Hi! I'm Scott, and I'm from Chandler, AZ. This blog is a collection of home brewing best practices and techniques I've stumbled across, a log of the beers I brew, as well a soap box for my occasional rant.

My passion for brewing started when my wife gave me a home brewing kit as a birthday present. I dove in head-first, and eight days later I was brewing my first batch of all-grain beer. I haven't slowed down since.


133 Comments

  1. Your grandpa from Belgique would have been proud.
    Keep up the good work and have fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you provide me with a little information about your e-kettle? Do you have a list of parts that you used? Did you follow someones method online? How did you ground the kettle? I know there is a lot of information out there but its hard to know what to trust.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, it's an aluminum kettle with a 4,500w camco element mounted. You'll need a 1" NPT locknut with a silicone o-ring to seal it from the inside. I basically zip-tied the ground wire to the outside of element (where your wrench would go), after I tightened the element down. It's not the most elegant solution, but it works.

      The element is fired by a Auber 2352 PID, and a 25A SSR. 25A is a little on the small side, but I already had it, so I figured what the hell.

      If you're looking for a really awesome comprehensive guide, go to theelectricbrewery.com Kal has pretty much all the info you need. Remember, his system is the 'Cadillac' of electric systems; there are definitely cheaper ways to go about it.

      Delete
  3. I stumbled on your website while researching a clone of Double Jack. You've got a great site, lots of info for cloning great IPAs! Cheers!

    One question, where did you get the glass that is a similar shape to the Sam Adams tasting glass? I really like it and want to buy a few. Thanks!

    Benjy Edwards
    benj@boathousebrewery.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I have bad news on the glass. SanTan brewery commissioned those glasses from a little glass shop in Chandler called di Sciacca; they are all hand blown. Unfortunately, Sam Adams also thought they were similar and sent a cease and desist, so they stopped making that glass about 18 months ago

      SanTan re-worked the glass to no longer infringe on the patent. They similar, but not identical, see here: http://www.santanbrewing.com/hopshock-ipa/

      di Sciacca sells the new style glass with and without the SanTan logo. They ship, so if you want those, give them a buzz: http://www.disciacca.com

      I'm holding onto the old-style glasses with dear life!

      Delete
  4. Hey man! Love your blog. However something that I would really like to see is a post about yeast and at what temperatures you ferment at and if you use different schedules everytime you brew. I have seen that in some posts you talk about ramping up the heat at a later stage in the fermentation and in most it seems just like one temp. It would be really interesting if you would share what you have found in your time spent brewing about this since I am going to start controlling my fermentation temperatures as well soon. Thanx again for an excellent blog!

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    Replies
    1. It's on my short list to write about. Look for something before New Years. Thanks!

      Delete
  5. Hi Scott
    I also love your blogg and I'm looking forward to read more. I'm new in the game, only two batches made, and therefore your advice and info on details are invaluable to get it right from start. One thing I would like to learn more about is the volumes of water you are using (mash and sparge volume) when brewing regular IPA, double IPA and "trippel" IPA. Do you always use the same relation to grains? or do you adjust to get the right OG?
    I'm also happy if you could share the relation you are using (L/Kg, 2.5 - 3).
    I have tried to use beerSmith for back-calculation of volumes with a specific target OG but so far been unable.... don't know if I'm doing the right thing.

    KR Clas (from Sweden)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks!

      I always use the same water ratio which is roughly 1.25 QT/lb. That would be 2.6 L/Kg. With bigger IPAs, and thus more hops, you're going to lose some more wort throughout the process. You can always adjust by making a bigger recipe, say 24L rather than 22L. That would involve using slightly more grain though. I usually just brew my normal batch size, and live with the lower yield. I typically don't need a full 5 gallons of a 10% IPA anyway =)

      Delete
  6. Hi Scott,

    I have read through a great quantity of your cloning articles, and I am quite impressed with your depth of attention to detail/research and your outstanding attenuation! I have been personally troubled with poor attenuation and was hoping you have some hints or tricks that you use. I all grain brew, typically mash around 152, and have been pitching 2l starters of 007 but I am hitting only 63ish % atten. I oxygenate for 2 min with pure O2, use yeast nutrients and temp control with an aquarium heater at 67 typically. Any ideas? Any tips or other would be great.

