Guide to Nutrient Addition Methods in Meadmaking
Discover the key differences between SNA (Staggered Nutrient Additions) and TOSNA (Tailored Organic Staggered Nutrient Additions) in meadmaking. This comprehensive guide explores traditional and organic nutrient management methods, helping both novice and experienced meadmakers choose the right appr
Brewer's Notes
Why so Bitter? A Tale of Two Lagers
It seems a non-sequitur that brewers eventually come around to appreciate and crave clean lagers. Last year, for the first time, I stuck my toe into brewing a Bohemian Pilsner. I took a keg to NHC club night with the Zealots, after confirmation from trusted friends that it was
Experiment
6 Homebrewing (Non)Controversies
After reading through Drew Beechum and Denny Conn’s Experimental Homebrewing book, I thought through some of the questions that I see repeatedly asked. Drew and Denny touch on some of them. The spirit of their book resonates with me... find the answers on your own through experimentation. The reality
Brewer's Notes
The Brettanomyces Invasion... oh my
What an ugly surprise. Yesterday, I was adding some sugar into my split batch saison, and saw this. Unintentionally I managed to contaminate the batch with Brettanomyces. I have played with Brett quite a bit in the brewery, but how it managed to sneak into this batch remains a mystery.
Brewer's Notes
Yeast Pitching Rate Experiment - A BUST
Well, I had hoped that the funny taste in the overpitch was just green character and from such a massive blow off. It is now clear that the overpitch batch is infected somehow. This yields an inconclusive result and requires a do-over. I hate to admit failure, especially to
Brewer's Notes
Yeast Experiment - Tasting it green...
Boredom causes me to do some stupid things. Like, open up the week-old "control" conditioned bottles for the experiment. These have only been conditioning for a week now, so they are not really ready for consumption and need some aging. I didn't have high hopes
Brewer's Notes
Dry Yeast, Pitching Rate Confabulation
Pitching Rates Revisited I continue to struggle with whom I should believe relative to pitching rates of DRY yeast. Both Wyeast and White Labs products seem to accurately present the home brewer with a clearly known and validated yeast cell density – as well as accurate “born on” dates that allow
Brewer's Notes
Yeast Experiment Update - Bottling Notes
So I jumped the gun. The fermentation had finished. Just conditioning sitting on the lees. I bottled after a cold crash to 40F to drop some of the yeast. Henceforth, these shall be called White (Batch A), Green (Batch B) and Blue (Batch C), well after this post. That is
Brewer's Notes
Ubershort Yeast Pitching Experiment Update 1.2
As I have received a note telling me that I talk too much... and should let the data show speak for itself... I have moved the fermenters into a warmer room to condition for another week. It appears that all three have reached terminal gravity, although the under-pitch may
Brewer's Notes
Pitching Rate Theology
Finding consistent and credible information on yeast pitching rates is a bit like religious theology. Trying to find out how many yeast cells are in a pouch of yeast is like trying to find out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin! A lot of people
Brewer's Notes
Yeast Pitching Experiment Update 1.1
Took another refractometer reading today and looks like the underpitch is catching up. I am also at the point where the refractomer is going to be fairly useless to determine accurate gravity readings... so will leave these alone now until next week. At that point I would expect terminal gravity,