All Questions
2
votes
2answers
11 views
Recycling/Reusing Bottles?
Are Glass Beer Bottles safe to recycle/reuse? Since I can't know who drank out of it and what could be in it, I want to be sure that this is safe to do.
What type of disinfection reagent would I use, ...
1
vote
0answers
6 views
Getting custom beer crates in the US?
I'm about to embark on my first journey to home brewed beer, but as a German, there is one critical ingredient that makes a beer a beer: A Beer Crate, or Bierkasten as we call it:
However, I have ...
4
votes
1answer
33 views
Flanders Red from Brewing Classic Styles
I am interested in brewing the Flanders red that is found in Brewing Classic Styles. Jamil mentions using the Wyeast 3763 or WLP655 and leaving it sit for a year until the pellicle forms then falls ...
2
votes
2answers
64 views
Premature Kegging - leave batch in keg or rack to carboy?
I kegged a batch of hefeweizen on Sunday morning and force carbonated. My all-grain recipe was a combination of several that I found online, but largely an original creation. The plan was to leave the ...
1
vote
2answers
43 views
What is causing a bad flavor after cold conditioning?
I've had something happen to a couple batches and can't figure out what's going on. What happens is a major flavor change after the first two weeks of primary, but for the worse. Normally my beers ...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Apple cider addition
Just added some cinnamon sticks to apple cider that was in a better bottle for 3 weeks. The airlock started to bubble once every 20 seconds, does this mean I have re-started fermentation? I plan to ...
4
votes
2answers
54 views
FG for high alc content
I made a Thomas Coopers Stout with 1.1kg of dark malt and 400g of maltodexrin and used the yeast that come with it. I got a SG of 1046 and FG of 1024 any tips to get the FG lower to get a higher alc. ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Priming a Tap-A-Draft system
I just got a Tap-A-Draft system (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/tap-a-draft-system.html) because I do not have the room for a full kegging system.
The TAD came with 3 6L PET bottles. I have 2 5 ...
4
votes
3answers
100 views
How Long Will a Keg Hold Carbonation if Disconnected from the CO2 Tank?
How long will a keg hold carbonation if it is disconnected from the CO2 tank?
Does the type of keg matter?
3
votes
2answers
66 views
Wine yeast for beer?
Has anyone ever used wine yeast for a batch of beer or a beer yeast for a batch of wine? I brew beer and my neighbor makes wine and we have been toying with the idea of trying to make a batch of our ...
2
votes
3answers
74 views
How do I get CO2 flowing into keg?
I have just kegged my beer and connected the regulator to the CO2 supply. I turn it on and I get no pressure. On my regulator the needle has moved up to the top of the "buy more" zone, but on the ...
3
votes
3answers
81 views
Will a hop vine still grow if the tip has been removed?
I took a shot at growing some hops this year. Everything has gone fine so far, and I have healthy plants coming up about 6" tall now. But, today while I was out, it appears a rabbit came by and ate ...
4
votes
3answers
101 views
Sour Off flavor
Our last 4 or 5 batches have had a distinctive sour flavor to them even though each has been a completely different style (wit, brown, 2 stout, hefe).
What are the common reasons to get a sour off ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
Do I have to prime if I'm force carbonating?
Time has slipped and I have a brew that needs to be tapped on Saturday. It was in primary for 10 days, and has been in secondary for about 3 weeks now. This will be my first time kegging. If I am ...
3
votes
2answers
75 views
Is this a stuck fermentation or did I screw up the mash?
So, a little under a week ago, I brewed a goodly sized stout (1.069 OG) and when I mashed it I ended up missing my mash temp by about 4 degrees. (I was aiming for 158 and ended up with about 162-163.) ...
3
votes
3answers
119 views
Any reason not to lower a hydrometer into my secondary?
Is there any reason not to simply lower a hydrometer into my carboy during secondary fermentation, so that I can monitor gravity just by peeking in with a flashlight?
I'm thinking about doing this ...
3
votes
3answers
134 views
What amounts and times should I use to clean/sterilize my brewing equipment?