    Feel free to email me at grovebrewing@gmail.com

    Thank you, FG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that is quite low for 007. The first things that jump into my head are the base malt you're using, and possibly thermometer issues.

      A couple years ago I had a thermometer that read around 5-6* low, and I had similar problems. You might try a force ferment test. Take a small amount of wort from your batch (200ml or so), hit it with O2, and pitch some yeast in it. Keep it agitated until it ferments out, then check the final gravity. That will tell you how fermentable your wort actually is.

      I'd really expect around 75% attenuation from 007 in any 1.050-1.065 beer mashed around 152

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Hello Scott,

    Do you have any pictures of your rig or at least you mash tun? Read that you have a HERMS system. Can you share by elaborating?

    Cheers!

    ~Justin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure. I did a post about my current brew setup a few months back. Here's the link

      http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/11/brew-systemequipment-update.html

      Delete
  9. Your site is a wonderful resource! I'm just starting out and all of your posts are VERY helpful.
    Do you still live in Chandler? I'm in Tempe.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey,

    First let me say I love this blog! I've learned a ton, including great tips on water treatment.

    Now to my question: Have you brewed a "NorCal" bitter yet? I'm really interested in this low ABV, but highly hopped style. Any tips on a recipe and water profile?

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm going to brew a low-gravity (1.035) American Pale ale soon. I didn't know NorCal staked the claim to that style though, haha.

      It's third on my to-brew list. I'm planning on keeping the sulfates down in the water so that the bitterness doesn't come across too harsh. Lots of late hops and dry hops. Nelson, Amarillo, Citra, and CTZ. Should be a fun beer.

      Delete
    2. Awesome, looking forward to it!

      Delete
  11. I am from Brazil, really cool your website and your passion, and your tips.
    Keep up the good job, man!
    Ricardo, from Porto Alegre, Brazil

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi, my husband and I have read all of your posts. We are doing your bud light dry hop test right now, we have 20 bud lights waiting. We will taste them on Sunday. A great idea ! My husband loves your sniffer glasses and I can't find anything that looks like them. They are the ones on the bud light post and the union jack post. I would love to buy him some so any help would be great. Kristie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As luck would have it, I was at the glass shop those came from this weekend, and there were a few there. http://www.disciacca.com/

      I doubt they have them on their website, but you could always call or email them. They are the Vanilla Royale snifters. I think they were $1-2 each.

      Glad you like the blog; thanks for the kind words!

      Delete
  13. Hey Scott, our discussion on reddit convinced me I don't need fancy disconnects, and I just got the ball valves, pump, and tubing together and set it all up yesterday. I'm excited! I was wondering if you had the time if you could separate out your equipment discussion posts the same way you have your recipes. I'd love to delve into them more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, that's a good idea. When I have some time, I'll see if I can organize the posts that aren't recipe related.

      Delete
  14. Scott, love your blog. Brewed a few of your recipes so far, really appreciate your hard work and research. Had a quick question - do you remove each dry hop addition when you add the next, or do you leave them all in and let them accumulate? Oh, and looking forward to Union Jack 2.0. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!

      Usually no, I just pile them in on top of each other. On my recent PTY clone I did remove them. I don't feel the difference is big.

      I'll definitely tackle UJ again. Hopefully next time I don't oxidize it =)

      Delete
  15. Scott, big fan of the blog. I've tried you American Amber and Kiernan's Blonde recipes and loved both! Thinking about the Furry Penguin next. When do you add the dextrose?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome. I add it during the boil, usually at 45min.

      Delete
  16. You've inspired me to fix my blog up. You have a great site. Brew on!

    Tim
    nightbrewer.blogspot.com

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  17. Scott, I stumbled on your site looking for a Union Jack clone and found more info than I could have hoped for. Your description of oxidation is exactly what I've experienced in a couple batches. Everyone describes it as cardboard so I didn't think that was my problem. I thought it went from malty, to carmel/sweet tasting, then musty. I thought it was a mildew or bacteria problem and I stripped down everything from the shank back, still had an issue so I disassembled all my faucets and used some heavy duty cleaner on them. The nasty overshadowing taste creeped back. I'm reevaluating my processes and I think I'm going to start doing secondaries in corny's now like you mentioned. Thank you for posting that and acknowledging exactly what went wrong. I think a lot of guys don't want to talk about it when something goes south like that and that. btw, I plan on doing your Union Jack clone but I'll probably do a single infusion mash @ 152 for 90 minutes. Your site is awesome. Keep up the good work.

