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By added colour do you mean darkening? Is the step mash used more for under-modified malts to get more out of them?

I've seen a few references here and there to decoction mashing. I think I get the procedure, but what are the benefits for it. Is it just for certain grains or styles? What does it do to the final outcome? Thanks, Wreck.

I usually just give it a couple of days. I use a 2L coke bottle, and squeeze it before putting the cap on. It pops out after 2 days or so. Seems to work ok.

Cheers Doc.

Thanks TDA. Does anyone know where to get CaraAroma from in Sydney. I've checked out the ESB and Country Brewer web sites and couldn't find it there. Or does it have another name that I don't know about? Thanks, Wreck.

I know what you mean Snow about the grains. Why is it so hard to find Special B? Given that there seem to be a few guys on the home brew sites who are big Belgian fans, you'd think there would some demand for it.

Don't knock the monks. Some of the best beers I've ever tried. But to each their own. The red cap Chimay sounds like the Rouge. Not as good as the Bleue for me, but still a good drop. I've yet to try their Tripel. Still trying to perfect my belgian brews. Won't have to worry about the dollars...

Aren't they just different Crystal Malts though? (Not that I've seen anywhere selling Special B )

What about for Belgian beers? Doesn't the crystal give you some of those caramel flavours? Or is there another way to achieve this?

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2004.

I remember reading somewhere that they use a lager yeast for their pilsener and bavarian lager. All the rest I think are their regular ale yeast. 17-25 sounds a bit high though.

What happened to Crystal is evil? :P

I was expecting about 75%, from the White Labs specs, which is pretty much what I got. That raises another question. When looking at the sweet/bitter balance, should I compare the FG to IBU rather than OG, as a higher FG would imply more residual sugars. And one last question, with the...

The problem I had with looking at the beer style was that you were given a range for OG and IBU. If I ended up with the top end of the range for OG and the lower for IBU, I would have a sweeter beer than the other way around. Thanks JM, the ratios are what I'm talking about. I guess its just a...

I used the White Labs Trappist. Attenuation was pretty good, but it was still a highish FG from memory. I guess what I'm asking is if I put together a recipe, which is going to have an OG of say 1050, and IBU of say 20, assuming things like attenuation and extraction efficiency aren't a...

Just wondering if there's some method of calculating the sweetness/bitterness balance. I know how to calculate the IBUs and the OG I'm expecting, but not sure how they go together. For example, if I throw in 25 IBUs of hops into a wort with an OG of 1050, that would have more of an effect than...

Wasn't he the runner up? Or couldn't Osama be found to accept the award?

Are there some simple things to do to improve your mash efficiency? I've only done a couple of mashes so far, and I think I've been getting around 55%.

Blondes are nothing but trouble....

I usually squeeze the coke bottle tight before I put the cap on. After a couple of days, the bottle expands out again. Mike, I think using the dried yeast as well would defeat the purpose. If it's the more active, it's numbers will probably be much larger sooner, and hence dominate, so the...