A fermented beverage where the majority of the fermentable sugars are derived from malted grains via mashing.
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220 views
Aging a beer bottled from the keg
I have a Russian Imperial Stout that I want to age for a full year. I currently have it in kegs, uncarbonated. I like to bottle from kegs that have been force carbonated due to the lack of sediment ...
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2answers
343 views
Barleywine fermentation is slow. How can I speed it up?
My barley wine has been brewing for two weeks it should have be 1108 after 4-6 days its currently still fermenting at 1025.Its been at a constant temp of 22 degrees. However when yeast was added it ...
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2answers
338 views
Is re-pitching essential after cold crashing?
If I'm cold crashing a batch to clear it up, is it essential to re-pitch when bottling or will there be sufficient residual yeast for carbonation?
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1answer
57 views
Disconnecting a keg
I have a mobile bar business and wanted to add draught beers to our menu. I am a layman with regards to this but I understand how the basic system works using a CO2 (or 70/30 CO2 & Nitrogen) and ...
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1answer
112 views
Are there any particular steps to fixing a batch of beer with extra trub / hot-break, or should it settle (as best as possible) on its own?
I made a silly mistake using a wine degasser to aerate my wort. After cooling the wort I aerated in the brew-kettle, with trub/hot-break still present, rather than racking to a carboy before ...
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2answers
666 views
How long will recipe kits with the yeast keep fresh?
I use recipe kits to brew five gallon batches of homebrew and would like to purchase a kit and keep it around during the winter to have when we are snowbound. My question is how long will they be good ...
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1answer
124 views
Long cooling before pitching — aerate now or later?
This is a follow-up to this question: Long cooling before pitching -- read that for background.
I aerate to add oxygen to my wort by pouring back and forth between buckets. If I wait before ...
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3answers
496 views
Munich and Vienna Malts - Dullness
I don't have a whole lot of experience (I've been brewing all-grain for less than a year) but I've found that every beer I've made with Munich or Vienna malt (usually 2 - 4 pounds in a 6-gallon batch) ...
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2answers
418 views
What is the advantage of krausening?
Krausening seems to be a fair bit of work to the homebrewer with very little return. So, what advantages does krausening bring, other than not having to add any additional sugar to the beer for ...
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2answers
220 views
Does preboiling oak cubes kill the brettanomyces
I have a Flanders Brown ready to be kegged for aging, and I'm going at add some oak cubes for the flavor and oxygen and bugs. I've heard it's a good idea to boil the cubes first, but I feel like that ...
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1answer
235 views
Malt extract fermentability
Does anyone know of resources that specify the fermentability of malt extracts like muntons and coopers?
Has anyone done a forced fermentation on these extracts who has results they are willing to ...
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2answers
473 views
How do I get larger bubbles in my finished beer?
I keg and force carbonate, and my beer has really fine bubbles. Is there something that I can do (turn up the pressure, maybe) that will give me larger, coarser bubbles in the finished beer? Thanks!
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1answer
314 views
I think I ruined my first brew
After years of finding excuses to not home brew, I finally gave in and bought a starter kit from Brewers Best and ingredients for my first batch; Muntons Connoisseurs Export Pilsner.
Anyway, it's ...
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2answers
145 views
Covering your beer during conditioning…??
My first batch is conditioning at room temp right now. I used brown bottles, but threw in a few greens and two cleat just for experimentation..... I have them in a fairly dark room but also covered ...
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3answers
1k views
help: Beer smells bad
This is my 4th batch (I'm new), but first Belgian ale. Kit from here: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/flat-tire.html
I also did another batch at the same time (different kit) and it seems fine and ...
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1answer
151 views
Anyone have experience doing a decoction with a pressure cooker?
How were the results compared to a traditional decoction? Any tricks to know about?
Edit: For some context, see here.
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1answer
232 views
How to garde a Biere De Garde?
Biere De Garde recipes seem to generally recommend a period of 4 to 6 weeks of cold storage, essentially lagering. My brewing experience consists solely of fermenting ales, so this is somewhat ...
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2answers
533 views
Using Granular Yeast in a Lager
Will dry yeast do any good when brewing a lager or is it necessary that you use a liquid one? I am talking about making some kind of starter with the yeast, not just pitching it into the fermenter. ...
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5answers
219 views
Recipe for Brewing?
I am just getting into brewing, I have used Fiesta Brew kits, from Canada, and produced some decent beers. I am looking to learn the complete science behind brewing and have done some research and ...
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2answers
246 views
Transfer to secondary.
I am transfering my beer to a secondary fermenter (better bottle carboy). Do I need to shake or stir it to help the fermentation in the secondary!
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4answers
4k views
Does yeast choice matter as much in ginger beer?
I'm about to brew a ginger beer and was wondering if the choice of yeast is as important in a ginger beer, where the ginger dominates the flavour.
I've got the yeast-under-the-cap packet and a US-05 ...
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votes
4answers
162 views
Hop utilization
I've been thinking, especially after brewing my last IPA, about getting the most out of my hops. The higher the SG of your wort, the less you get from your hops, so the more you have to put in. I've ...
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2answers
2k views
How do you convert between SRM and Lovibond?
For instance, if a grain is specified at 300 SRM, what is the equation to convert that to Lovibond? What is the equation to convert it back?
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2answers
630 views
Gooey Yellow-White film after fermentation slows when using lactose
I currently have a Young's Double Chocolate Stout clone (extract & specialty grains) in the primary. I got the recipe from one of the responses to this forum question. (You have to be logged in ...
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2answers
164 views
Will a cold steep extract the necessary elements from adjunct grains?
I'm wanting to brew a dry stout, but I am trying to save myself some time, so I am using extract, and ran across some discussions on cold steeping specialty malts. I'm fairly certain that a ~24h ...