    Tim

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one. It was funny because my Pale Ales, and IPAs were fine, but the more hops I threw at a beer, the more I noticed that sweet, sticky, oxidized flavor. Just switching to cornies for secondaries, and purging them with CO2 made a massive difference.

      Thanks for the kind words, and let me know if the corny-secondary switch fixes the oxidation issues.

      Delete
  18. Hello Scott,

    I'm looking to brew something very similar to your hoppy wheat for my next batch...I'd like to make something closer to 4.6% abv than 5.6% abv. Would simply scaling all the grains down to meet my desired OG (and scale IBU down to meet the same BU:GU ratio) yield a similar beer? Anything else I should consider?

    Thanks man! Love your blog as always!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've never quite heard of oxidation described as you describe it (other than say, an old IPA with crystal malts that runs into both aging and possibly oxidation issues where sweetness/prune malt becomes more prominent), and am quite surprised it was noticeable after only four days. has this happened before? did anything else go array (ie diactyl?). i feel like alot of people have such different descriptions of oxidation (ie. not wet cardboard) and am quite curious if any of my IPAs are getting oxidized.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It never happened as fast as it did in that Union Jack recipe. Oxidation is an interesting topic in IPAs, as it can really make a big difference in the quality of the beer.

      Personally, I'd love to intentionally oxidize a bottle of IPA and compare it to a control sample to see what some of the flavor differences are.

      Delete
  20. Congrats on making it into beer advocate. I was reading your enjoy by clone, love it then I noticed you were in beer advocate this month

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks man! That was pretty flipping awesome! They emailed me out of the blue, so I was pretty surprised.

      Delete
  21. Hi Scott - I live in Gilbert, AZ and love Enjoy by. I would love to talk to you some time about making a beer this in depth at home. Yours looks amazing, and I would love to get to that level at some point. Take care - Brian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, drop me an email: bertusbrewing@gmail.com, and we'll grab some beers some time.

      Delete
    2. I just came back to this page. I could not remember which one I commented on. Thanks for the email. I will send you a message soon.

      Delete
  22. Scott, Just want to say Thank You! Your blogs are both informational and inspiring to myself. I was bitten by the home brew bug just this year after trying every craft beer i could get my hands on. With only 5 batches under my belt it's been a very rewarding experience.The information that you share is worth its weight in gold!I think you would be quite successful if you pursued your own micro brewery. Cheers my friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, no worries. I'm glad you're getting something out of it. Keep at it!

      Delete
  23. Hi Scott,

    I am trying to put together a list for your enjoy by clone. What do you recommend for a replacement of the 10ml hop extract @90 boil? Any recommendations on substitutions on belma hops?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 20AAU of any high-alpha bittering hop. 1.25oz of Warrior, Apollo, Bravo, or even CTZ would work really well. They used Super Galena, so you could always use that. Just divide 20 by the AA % to get the amount in ounces to use.

      Delete
    2. Thank you, gathering up the hops for this. Pretty darn excited to brew this one.

      Delete
  24. Hi Scott,

    Stumbled upon your (excellent, btw) blog. Wanted to reach out, I am a fellow Phoenix (Ahwatukee) area homebrewer (albeit newer to it than you). Are you in ASH? I am not yet, but think I need to remedy that shortly. Anyways, just wanted to say hello, hopefully will see you around.

    -Dan Roder(droder1@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, you're probably right down the right. I'm not in ASH, but i hear good things.

      Delete
  25. Your blog is great! do you mind sharing what tools you use to bottle from a keg? I'm especially curious how you bottled your 120 clones and let them age without the fear of oxidation as they aren't bottle conditioned. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. The 120 minute is showing a little oxidation now after 1.5years, but nothing bad. I used a Perlic bottling adapter. BowieFan on Homebrewtalk sells one. For that, I use a short length of beer line attached to a bottling wand with a drilled stopper.

