All Questions
0
votes
0answers
12 views
Flat beer. Not enough priming sugar?
I'm new to this blog and brewing. Recently i put down my first Coopers Real Ale. All went well, great flavor but flat to very slight carbonation in bottles.
1.5 tsp in 1250ml and .5 tsp in 750ml ...
1
vote
2answers
34 views
Stir fruit in cherry wheat?
My first fruit beer... I have just racked a wheat beer base onto a secondary of food blended frozen cherries. Am I ok to give this a bit of a stir now and again? Im aware introducing too much oxygen ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
Wine Brewing on Lees (Sur lie)
I have recently learned about Light Lees Protocol and was wondering if someone would be able to relate some practical anecdotal experience.
Is there a substantial difference in quality if you ...
30
votes
14answers
1k views
\[WIKI] Improving Your Brewing Significantly
I made this wiki to allow folks to post what upgrades in process or equipement really take one's beer brewing to the next level. The bottle-necks to better and better brewing if you will. (This was ...
0
votes
2answers
53 views
For a Swamp Cooler, what alternatives are there to Bleach, Vodka, and Star San?
I use a swamp cooler to keep my fermentation cool: a bucket full of water where my carboy or bucket goes in, and a t-shirt draped over the carboy/bucket with a fan pointed at it.
One room has two ...
0
votes
1answer
23 views
Brewing with a concentrated wort
I'm living in a condo with no outdoors space and a mere 12" clearing on my stovetop. One-gallon all-grain batches are easy, but I'm trying to figure out some logistics for going larger... aside from ...
3
votes
0answers
31 views
interesting formation in fermenting beer
Anyone have a clue what these formations are in my Kolsch style beer? Been in secondary for about 3 weeks due primarily to lazyness. I cleared with gelatin about two weeks ago and it's nice and clear ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
Why does my beer have a separate water aftertaste?
I'm new to the world of homebrewing, having completed 2 batches. Both batches have been 'recipe in a box' kind of beers from Brewer's Best. The first was an Imperial Nut Brown Ale, and the second was ...
2
votes
1answer
33 views
no carbonation and a few bottle-bombs
I bottled about a month and a half ago. Every bottle I tried has had no carbonation. But I just opened up a bottle and it was over carbonated, and it almost exploded out of the bottle. I had this ...
3
votes
0answers
32 views
Can forced air be used effectively to cool a second chamber from a keezer?
Would it be possible and effective, without causing undue stress to the keezer, to temperature control a second insulated chamber? I would like to be able to control fermentation temps and/or run ...
0
votes
2answers
36 views
What are the differences between mashing and steeping grains in preparation
What is the difference between mashing and steeping grains in terms of preparation style or is "mashing" and "steeping" just word semantics?
4
votes
4answers
114 views
Networked/Connected Thermometer for Measuring Water in Swamp Cooler
I was hoping to put together an information system that could measure the temperature of the water in a bucket where I place my fermenting-bucket and notify my smart phone when I need to replace the ...
1
vote
1answer
223 views
My bottles are Conditioning underwater. Why are there bubbles on the caps on day 2 but not day 0 through 1?
On Sunday (day 0) I bottled beer for the first time (with my first batch). I asked my brother how I could determine whether or not I successfully locked the caps onto the bottles to make them ...
4
votes
4answers
191 views
Would placing the fermenter tank in a tub of water be a good way to handle hot environments?
Summers where I live typically have 80F nights and it can easily pick up to 95 degrees during the day.
I have a plastic trash can (which I bought for this purpose) that I have filled up with water. ...
7
votes
5answers
8k views
Using Grolsch “Premium Lager” bottles for bottling
In my first bottling, I decided I wanted to try using half normal reused glass bottles with new bottle caps and half reused Grolsch beer bottles.
Probably the worst part of the process was having to ...
2
votes
3answers
119 views
How big of a Noob am I? Or, What to Do when You spill a stir-bar in your 5-gallon bucket
So 24 hours ago I made my first yeast starter, ever. I built a homemade stir plate.
Today I was feeling like a boss because of this and simply dumped the 2L flask into the 5gallon wort I spent all ...