There are actually 2 questions here. The first one is more of an opinion (although I would like to know), but the correct answer will only be awarded for the second question.
I have been researching ...
5
votes
3answers
185 views
How do I know if my beer is safe to drink?
I'm just starting out with homebrewing. I've ordered a starter set and am digging into some books. My primary concern right now is safety -- I don't want to accidentally make my friends and family ...
1
vote
2answers
61 views
Should I factor out sugar-to-alcohol conversion in stage 2 of a three-wort batch?
I am planning to make a tripel with OG near 1.085. I need to make a strong starter before subjecting yeast to that kind of gravity. I have read that 1.040 is a good gravity for making a starter. So I ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Slight fizz in beer after 6 days in the fermenter - game over?
I put a batch on last Sunday, started off with a crazy high reading on the hydrometer (around 1080 when I was expecting 1040ish according to the kit) - though I suspect that was because I drew a ...
1
vote
2answers
92 views
Does adding extra sugar to dark ales (e.g. stouts) better their flavour?
I've heard anecdotal accounts of people adding extra sugar (more than the recommended amounts) to their secondary fermentation when brewing dark ales such as stouts and porters. Apparently this can be ...
4
votes
2answers
96 views
I boiled my PVC thermometer probe - health concerns?
I have a digital thermometer with a probe. The probe is stainless steel but the cable and probe housing are apparently made of PVC. In my last brew I just submerged the whole probe in the boiler ...
3
votes
3answers
75 views
Head Retention improves with bottle conditioning?
I brewed an oatmeal stout and bottled it about 2 months ago. Most of the batch was drank within a few weeks of bottling. Tonight I opened the last bottle. This pour had significantly better head ...
8
votes
5answers
127 views
Does suspended yeast contribute to high SG?
I've got a SMaSH beer (Baird Maris Otter and EKG) finishing in primary. It's been fermenting for just over a week. Starting Gravity was 1.046. I mashed at 154F for 60 minutes. Fermented with WY1335 ...
2
votes
2answers
64 views
What differentiates the lag phase from fermentation?
When making a starter, the intent is to make yeast. We use stirplates in part to continually oxidize the wort, enabling the yeast to multiply.
In this question about starter oxidation, one of the ...
5
votes
3answers
95 views
Does dry hopping affect attenuation?
Does the anti-microbial affects of hops affect yeast activity and therefore attenuation when dry hopping near the end of primary fermentation?
4
votes
6answers
195 views
Fastest method of wort chilling
I've heard of many different methods of chilling wort,
What is the fastest?
And what's the best cost vs speed solution?
2
votes
1answer
78 views
How long can you store StarSan in its concentrated form?
I recently got back into brewing after a 5 year hiatus, and noticed that my StarSan is a little darker in color than the stuff they sell at the LHBS. The guy at the LHBS said it can lose its potency, ...
1
vote
2answers
73 views
Yeast Starter blew out!
So I made a 2L starter with 2 Wyeast 1056 smack packs, yeast nutrient, a shot of O2 at the beginning and intermittent shaking.
Last night it was going strong and this morning it had a nice high ...
5
votes
1answer
129 views
My first brew tastes a bit like champage. Did I do something wrong?
I just got finished with my very first brew! It is a blonde that I made from a Mr. Beer kit. It smells and tastes good, but I was a bit worried because it also has sort of a champagne taste. Did I do ...
1
vote
3answers
108 views
Brew kettle ball valve straining
I have a 10 gallon brew kettle with a ball valve. I have used it a couple times, and now own a counter-flow chiller. I noticed that all of the hot-break at the bottom of my kettle really seems to gunk ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
Storing a counter-flow chiller
I just got a counter-flow chiller put together and have used it a couple times. Needs some tweaks, but man it really chilled the wort!
After I was done I ran some hot water through it and tried to ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
How to get rid of gas from mead?
I have brewed 5L of mead (1 part honey to 3 parts water). After 9 months I can no longer see any sedimentation in the bottle, however when I taste the mead I can feel it's a little sparkling (besides ...
1
vote
2answers
102 views
How to properly keep a warm kegged beer (short term)
This is a combination keg/carbonation/beer storage question.