      That let's me bottle beers at my serving pressure (11-12psi)

      Delete
  26. Scott,
    Thanks for all the great info. Just started brewing this year and my 1st all grain batch was your Enjoy By clone. Not easy finding all the hopps but I got them. Made some mistakes along the way but am learning from them. Just went into secondary 3 days ago and am havining problems with regulating tempature. Am using a commercial chest freezer with a Johnson controll unit. Not working too well. How do you regulate your temps so accurately, 2 degree incremints? Will be trying the Citra Burst this weekend. Thanks again for the great blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck on the Citra burst! As for the chest freezer, I've never personally used a Johnson controls unit, but my best friend does. Let me know what settings you have yours set to, and I can probably help. (for reference I use one of those cheap STC1000 controllers from ebay.)

      Delete
  27. Dude the east valley homebrew Facebook page needs you. We have a great amount of people and input. What's our email?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Gentleman,
    Nice to meet you all. Newbie here looking for like minds (from Cave Creek) Still brewing extracts due to space limitations, but have turned immediate friends on to my results and two into starting out on their own brews.

    Cheers.

    P.S. Like the shirt, Scott. Skol.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hello,

    I am really interested in how you secondary into a corny. How do you keep the lid sealed, etc? Any kind of airlock system? Or just sealed up? Does it carb while its in there?

    thx

    Brian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, I just keep the lid sealed. No air-lock system. I usually hit the corny with 5-10psi of CO2 to help the lid seal, so if there's any gas production from the beer, I don't notice it.

      Delete
  30. Scott,

    Sorry about deleting my last post, I figured it out. you mentioned fining with gelatin works in 48 hours. Is it possible to force carbonate at 30 psi for 24 hours after fineing for 48 hours vs the 10-12 day carb up with the 12psi.

    ReplyDelete
  31. One more question. When you dry hop do you sterilize your hops if so how do you do it or is there enough alcohol to kill any germ in the hops ?

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't do anything special to sanitize the hops. I just throw them straight in. I don't think there are many (if any) recorded cases of dry hops infecting a beer.

      Delete
  32. Hi Scott,

    Kal here from TheElectricBrewery.com. I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for the recipes on your site, especially the way you describe them in detail. It's extremely refreshing to find someone who not provides recipes that don't just list the ingredients but also go into details on why they're picked, what they taste like, and so forth. Amazing stuff. Please keep it up as I look forward to reading your posts! I'm also looking forward to trying your Pliny the Younger (2.0) recipe some time in the upcoming weeks. Cheers!

    Kal
    TheElectricBrewery.com ... a step by step guide to building your own brewery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tha is Kal, I really appreciate it. I could totally say the same thing about your site. I didn't necessarily follow your build to a 'T', but I'd be lying if I said I didn't use it as a reference when I put my quasi-electric setup together. The 'why' is just as important as the 'how'.

      Thanks, and good luck with that Younger batch! Cheers!

      Delete
  33. Hey Scott,

    Thank you for your concise, beautiful posts. In particular your well researched (and very tasty!) Pliny the Elder clones and Drink By IPAs have been instrumental in helping me formulate my own recipes. Thank you! Have you ever thought about doing a Avery Uncle Jacobs or Goose Island Bourbon County clone? I currently have a Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrel and would love to do a bourbon based quad but haven't found solid information on how to accomplish these big beers. Any expert advice you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all you do. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oops *stout*...not quad although that could be interesting

      Delete
    2. That would be really tasty, but no, I really haven't had to time tackle either. We just started getting Goose Island beers here in town (probably a results of AB merger). I haven't been able to get my hands on Uncle Jacobs, although we do get Avery beers.

      A Pappy barrel has to be pretty hard to come by, I can see why you want it to be a great beer before going in

      Delete
  34. Excellent blog with lots of good information and recipes. Keep up the good work and good brewing.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Scott,
    You have a great site; keep up the good work. Your recipes look amazing and I want to try your "Enjoy By" clone. Do you base all of your recipes off of 70% efficiency?