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4answers
1k views
How can I get beer out of a keg without CO2?
I've run out of gas; how can i get the beer out of the keg?
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5answers
781 views
What would make a good mulled ale?
I just came back from a festival that was serving mulled cider and mulled wine. I've heard of a few mulled beers, such as buttered beer, so I know people must make them. Has anyone out there tried ...
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3answers
2k views
How to brew strong beers?
I lived in Belgium for 2 years. Once I was in a beer brewing factory, where they said that brewing good beers is a 6 months process.
Is it really true?
So, how to brew strong beers (~9%)? Like for ...
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3answers
1k views
How to maximize the maple syrup flavor and minimize the cost?
Is it possible to add less maple syrup later in the boil or even after the boil and get a comparable flavor to adding more earlier in the boil?
It seems like we should be able to essentially "dry ...
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5answers
483 views
Is it possible to do full boils without a propane burner?
I currently brew all-grain using a 7.5 gallon pot on a propane burner outside at a house I currently rent. However, I'm planning to move within the year to an apartment in the city and likely won't ...
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3answers
520 views
How do you sparge small amounts of grain in a partial mash recipe?
For less than around 2 pounds of milled grain in a nylon bag, do you need an elaborate sparging process?
Do you need much of the equipment for an all-grain setup, or can you basically just soak the ...
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3answers
3k views
Why is our Original Gravity low?
When brewing from an extract kit we always seem to be low in the Original Gravity department. It's usually not a lot -- something like 1.055 instead of 1.060. What might be causing this to happen? Is ...
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3answers
615 views
Per-bottle priming tablets?
The "Why is our beer not carbonating?" question mentions "sugar tablets". I am aware of a product called "prime tabs", but as far as I can tell that product is not longer being produced.
I have used ...
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2answers
172 views
Keeping my pale ale “pale”
I brew from extract, boiling on an electric stove (in an apartment). Every beer I've brewed has been darker than I expected, which isn't an issue most of the time as I generally prefer darker ...
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2answers
458 views
What causes cloudiness in beer?
I've brewed up a few batches of extract beer so far & all have come up crystal clear. I've just sampled my first batch of beer (ginger ale) that's come up quite cloudy.
What causes cloudiness? ...
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2answers
428 views
What are some popular methods for measuring boil and HLT volume?
Particularly during lautering and during a boil, I have a hard time keeping track of water/wort volume. What method(s) and equipment do you all recommend for accurately calculating liquid volume ...
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2answers
178 views
Is my beer contaminated?
I just finished fermenting a brew and I forgot to remove the blow off tube which is a tube sitting in a 500 ml bottle of water. So when I started sucking beer out of my fermenter, I sucked all the ...
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1answer
236 views
Re-using the yeast cake for another brew!
Just finishing up a American Ale and was told by another homebrewer that I could use the yeast cake in the fermentor to brew a hard apple cider when I transfered the beer to bottles for conditioning. ...
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2answers
541 views
Added yeast to boiling water
first time brewer... I stuffed up and added yeast to just boiled water with the malt and sugar. Is there any chance the yeast will have survived or should I just bin it and start again? Thanks!
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2answers
94 views
Soluble yeast estimation before carbonation
Any suggestions on how to estimate the amount of yeast that remains in the brew solution after standard transfer practices without using clarification? I know that some remain because of priming ...
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2answers
267 views
What could cause an earthy flavour in beer?
I've just tried the first bottle from a batch of APA I brewed and it has a very distinct (and unpleasant) earthy / peaty flavour. Reminiscent of healthy soil. The beer also finishes with a very ...
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3answers
806 views
What causes the lack of head formation/retention in my Belgian beers?
I just finished brewing a series of 5 Belgian beers, and at least 3 of them have exhibited problems with head formation and retention. I haven't tried the last 2 beers yet, so I can't say if those ...
3
votes
1answer
529 views
What flavor does rye impart to beer?
Can someone describe the flavor that beer made partly with rye adds to beer?
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2answers
624 views
How to brew a Low-Carb Beer?
What would you do differently if trying to brew a low-carb beer? Could it be done with an extract brew?
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2answers
2k views
What wattage element is needed for hot liquor tank/heat exchanger, and what about brew kettle?
I'm completely captivated by www.theelectricbrewery.com, love their directions, and have ordered the parts, so I'll have my experience soon, but what is your experience with selecting hot water heater ...
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3answers
212 views
Undershot OG with extract brewing
Today I attempted an American IPA (Extract) full boil.
I calculated the OG to be around 1085 using beersmith. The recipe included just over 11lbs of fermentables (9.15lbs LME, 1.10lb DME, 1lb corn ...
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3answers
189 views
Any difference between lagering dubbel at 36F versus 45-50F?
I have a Belgian Dubbel bottle conditioning, the recipe for which came from Brewing Classic Styles. For this recipe, Jamil says to carbonate the beer, then lager for one month at 45-50F. I have the ...
3
votes
2answers
125 views
Does skunking alter the preservative capabilities of hops?
We all know letting beer sit in the light for some time without any shield is a bad idea due to the flavor and aroma that are produced, but are there any other effects? Is a skunked beer more ...
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1answer
318 views
Quantifying the level of hoppiness in a beer
Does anyone know of some sort of measurement for the hoppiness of a beer? Late hop additions don't add much to the bitterness (IBUs) but they can add tons of hop flavor. Is there some way to ...
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2answers
765 views
Stuck fermentation
My beer is stuck at 1.052 and it started at 1.092. The type of yeast is wyeast #3522, so I expect it to get quite a bit lower. It's been 3 weeks since we brewed it and it's now rather clear. I suspect ...