5
votes
3answers
197 views
What's the best/safest way to handle likely bottle bombs?
I'm using 16oz amber e-z cap bottles (swing tops). I've read that they'll self-vent before exploding, but I've heard other accounts of them actually exploding.
I'm storing them like this and it's ...
5
votes
1answer
54 views
How might trub effect taking original gravity?
For the beer that I brewed this past weekend, I finally remembered to take an Original Gravity reading. Unlike my previous last three attempts, I actually had a little more than my target 1 gallon, ...
4
votes
2answers
96 views
“White wheat” vs “wheat malt” vs “flaked wheat”?
I was looking for flaked wheat at my LHBS and they were out. My recipe called for roughly equal amounts of wheat malt and flaked wheat. The LHBS guy told me to use white wheat malt as a substitute. He ...
7
votes
6answers
1k views
Shaking vs not shaking
I'm playing with a yeast starter right now and I've noticed when I shake the mix the yeast gets more active. I'm wondering how this applies to my actual fermentation. So I was thinking I'd let my ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
Why my homebrewed lager beer bottles explode?
I started home-brewing lager beer last year. I am using ready-kits and the first three times it went quite well.
Now, with the latest, I had a very strange problem. A couple of weeks after I bottled ...
1
vote
2answers
62 views
How do you add Red Pepper to beer?
I want to try brewing a beer infused with Red Pepper. My original idea was to infuse it with Tabasco sauce but have read about it going wrong or having a vinegar taste. Being from Louisiana I feel ...
0
votes
2answers
37 views
Total Volume of Yeast Starter in Regards to Evaporation from Boiling Wort
Today I did my first yeast starter. I purchased the 2000mL flask and DME from northernbrewer, and it came with instructions for doing both 1000mL and 2000mL batches. It suggests 1000mL for 5 gallons ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Yeast Starter Vortex Size
I've read online that the size of the vortex in a yeast starter does not matter. Why is this true?
When I was experimenting with water yesterday, I created a monster vortex (very cool) and could see ...
3
votes
2answers
40 views
I bought a small 1 liter CO2 gas tank for carbonating drinks, where could I start to find a regulator valve for this tank?
I need to modify this tank with a valve/pressure controler so I can use it to carbonate drinks.
Images of the tank included.
I would order online but i have no specification to get data from. What ...
3
votes
2answers
75 views
Effect of priming with honey
How prominent might I expect the flavors of honey to be, if used as a priming element for beer?
I am thinking about it in terms of an all-grain pale ale variation, perhaps with honey or biscuit malt ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
How long can milled grain be stored?
At the rate that I'm going, I'm doing a homebrew roughly every second weekend. (Fun!) I will end up with a small stock of hops, and yeast I can keep around in the fridge for a while if I buy a few ...
2
votes
1answer
45 views
bottles not fermented after 3 weeks of conditioning. Good or bad?
It's been three weeks, and my impatience has had me crack one bottle on days 7, 14, and now 20. There's no carbonation in these bottles, and it doesn't appear to be getting any better over the weeks. ...
1
vote
2answers
191 views
Keg Management Systems
I'm looking for a way to keep track of the state of my kegs - how many times were they washed with a caustic cleaner since the last acid cleaning, how long ago was it cleaned (and pressurized), what ...
2
votes
3answers
133 views
Too much sweetness and banana like aroma/taste
I've been brewing 6 batches of Ale and I've had problems with sweetness and banana like aroma and taste (esters probably). I think the problem is the fermentation temperature. My fermentation bucket ...
4
votes
3answers
134 views
Light & fermenting
Soooo, I know that sunlight is harmful to beer. I am bottling into brown glass, so that part is covered. But for primary fermenting, I'm using a clear glass carboy, and I'm keeping that in a closet. ...
4
votes
2answers
100 views
Determining beer quantity when FG and weight are known
In making the assumption that given the final gravity and physical weight of beer (or any liquid for that matter), that you can find the total quantity, what is the calculation necessary for ...