    Thanks,

    Adam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most are 78-80%. Higher gravity beers fall to 72-75%. Basically all the efficiencies are calculated at what I needed to hit my target OG

      Delete
  36. Hi! I could not find any contact information here so i have to ask it here: What kind of gallons are you using in your recipes?
    UK, US Dry or US liquid?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Scott, please bear with me this is long
    I used CO2 hop extract and I was trying to bounce HopUnion's calculator off of your calculations. (Why they don't make that damn calculator more usable for home brewers is beyond me...). Any who, for my desired IBU level (~50, 41 from extract and 9 from late hops, calculated via beer smith), the HopUnion calculator said I should add 2.37grams of alpha acid, and considering my extract was labeled 61.1% AA (meaning each gram of extract contains only .611 grams of AA), I figured I should compensate for that by adding an additional 1.45 grams (2.37*0.611=weight needed for 41 IBUs) to arrive at 3.81 grams of extract. Considering the MSDS for this stuff says the density is ~1g/mL, by the calculator (as I read it), I should have added 3.82mL of extract to get 41 IBUs.
    Now I did all these calculations after I had already added 7.5mL to the boil, and the beer was already in the fermentor. I used your basic rule of treating every 5mL of extract as 1oz of 10%AA hop, which I manually plugged into BeerSmith which again gave me a total IBU (using your formula for extract and the late pellet hops) of 51.4 IBU. But with HopUnion's calculator AND Northern Brewers little sheet both disagreeing with your values, I was worried the beer would be too bitter. According to HopUnion and NB, my beer would have closer to 70 IBUs, far too much for an English IPA. So I worried for a few weeks, and then I tasted it. Didn't taste like 70, tasted more like 50. But that wasn't enough for me, so I sent at 12oz sample to HopUnion's own Alpha Analytics: I just got it back this evening, and they say the sample has 52.0 IBUs!!!! So, you were right, and their calculators are jacked.
    First of all, how the hell did you do it? And second of all, cheers! Thanks for the good info on this blog, damn impressive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott,
      Would you be willing to share your IBUs per hop addition (or AA of each hop) in the second version of your Blind Pig clone? I like that you put the total IBUs in the recipe, but it can be hard to hit my calculations.

      Thanks

      Delete
    2. Haha, that's awesome. Glad it worked out! Your math logic follows mine exactly, so ya, glad to here it tastes good.

      Adam: Look in Michael's post above, he listed all the calculations I use for hop extract. The one important thing you need to check (which Michael did), so what the % of AA your extract is. They vary from 50-60%.

      If you assume 55%, you can calculate 1ml of extract as 2AAU. That makes it pretty easy. (5ml of extract ~ 1oz of a 10%AA hop).

      Delete
  38. Hi Scott!

    Your website is truly awesome. I'm taking your 120 minute tips as trying to apply them to my holy grail of homebrew: Avery's Mephistopheles stout. Have you ever attempted it, and do you have any advice that might help? I'd be eternally grateful!

    Oh. And if it works I'd be happy to send you some!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I really appreciate it!

      As for the Meph stout, I've had the beer while in CO, but I've never tried to brew it. I would imagine a lot of the same brewing principles should transfer to that beer as well.

      You might try emailing Avery, as they are really helpful to homebrewers. See if they'll give you some grist details in %'s

      Delete
  39. Hey Scott, love the blog. It's definitely one of my bookmarks at the top of the list in my "Home Brew" folder in Chrome. I look forward to reading more soon!

    Quick question: what temperature do you typically secondary/brite/dry hop your beer at? I like the temperature tracker a lot but it doesn't show any info beyond primary fermentation, and I wanted to control that a little better in my own setup. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mostly room temperature. I'm much less picky about temps once fermentation has stopped and the beer is off the yeast.

      I do crash my beers after dry hopping though, but that's just to get the hops to drop out so I can rack off to keg.

      Delete
    2. Fair enough - that makes sense, and I definitely plan to crash too. Thanks!

      Delete
  40. Hi Scott, love what you're doing with the blog. I'd like to see if you'd be interested in doing some (paid) guest blogging, but I can't find your contact information. Feel free to email me at david at localbeerblog dot com if you're interested.

    Thanks and cheers!

    David

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hey Scott...Just wanted to let you know...Your site rocks!!! I too can't stop...LOL

    I have a question regarding the use of gelatin...I just made my version of a Double Jack, 6 gal batch. OG is 1.106 and so far my FG is at 1.020. I cold crashed it ~ 36F on 11/19 and fined it with gelatin 11/23. I've used your reccomendation befor and haven't had an issue...right now there's a significant clarity change (good thing) in the first 7 inches, but the last couple days it hasn't moved at all. Any suggestions??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm not sure to be honest with you. I usually add gelatin in kegs, so I really can't see what's going on. How cloudy is the bottom portion?

