Tagged Questions

3
votes
1answer
205 views

Controlling exothermic heat from primary fermentation with A/C cooling duct

In terms of brewing with Ale yeasts, I understand that fermenter temps can increase up to 10 degrees, or more, than the ambient room temperature. As a "cheap" method for keeping the temperature of the ...
5
votes
1answer
206 views

Ramping temperatures during fermentation

What is the appropriate way to ramp temper when say brewing a Belgian beer? Would I expect to have off flavors from the higher temps? What's the best range for ramping? Do I actively manage the temp ...
5
votes
2answers
844 views

Diacetyl Rest for Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

The Wyeast website seems to strongly suggest a diacetyl as fermentation completes with their Bavarian Lager strain, 2206. I prefer to chill my wort to below fermentation temps prior to pitching the ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views

Can I use wine yeast to ferment beer?

Can I use wine yeast to ferment a beer? What sort of problems might I encounter that are unique to wine yeast trying to ferment malt sugars? What sort of flavor differences might I encounter?
6
votes
5answers
1k views

How are 10-gallon batches commonly fermented?

Currently I brew 5-gallon all-grain batches using my propane burner and 7.5-gallon brew pot. I've been considering buying a bigger pot and building a bigger MLT to do 10-gallon batches, but I'm not ...
10
votes
4answers
945 views

Should you rehydrate dry yeast?

I've read conflicting opinions on whether or not to re-hydrate dried yeast. I've had successful fermentation with dried yeast in the past but have not tried re-hydrating. Has anyone had better/worse ...
3
votes
1answer
376 views

What is a swamp cooler?

What type of equipment do you need to build one? How do you use it? What are the realistic expectations of using one?
3
votes
2answers
434 views

Open Fermentation Process

Can open fermentation be done simply by putting the fermenting beer in a bucket carboy and covering it with foil? The purpose of the foil would be to just keep airborne contaminants from falling into ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views

Should I ferment a new batch directly on the yeast cake generated by the previous batch?

I'm going to re-use the yeast cake from a low-gravity batch to ferment a high-gravity batch. Can I just put the wort directly on it? Does it then need to be agitated? Is it worth the risk of ...
6
votes
3answers
822 views

Why is it bad to pitch too little yeast?

What are the effects of underpitching your beer? We have an answer for over pitching, I think we need the complete set.
9
votes
1answer
2k views

Why is it bad to pitch too much yeast?

What are the effects of over-pitching? Where is the line for, say, a 1.050 beer? There is also a question for to under-pitching.
7
votes
2answers
1k views

Dry hopping without secondary fermentation

I have so far only done bottom-fermented beers without transferring into a second vessel for secondary fermentation. If I wanted to do some dry hopping with this technique, when is the best time to ...
21
votes
4answers
592 views

Open-Fermented or Native Yeast Beers

I've always been very careful about control and sanitation with beer. But with my wine I do some native yeast Pinots, and some friends of mine are into the same with beers- they like funky, ...
5
votes
2answers
383 views

Brewing with veggies

This may be more of a wiki than a specific question, but has anyone ever tried brewing with vegetables? If so, what is your experience? I'm considering mostly root vegetables. carrots, beets, ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views

Should I purge my carboy with CO2 before racking to secondary?

I'm thinking this might help prevent oxidation.
6
votes
2answers
665 views

Should secondary fermentation be the same temperature that primary was?

Or is it okay for the secondary fermentation to be colder than primary?
6
votes
3answers
6k views

At what temperature should a lager be fermented?

When fermenting a lager, what temperature should it be held at for best results?
10
votes
8answers
3k views

Sanitizing oak chips

Going to try using dry oak chips in my secondary fermenter. How do you recommend sanitizing the chips before adding them?
12
votes
5answers
5k views

What's the difference between primary & secondary fermentation?

Over here PJ asked "How do you differentiate primary to secondary if you keep it in the same bucket?"
11
votes
8answers
16k views

Too long in Primary Fermentation?

What's the maximum amount of time for primary fermentation, assuming the beer is going straight to bottles next? Will it over ferment and then fail to carbonate, if left too long in a carboy?