1
vote
2answers
31 views
Old malt extract (liquid) for a yeast starter
So by old I'm talking maybe ten years! I was cleaning and found quite a bit of LME gifted to me with all my original homebrew equipment. I was mid-swing into the trash can when I wondered if maybe I ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
Brewing with brettanomyces bruxellensis
I got a good deal with some White Labs yeasts, including one Brettanomyces bruxellensis (WLP650), and I really don't know how to brew with it. Should I use it only for secondary or could I made a ...
6
votes
1answer
114 views
Is this a bottle bomb waiting to happen?
Planning a strong & sweet Belgian style ale, I expected OG to be as high as 1.096. Because of my extremely amateur setup, I used two pots instead of one big one for the boil (between them both I ...
4
votes
2answers
101 views
Can a beer be carbonated during primary or secondary fermentation?
Is it always necessary to carbonate your beer with sugar or tablets or is it possible to get the right amount of carbonation with the primary and secondary fermentation?
1
vote
1answer
61 views
Why did my airlock overflow?
Why did this happen?
Is this bad? Aside from wasting beer, it seems to me that this would invite infection? If it means anything, I smelled the airlock and it seemed mostly vinegar, but tasting the ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Flowers of Wine (Problem)
Context:
I am currently working on a batch of jalapeno-cranberry wine. It's been in primary for five days so far and I am beginning to suspect I have flowers in my wine. I was not too concerned ...
3
votes
3answers
105 views
Oxidization during transfer
It has become clear that I need to practice my transfer techniques; I just completed a primary-to-secondary transfer which involved what I'm guessing is a fairly significant amount of aeration. ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Non-plastic siphon tube
I know that some people say that PVC is fine for racking tubes, but I have someone who is looking for an alternative--HDPE or PP would be acceptable but not preferred. Since PVC is the only type of ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
black lager and diacetyl rest
I am doing a black lager and was wanting to do a rest. I read the instructions wrong and placed it in the secondary. Is it too late to do the rest? Is the new added oxygen going to actually make it ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
convert pump tap to kegorator tap
I have a "party" pump tap. I want to convert this to use on a DIY kegerator. Can this be done? After taking the tap apart it looks pretty basic: CO2 in one side, beer out the other. I am specifically ...
6
votes
2answers
435 views
Strong Sulfur from WLP 351 - how to clear it up quickly?
Does anyone have any tips for helping a beer clear out sulfur faster?
-
I made a straight Hefe (half wheat, half 2-Row) and use White Labs seasonal "Bavarian Hefe" yeast, WLP351. The beer was made ...
4
votes
1answer
83 views
Why does my witbier stink?
I've searched far and wide and can't find a good answer. Seems to be a lot of talk about the sulphur smell I noticed during fermentation, but this is a bit different.
Brewed this masterpiece up and ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
Ginger beer that lasts
I want to make a batch of alcoholic ginger beer. However, I know from past experience that one problem with ginger beer is that the bulk of the fermentation happens in the bottles, and I can't drink ...
5
votes
2answers
570 views
Pausing a ginger beer plant
I am making ginger beer, the old fashioned way with a plant. The plant is a jamjar which I feed with one teaspoon of sugar and powdered ginger daily.
I'm going on holiday soon, for several weeks. ...
1
vote
4answers
171 views
What are the price/features tradeoffs to consider when buying a new brew kettle?
I'm thinking of popping for this brew kettle -
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/brew-kettles/megapot-with-ball-valve-brewmometer.html
It comes with a ball valve and ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Yeast starter left out of refrigerator, is it OK?
I created a yeast starter from some yeast from my primary fermenter and some DME following standard steps and the fermentation looked great. However, I went on vacation and forgot to put my yeast ...
3
votes
3answers
61 views
Pectic Enzyme in Secondary?
I am doing a melomel and am putting some mangos in primary and again into secondary a month later.
I was going to put pectic enzyme into primary, do I need to put additional into the secondary?
2
votes
5answers
136 views
Using pine in beer
I know about spruce, and pine is a really close relative, so it seems legit to me. I was planning to use the brown part in the picture, which has a really nice smell.
I would like some advices:
...