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply Scott...clear as candy the top 7 inches, below that it's real cloudy. I kegged it Tuesday 12/10/13 and force carbonated it. tried it last night, it's amazing, as it warms to around 42, it clears up...perhaps it was chill hazed in the carboy...

      Delete
  42. The site is great and a fantastic resource! Just brewed for the first time this past week and my Enjoy By clone is fermenting now! I want to buy hops in bulk, but not sure which ones to target. I gravitate to IPA's and Stouts. Any thoughts? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Hey Scott question, on your recipes you post six gallons, post or pre boil??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Six post-boil, usually leaving about .5gal of trub in the kettle, and carrying 5.5gal into the fermenter.

      Delete
  44. My brother found this site and I've enjoyed your trials and tribulations. Keep up the good work and info.
    Brew on!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Hey Scott , great post and recipes . Just 1 question about your recipe ibu's - do you calculate using tinseth or rager ? Thank you for all the great info

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tinseth. It really doesn't matter which one you use, so long as you know how that number works for you. From using Tinseth enough, I know what 60IBU will equate to in the finished product. I couldn't tell you exactly what 60IBU in Rager would taste like.

      So just use what you're comfortable with, and stick with that one.

      Delete
  46. Great Blog. Quick question for you, if I were to scale your Pliny the Younger 2.0 recipe to 10 gallons, could you recommend the quantity of hop additions and the updated quantity of hop extract? I've never used hop extract before so, I'm not sure how to go about increasing it. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hey Scott had a question for you about using the Torani syrups...I see you have used the sugar free ones...I tried just adding some to a glass after just for taste testing but the sugar free ones won't mix/dissolve they foam and clump/separate but the cane sugar ones mix fine....did you use sugar free ones before they changed to splenda?..if yours had the splenda will they (sugar free ones)mix OK during bottling?.....and if not and I have to use regular cane syrups can I use completely in place of carbonating sugar?...Thanks in advance..your posts and blog are great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes, I haven't used those in awhile. It very well might have been before they switched to splenda. You can use the full sugar ones, but you need to be VERY mindful of how much sugar you are adding, and the effect it'll have on carbonation.

      Delete
  48. First, thanks for everything on the site. Great info. Second, you have any posts regarding how you carbonate your beers? PSI, length of time, etc. again, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just carbonate them at serving pressure (12PSI) for roughly 2 weeks. They're fairly drinkable after a week.

      Delete
  49. Hey Scott-

    Have you investigated Lagunitas Sucks?
    Any ideas past the few recipes on the net?
    Thanks;

    ReplyDelete
  50. Scott,

    I have a couple questions I'd like to ask you about the SS Brewing Dry Hopper and clearing/transporting kegs. Would you prefer email or here? howe.brandonatgmail.com if you would like to email.

    Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just drop me an email, bertusbrewery@gmail.com

      Delete
  51. So enjoyyour posts and looking fwd to try some recipes. ESPECIALLY PTY! I cant stand waiting in line for that necter, especially since we used to get the gauntlet of RR IPAS (younger, elder, RR IPA and Blind Pig) on tap and turn PTY down cause of the high octane!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Scott, thanks for the candid, honest experience you blog about. It's really nice to go back and see all the batches you've done and your successes, trials, and frustrations. I have read as much up-to-date as I could about your current equipment and while you mentioned you preferred gas on your boil and mash tun and I am looking to get my setup soon and I have been leaning towards electric and I wanted to get your take due to your honesty in your blog. I have no one in my brew circle who uses electric (all gas setups). Most online guys claim once they went electric they never went back to gas but you are one of the few I have found that has. Did you have caramelization issues or anything. Thanks for the site and any feedback you have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question. There's multiple reasons I switched (keep in mind I still use electric for my HLT and HERMS).

