Questions tagged [techniques]

Ways of using tools and tricks to accomplish a task. May refer to any portion of work during any stage in the brewing or fermenting process.

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Can Lactobacillus ferment solely with table sugar?

I'd like to create an anaerobic ferment with just lactobacillus (i.e. no yeast), table sugar and water. Is this possible or would I have to add anything else to help the Lactobacillus ferment?
Wilhelm's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
627 views

Why are some of my batches too sweet in the bottle, and can I rescue them?

I've had pretty good success brewing kits generally, but towards the end of last year I went on a mission brewing a few batches in fairly rapid succession. Unfortunately for me, most of the resultant ...
mfj197's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
639 views

What's the best method of storing yeast for 4 to 6 months in the refrigerator?

I've done a bit of research into different options of yeast storage and so far the least time consuming and most accessible methods seem to be: Making a slant from a yeast sample taken directly from ...
ScrapeHeap's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
78 views

How would I go about creating a custom starter culture?

I'm interested in creating my own starter cultures. I've found a few facilities which offer to create probiotic formulations, in exact amounts, by kg and density but I would rather start with a ...
Wilhelm's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
16k views

How can I minimize methanol/fusel alcohols in wine?

I just started home brewing, have studied up on the issues associated with methanol/fusel alcohols, and I'm wondering if there are certain practices that can be used to minimize non-ethanol alcohols, ...
Josh.F's user avatar
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1 answer
59 views

Berliner for the people

For those who have made one, please describe your most successful attempt at producing a nice tart traditional Berliner. Please include ingredients, but most importantly, process in your response. ...
chabeck's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
64 views

Rank amateur 1st step question [duplicate]

The biggest cook-pot I have available to mash my grain and boil the wort is about 3 gallons, but I'm trying to make a 5 gallon recipe (got the 5-gal carboy and plastic fermenter, etc). Can I make that ...
Jon Oatmeal's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
5k views

How does corn sugar affect the beer vs cane sugar?

Brand new to home-brewing. Currently making 1 gal small batches. I see a lot of recipes that call for either corn sugar or cane sugar, with honey as another alternative. How does corn sugar affect the ...
MagRat's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is it acceptable to use a UV sanitizer light on a finished product?

With all the talk about how important it is to sanitize your equipment when brewing, is it acceptable to use a UV sanitizer light on a finished product just to make sure there is no harmful bacteria ...
Programmer's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
659 views

Is juiced Ginger root fermentable?

I occasionally use a juicer to make Ginger root juice (which is quite strong) but lately I've also considered lacto-fermenting this juice. Which leads me to my question:How fermentable is juiced ...
Wilhelm's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
491 views

Experimenting with primary-only and primary-secondary fermentation

We have a batch of beer that has been in primary for about a week and we are getting ready to rack to a secondary fermenter. We want to experiment with the difference between doing primary only and ...
thesquaregroot's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
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dead space in a mash tun

My mash tun has a good false bottom, in a stainless steel 15 gallon kettle. The false bottom sits almost two inches above the bottom the kettle. The maker of the equipment, MoreBeer, says to measure ...
Byron Hovey's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
281 views

Natural hard cider from Apples to Alcohol no additives. Is this possible?

I juiced some apples, took off all the sediments from the top, placed those in my brew bottle, and poured the fresh made apple juice in. (I made it as sloppy as I am explaining it.) I then poked a ...
MamaWolf's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
381 views

How To Successfully Untie a full bag of grain.

I buy full sacks of grain, and over the past 10 years it's always been hit and miss getting that string that ties the bag close to unwind. If you get it just right the string unwinds with a gentle ...
Pale Ale's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
277 views

Opinions on my hop schedule for double IPA?

Being only a third time brewer, and feeling ambitious and experimental i decided to step away from kit directions and experiment. anyone have experience with the following combo? any opinions on how ...
Patrick Tyler's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
963 views

Steam sanitation of a stainless steel fermenter and bottles

Premise As a chemical engineering student, I tried my best to avoid any chemical at all (When they say trust me, you should never do so). As such, I resorted to steam to sanitize my fermenter and ...
Simone Chiesi's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
7k views

Coriander: Seed vs Ground?