I have only fridge/freezer room for either a carboy or my (currently 1) keg.
I have about half of the corny keg left of a light cream ...
5
votes
1answer
84 views
Any need to stop yeast before kegging?
I'm brewing to keg for the first time, finally. I am planning to force carbonate and was wondering: Are there was any steps I need to take to stop any active yeast before putting it in the keg and ...
3
votes
1answer
93 views
What's the minimum safe immersion time to sanitize something with StarSan?
How long should I keep something immersed in StarSan/swish it around for to ensure that it's as sanitized as I could reasonably hope it'll be?
I know everyone has a rule of thumb for this (I use 1min ...
2
votes
2answers
81 views
Yeast Starter for a “Big Beer”
So I'm doing my first "Big Beer" this weekend.
It's an Imperial IPA with an estimated OG of 1.096.
I'm using Wyeast 1056 with yeast nutrient, a shot of pure O2 and intermittent shaking.
Using ...
3
votes
2answers
172 views
Yeast for very high gravity (1.138) stout
I'm planning to brew a very high gravity stout. I'm expecting an OG between about 1.118 and 1.138 depending on how much my efficiency suffers. I've done this before with decent results, but I think I ...
5
votes
2answers
103 views
Benefits and drawbacks to different tubing types?
We're making some big upgrades to our homebrew system and one of them involves moving everything to 1/2" fittings and barbs. This means we need 1/2" tubing that will easily and reliably fit on the ...
4
votes
1answer
63 views
Additions to hard apple cider
Just put 5 gallons of hard apple cider in a better bottle to ferment. I would like to add some cinnamon, is there a good time and do I have to do anything special when I add it.
5
votes
1answer
84 views
Does white honey have greater effect on gravity?
A few weeks ago I made my first mead (actually a braggot). I ordered a 12 lb bucket of raw honey. To my surprise, when I opened it the honey inside was a creamy, almost foamy opaque white. It didn't ...
2
votes
2answers
122 views
Hard lemonade secondary fermentation
I successfully fermented a must of lemonade, dextrose and honey with EC 1118. It is good but very dry. I racked it into a secondary and added more lemonade concentrate for sweetness. My problem is I ...
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Can I make urwagwa?
Urwagwa is a popular beer in Rwanda made from bananas, and I'd like to brew some myself. The recipes and methods I've read online have some very traditional methods (e.g. Bury the bananas for a ...
0
votes
2answers
109 views
What brewing calendar tools are available?
I'm going to be bringing several styles to a wedding, but this same question would work if I wanted to brew several styles for a competition. We have a given date for the group of beers to be ready ...
2
votes
2answers
90 views
Adding strawberries to half of a batch - too much oxidation in carboy?
I am currently fermenting a blonde ale, and I was thinking of adding strawberries after primary fermentation. However I don't want a full batch of stawberry ale, so I plan to rack only half of the 5 ...
0
votes
0answers
48 views
Can carbonate reducing solution lead to off flavours?
I live in an area with very high alkalinity ~ 320 mg / l CaCO3. I am planing on using Carbonate Reducing Solution CRS to bring the alkality down to acceptable levels for pale ales. To lower the ...
4
votes
2answers
76 views
How to safely remove mold from corks?
I have a mead that has been sitting bottled in a cool underground closet for about a year, and the corks appear to have some mold growing on the outside. Apparently the closet is a bit more moist ...
5
votes
1answer
71 views
Kegging and less-than-keg-sized batches
What are the drawbacks (if any) of using a 4-gallon batch with a 5-gallon kegging system? And what if the batch is only two gallons?
5
votes
1answer
127 views
How to identify a brett contamination
I brewed a single hop American pale ale with palisade. It's not the greatest beer in the world, but seemed passable to me. Another brewer tasted it and thought he picked up brett in it. Palmer ...
4
votes
2answers
153 views
What is a protein rest?
I am new to all grain brewing and mashing, however I am about to brew a Belgian Witbier (Northern Brewer all grain kit) and I have a question about the mash schedule.
I have only done a single step ...