      A. I moved. My new setup doesn't necessitate, nor really facilitate a full electric setup.

      B. Cleaning/Moving/Dealing with pots that have 10/3 cables attached is a pain in the ass.

      C. Scrubbing the element is a bit more work.

      D. I did notice slightly higher amounts of caramelization in 5 gallon batches of high gravity beers.


      I think it's ridiculous for electric fans to claim that increased caramelization isn't possible. We're boiling sugar solutions; malliard reactions are going to happen. In my experience, with my kettle and element, I found high gravity beers showed slightly higher amounts of caramelization.

      It's really not much of an issue and very slight, so I wouldn't let that deter you from going with an electric setup.

      Delete
  53. Scott, big fan of your brewing contributions. I'm upgrading my brewery a bit and had a ? about filtering your hops out of your wort. I am tossing around the idea of moving from a copper immersion chiller to either 1) a plate chiller or 2) a counter flow chiller. I'm leaning towards the plate chiller for maximum water efficiency (I hate wasting so much water with my immersion chiller) and also for reduced chilling time. What scares me is clogging the new pump and/or plate chiller with hops material. So my ? is, in your experience, is a simple hop bag or hop spider used in the BK enough to run those two appliances safely and without clogging? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's literally the reason I don't use a plate chiller. I just can't imagine having to deal with the hops, and I don't like to restrict my hops during the boil.

      Counterflow chillers are a little more forgiving in that regard. I haven't had too many issues with mine, even in the hoppiest beers. While I recirculate my wort post boil, I pump it back through a strainer bag as it's going back into the kettle. That keeps the vast majority of the hops out of the fermenter, while allowing them to roam free while it boils.

      Delete
  54. Scott great site I really appreciate all the hard work you put in to it. I was wondering if you ever attempted the Two Hearted Ale clone. I have a pretty good load of centennial laying around and would love your take on this beer. Again many thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been planning on it, I just never got around to it. The basic gist of it, is very little Centennial during the boil, and 3-4 ounces dry hopped. I think the big key to that beer is getting the yeast right though.

      One day I'll tackle it.

      Delete
  55. hi Scott

    any plans to clone Knee Deep's SIMTRA?

    IMO one of the best! so damn tasty and 11.25

    Please brew it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like that beer, but man, $10 for a 22oz bomber hurts. I kind of wrote that beer off out of principle =). I might give it a try though.

      Delete
    2. haha! yeah a little pricey...but i dont care...the more i drink this beer ...the more i love it.....lately it has taken first place over Pliny the Elder and Enjoy by which are 2 of my favs

      hope you decide to give it a go....id be interested to see if you can get it on the first try!

      question: how will you get the recipe if you decide to try it?

      Delete
  56. Thank you Scott for the information. I'm still relatively new to my brewing system so it's just nice to learn and hear from different brewers. Thanks again and keep brewing those great beers . cheers

    ReplyDelete
  57. Scott - your IPA recipes and blog posts are unreal, and it seems most of your beers come out beautifully. I'm wondering a couple things about your process:
    1) What kind of water profile are you brewing your IPAs with?
    2) Do you always add acid malt even if you recipe doesn't have it explicitly listed?
    3a) Dry hopping with pellets?
    3b) Have you dry-hopped in the keg before? (I'm having oxidation issues with my IPAs and I think it's happening during dry-hopping)
    Thanks again for blogging. Your site, as many have mentioned, is an amazing resource. I first came across it in search of an EnjoyBy clone, and am looking forward to brewing your recipe.
    Cheers,
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1: RO water with 1.5tsp of gypsum and .5tsp of calcium chloride added back per 5gal. I include 2% acid malt as well.
      2. For literally every recipe, unless there's a big percentage of roasted malts (stouts, porters, black ipa).
      3a. Yup.
      3b: Yup. It's absolutely the way to go. Much more of a pain in the ass, as there's more to clean. But you'll notice an immediate difference in the dry hop quality of your beers (I know I did). It does waste a ton of CO2, but it's worth it.

      Thanks for reading!

      Delete
    2. Scott - thanks for the response, and a timely one. I'm dry-hopping in the keg for first time tonight. Seems like opinions differ on whether or not to dry hop and just leave 'em in for the life of the keg or dry hop a few days at room temp, then remove them and chill. I think I'm going to dry hop at room temp for five days then remove and put in the kegerator.

      I take it if you dry hop with pellets in the keg you jumper to another keg for serving? Thanks again for blogging and have fun in Europe.
      Cheers,
      Mike

      Delete
  58. Scott,

    Glad to see you up and active again.