I'm making a witbier this weekend that calls for 1 tsp of coriander added to the boil at 2 minutes. I'm wondering if I should purchase seeds and grind them myself, or just buy a jar of ground ...
Greg's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
571 views

Airlock not pressurized, any explanation other than a leak?

I'm in the primary fermentation of mead, using one of these "big mouth bubbler" 5 gallon fermenters and an S airlock. Initially, when the fermentation was really vigorous, the airlock behaved as ...
kevbonham's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
751 views

How did I manage to make apple sherry?

I have loads of apples in the garden and every year I make experimental 1-gallon batches of cider and apple wine (cider plus extra sugar). This year I tried to make a cider that wasn't ultra-dry, by ...
Dave45's user avatar
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5 votes
5 answers
2k views

Aroma hops: to bag or not?

I've been struggling a bit to get hop aroma into an IPA, and I think maybe my hop bags aren't letting enough wort get into the hops. I've been adding 50g of Simcoe to 20L of wort 5 minutes before ...
Pepi's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
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Can you use tincture method to infuse fruit?

Does anyone know anything about Tincture? I know adding fruit to beer can be unsanitary. Would it work to Tincture fruit and add to my brew secondary?
Mandy's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
445 views

What are the effects of storing unboiled All-Grain Wort at sub-lager temperatures?

Obviously it is better to immediately boil the wort when it is freshest, giving any wild yeist or bacteria as little time as possible to grow and contaminate the product. It is also a well ...
Henry Taylor's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
2k views

Are there ways to make your own beer on the cheap?

I have more experience with infusions and other ferments. I'm ready to delve into beer making without buying an expensive kit. What's the best way to do this?
MzQBJ's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
2k views

Softening Hard Water

I have city water at my house which our Regional Water Authority states has a Hardness of 112.10 mg/l. I would like to get this down by 62 points, but not sure what the best way to do this without ...
Bootsy7086's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
103 views

How to adjust my wine?

I'm looking for some general advice/recommended reading, etc. I've made a few wine kits and they've all come out OK. I feel I have the general process down and I'm ready to start with perhaps ...
Ron Trunk's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
3k views

High Gravity/Low Alcohol - How do I get there?

Everyone seems so interested in getting high alcohol into their beers. I like to drink and not get wasted, so how about good beer with low alcohol? Last summer's trip to England was an eye opener. ...
KEG's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
361 views

How does gradual hop infusion affect flavor and aroma?

I only make IPA's and have read about some IPA makers introducing hops gradually over the boil vs. adding the the "aroma" dose during the last 5 or 10 minutes of the boil. I understand that hops added ...
Quentin's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
659 views

Leftover Juicing Pulp in Beer?

I'm a very new homebrewer and this may be a really wacky question, but I'm curious nonetheless. Every time I've made fresh juice using a juicer, I'm at a loss for what to do with the leftover pulp, ...
kylerthecreator's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
516 views

How to store leftover fermenting wine for reuse later?

I've got a decent amount of leftover wine (ginger) after racking from my primary to a couple of demijohns. I want to use this for the topping up when I eventually rerack in a few months' time but I'm ...
John Doyle's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Side effects of home brew

I have kegged my last two batches...an IPA and a Stout. First batch was sanitized with Star-San. I experienced very uncomfortable side effects: headaches, muscle aches, and a sense of fatigue. So for ...
user6085's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
640 views

Need a non-alcohol brew without the sacrifices. (besides the obvious)

I brewed a pomander inspired wit beer for the holidays. It is currently in primary. Since my wife just had gall badder surgery, she is avoiding alcohol for a little while and asked if I could brew her ...
shamann's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
42k views

How do you brew high alcohol beers at home?

I've heard that brewing anything over around 14% ABV is pretty much impossible…and that achieving anything over 11% in a homebrew environment is not very realistic. Is this true? If so, how do they ...
Shane's user avatar
  • 185
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Adding Burton Water Salts to Partial Mash

I'm going to attempt an partial mash ESB. I will use distilled water and add burton salts. I know I need to add the salts to my mash water, but I've read if you are doing extract you just add it to ...
user2101's user avatar
  • 348
6 votes
5 answers
4k views

Which strains of yeasts are the cleanest for warm/hot fermentation?

