Recent content by Brian Pylant

If this is Weyermann Caraaroma, it's absolutely delicious. Fish accidentally put a sack into the regular aromatic malt bin @ PHO a couple of years ago and I fell in love with it and use it in a lot of my amber/brown/black beers. It's not particularly sweet, rather it's dry and toasty -- I...

I'll be there (I'll actually be in California for four or five days ahead of the conference, visiting my dad in Temecula). Got the conference hotel booked for Wed - Sun My plan (as of now, anyway) is to drive down to San Diego on Wednesday, with that afternoon and evening for hitting some...

Oooh, good to know. Didn't realize anywhere did refills other than PHO. (When I've needed CO2 and couldn't go to PHO, I took the tank to South Jersey Welding on Rt. 38 for an exchage.)

I will admit to buying some equipment online, but not because of price-shopping -- it's usually more a matter of wanting things I cannot get locally.. For example, at the time I bought them, neither my SS BrewBucket nor my Anvil Foundry were available at PHO. (Although they started carrying both...

Fermented in Hammonton is still open, and there is PHO in West Philly, BYOB in Havertown, and of course Keystone in Montgomeryville. And a few others if you want to drive even further (such as Artisan out in Downingtown, and Brew Hardware up in No. Jersey, etc.) I find it utterly stunning that...

+1, I use at least a little bit of oak in every mead, even the ones where I don't want any actual oak character. Just a few days with the oak will "round off" the alcohols and other sharp flavors, and provide just a slight bit of tannin to help offset the sweetness. As to how long, you will...

Got one going right now... the recipe was heavily based on the Brewing Classic Styles recipe (I wanted to use significantly more Vienna malt, but PHO literally had 8oz left so that's what I used!), and I used Imperial Kaiser yeast (my first choice was Dieter, but they had just sold the last of...

Just a heads-up, if any of you are planning to brew anything in the next few weeks that requires a Wyeast strain, you'll want to get it now before stock runs out. I don't see anything on their website, but this was posted from a retail account:

Can't hurt... and in the bigger picture, it's good to know that when the pump is run dry, or is making noises, it's not actually the motor but the impeller (which is much cheaper to replace!)

Well, I could've still gotten through the brew session, but I've come to really rely on my pump due to my bad back. I also wasn't looking forward to shelling out $200 for a replacement. The story: Setting up for today's session, I plugged in the pump, with the switch OFF (or so I thought) and...

John, I assume this is the mead you let me try at the anniversary party? If so, I think it would be a great candidate for carbonation; it was already bright and refreshing; IMO carbonation would only enhance that further. Let us know how it turned out!

No need for that at all, we routinely judge petillant and sparkling meads. And I would subjectively argue that certain styles -- dry traditional, for example -- often present better to the judges if carbonated. I will say that there is a great misunderstanding, amongst judges and entrants...

Anyone using these in their kegerator? I'm about to embark on a complete re-do of the interior of mine (new main regulator, four-way secondary, all new lines and fittings, plus flow control faucets) and I'm considering switching to these rather than traditional barbs and MFLs. Just wondering if...

Wow, sorry to hear about all of that, but glad to hear you're OK! Was just thinking about you, I had to drive down to Ridgley MD for work today... Hope to see you again before too long!