    I just used your crayon/hot glue method to wax some bottles over the weekend, and they turned out fantastic. I blogged about it, and gave you full credit at my bottle waxing post.

    ReplyDelete
  59. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hey Scott,
    I just wanted to give you a heads up that www.BertusBrewery.com has been featured in the 2015 HomeBrew Blog Awards.

    http://www.brewingforbeginners.com/best-homebrewing-blogs-2015/

    Congratulations and keep up the good work with Bertus Brewery!!

    Cheers,
    Landon

    ReplyDelete
  61. Hello Scott,
    Came across a post of yours I believe on homebrewtalk regarding a Four Peaks Kilt Lifter clone and wanted to follow up if actually recall writing this. On the site you listed the following:

    9.5lbs 2-Row
    1lb Crystal 80L
    8oz Carapils
    2oz Roasted Barely (This is the 300L RB. If you have 500L cut it back to 1.5oz, or maybe even 1oz)
    0.5-1oz Peat Smoked Malt. This part is personal preference; I like a little less peat (0.5oz). Don't go over 1oz, this stuff is potent.
    1.5oz Kent Goldings @ 60min
    Mash @ 151*

    I wanted to see if you have any recomendations for making a partial mash or know of any good clone recipes for Four Peaks Kilt Lifter?

    I was recently given two kegs, and am trying to figure out how to convert them to a mash tun and hot liqueur container, do you know of any good shops in Phoenix that might do this?

    Thanks and its nice to meet a fellow Arizonian!!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Love your website and all that you do! My reference for a bunch of clones (that have turned out great btw). Just one thing though, all your articles other than your brew day posts are nowhere to be found on your website. I can only find them through google. Something you should look into!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Curious; what is your carbonation method? details?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I pretty much 100% of the time force carbonate.

      Delete
  64. Hi Scott, love this site. Please consider getting a twitter account to follow you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have one: @bertusbrewery. I really don't use it for much, but blogger does send a tweet every time a new post goes up.

      Delete
  65. Hey there Scott! Came across your site looking for a fresh squeezed clone recipe and am loading it into beersmith right now to brew tomorrow. My buddies little brother died around this time last year at 25 and he was a big fan of fresh squeezed so brewing my own version for them is my brewers way of honoring him.. thanks for the direction! I have some family that lives in Chandler- hope you're enjoying the heat!
    -Mick

    ReplyDelete
  66. Hey Scott. Really like what you're doing with this blog. As a newbie homebrewer whose favorite beer is IPA there's a lot of great information here for me. Can't wait to try some of your recipes.
    When you write about IPAs, you like to explain why you chose a certain hop or what your thoughts were behind the malt bill. Do you think you could do a post where you try to put down the ideas behind those decisions on paper? A kind of "malt and hop best practice for IPAs"?

    Cheers
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, I'm probably due for a post about that. For the most part different malts and different hops have their different purposes. Beyond that I'm just arbitrarily picking ingredients for a certain flavor I'm looking for. I'll see if I can get something written up soon.

      Delete
    2. Gotcha. Would be awesome if you get some of the rules you're applying naturally in your head down onto paper for us newbies :) Thanks!

      Delete
  67. New Guy question. I was reading your post about your Firestone walker double jack clone. What did you mean by:
    2oz Warrior @ 90
    1oz ea Centennial/Cascade/Chinook @ 30
    2.5oz ea Centennial/Cascade @ 0

    What did you mean by @90, @30 & @0. I get that they are hop additions, but when?

    Thanks,
    JD from Eastern PA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @90 means "at 90 minutes left in the boil".
      So Warrior for 90min, Centennial/Cascade/Chinook for 30min, Centennial/Cascade at the end of the boil. You usually let the @0 hop additions steep for a while in the hot wort.

      Delete
    2. CHLAB has it correct. The numbers indicate when you add the hops with respect to how much time there is left to boil. So the Warrior goes in with 90 minutes left to boil. Also known as the beginning of the boil. The 30 minute addition is when there is 30 minutes left to go (so 60 minutes in), and the @0 means you add those hops right as you turn the flame off on the kettle, or at the end of the boil.

      Hope that helps.

      Delete

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