I am from Puerto Rico and the temperature here is like summer all year round(between 75 to 95*F) , and I really want to know the cleanest strains of yeasts for this kind of temperature. (clean yeast=...
user3746's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
501 views

Mashing raw spelt/dinkel

I just got a hold of some organic raw spelt that I would like to use in a wit instead of flaked wheat. Do I need to gelatinize the spelt? How do I do that? Should the grain be milled at some point? ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Advice for filling a carboy

I'm fairly new to brewing, I've done 3 kits so far. Last time I brewed in a 23 litre, glass carboy but I found getting the malt extract into it really difficult. The only way I managed to do it was to ...
G-.'s user avatar
  • 123
5 votes
1 answer
3k views

When should I add orange peels to my homebrew?

I've been planning to experiment with orange peels for a while now, but I don't know when to add them, when should I throw them in? Last 15 minutes with the aroma hops? At flame-out? After primary? I ...
Jonathan Acosta's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
401 views

Does kegging require a fridge

I was planning on building myself one of these for the summer: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/portable-igloo-cooler-kegerator-172047-post1990392/ I currently bottle all my beer and don't own any ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

Brewing with Tonka Beans

I am planning a recipe with Tonka Beans. At what point should I add them and approx. how many? I know that vanilla is usually added after primary. Should I do the same with these or can I add them ...
user avatar
5 votes
10 answers
2k views

What are some effective, cheap, easy ways to clean and re-use bottles?

After a couple year hiatus from home brewing, I'm ready to get back into it and I have been diligently consuming some local microbrews and saving the bottles in preparation. When I brewed before, for ...
John Naegle's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
28k views

corn beer steps and suggestions using a home stove

I am planning to make corn beer, what are the times you would suggest for mashing? Is there a way to make it on a home stove? Has anyone got experience with that? UPDATE A friend already does corn ...
edgarmtze's user avatar
  • 151
3 votes
2 answers
970 views

Potential causes of unreliable pre-boil gravity measurement

I usually take a hydrometer reading immediately after sparge so that I can calculate total points of gravity (i.e. gravity reading * volume), and from there calculate what volume of wort I should ...
mac's user avatar
  • 141
5 votes
5 answers
4k views

How much weight to add to a dry-hop bag?

It sounds like the best place for the bag of hops should be somewhere in the middle on the carboy (or other container). This will mean that no hops are sitting only half in beer which should increase ...
chrisst's user avatar
  • 381
11 votes
2 answers
227 views

Should the late addition portion of a recipe be altered based on immersion, counterflow, whirlpooling techiques?

When it comes to late addition hops (or other late aeromatics), it seems to me that there might be significant differences in aroma extraction / utilization as the brewer executes different chilling ...
Dale's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
490 views

What's the difference between casking and kegging?

So this is how my last beer went: After about three weeks I threw it straight into a keg. It didn't taste great, but I figured it was still young and just needed more time to condition. A few weeks ...
Ternary's user avatar
  • 208
16 votes
4 answers
8k views

How fast should I run water through my wort chiller?

My father-in-law got me a wort chiller for my birthday, one of those copper coil immersion jobs and I'm now putting it to the test. This is only my second batch of beer, so I'm pretty new at this. ...
Argyle's user avatar
  • 285
6 votes
5 answers
38k views

Adding Vanilla Extract?

I have a black stout fermenting right now. I added about 8oz of cacao powder in the boil and I'd like to add some vanilla extract, to taste. Can this be done before bottling? Should this have been ...
DorkRawk's user avatar
  • 325
11 votes
8 answers
27k views

How to strain wort before primary fermentation

I recently made a big beer (Dogfish Head 90 minute clone) with an OG around 1.11. I had never tried to strain wort before moving to a primary fermenter, but thought it would be a good idea since this ...
atodd's user avatar
  • 253
4 votes
1 answer
480 views

Adding water before bottling

Ok. Sorry if this has been asked. I really did try to research it. LOL I did my first batch of American Amber Ale, and made a few mistakes. I didn't take an initial gravity reading, and I think I ...
Steve M.'s user avatar
  • 361
4 votes
3 answers
934 views

Any special considerations (besides taste) when brewing with mineral water?

I understand that a good rule of thumb for brewing water is that if it tastes good it's good to use for brewing. Most of these nine springs that i've tried are way too mineraly to my taste but "7 ...
Ethan Noore's user avatar