All Questions
6
votes
1answer
86 views
What equipment is needed for a faucet? What's a shank?
I've bought a kegging system which came with a "Camping Style" faucet, essentially just some tubing with a ball lock disconnect on one end and a tiny plastic faucet on the other end.
I'm looking for ...
1
vote
3answers
134 views
Fuggles hops for bittering
I am using Fuggles for bitter and for flavour/aroma. While I am content with flavour/aroma I find that bitterness is a bit harsh. Is it just my opinion, or Fuggle is not very suitable for bitterness?
...
5
votes
2answers
114 views
Necessary to clean bottle tree?
So I recently purchased a bottle tree (not sure how I went so long without one) for drying/storing my sanitized bottles. Is it is overkill to sanitize the bottle tree in sanitizing solution as well?
...
4
votes
2answers
997 views
What do I need to build a tap handle?
I'm trying to build a bunch of tap handles, and am a little confused on what I need.
Do I need both of these:
Hangar Bolt and Ferrule
or just this:
Tap Handle Insert
Or something else / ...
2
votes
3answers
95 views
Mash-produced unfermentable sugars do add sweetness and aroma?
I read in some sources that mash conditions can influence the production of dextrins, that are not fermentable, have no taste (is that correct?) and add body to the beer. But somewhere else I read ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Brewing timer in Brewing software
There is a lot of software to manage and recipes, do conversions etc. (for example BeerSmith, BeerTools, etc.).
Is there any software that also integrates a timer (that alerts you mash steps, boiling ...
2
votes
1answer
119 views
Should I leave the CO2 Cylinder connected after force carbonation?
I connected my CO2 Cylinder to my Keg and have it currently force-carbonating. However, it will only be needed next week friday.
Should I leave the CO2 Cylinder connected for 8 days at 20psi, or ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
Yeast pitching and wort cooling
I'm making an American Brown Ale and added liquid yeast to the wort that may have been too hot. The yeast was in the fridge and out to cool for 45 minutes. My guess is:
Wort temp: 26-27C or about 80F
...
3
votes
1answer
472 views
The isinglass in my wine kit is cloudy. Has it gone bad?
I bought a Wine Experts Pinot Grigio wine kit and the packet of isinglass is cloudy and has white bits floating around in it. I suspect it is bad. Has anyone seen that before?
5
votes
5answers
1k views
Fermenting Soda
Years ago I attempted to ferment Mountain Dew (about a decade ago so my recount of the details may be a bit off). My goal was to have a drink with similar carbonation, similar flavor, and reasonable ...
11
votes
4answers
190 views
Methods for cleaning and drying tubing
Brewing 5 gallon batches at home.
During the transfer from my primary fermenter to the secondary, and when filling bottles from my bottling bucket I constantly need to use plastic tubing to transfer ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
Sickly sweet ginger beer, Acesulfame K?
I've been brewing a kit Ginger Beer the last 10 days and it's about finished I think. Starting SG was 1.041 and it's settled at 1.008. 100g of grated boiled Ginger were added, and 1kg of Muntons Beer ...
2
votes
2answers
80 views
Recovering from low mash efficiency - under-shot pre-boil gravity
For whatever reason, Beersmith decided to have me lauter my all-grain recipe with an exorbitant amount of water. I don't have the exact recipe in front of me at the moment (can provide details later ...
2
votes
1answer
131 views
How do I know if my Kombucha Scoby is growing something funky?
The dominant color of my scoby is, for lack of a better color vocabulary, light plum. But there are some whiteish bits which concern me a bit. I would say it smells fairly fresh (and sour) and ...
2
votes
2answers
80 views
First batch with Muntons Pilsner kit, will it take longer than instructed?
I'm quite new to homebrewing (in fact, I only finished batch #2 last week) but looking to test out a few new types of drink. I'm planning on starting a batch of Pilsner in a few weeks, for this I ...
-1
votes
2answers
103 views
How can I recover this barleywine batch?
Can we help our fellow geek solve his homebrew problem?
I'm making a barley wine. My boil gravity should be 1.106. Hydrometer reads 1.042, and at 140°F (60°C) the adjusted SG comes out to more ...
2
votes
1answer
880 views
Should I boil a hopped malt extract prior to fermentation?
I am an absolute beginner; I've merely helped my brother brew once. I purchased a beer brewing kit and want to get started.
John Palmer's bible suggests that I should throw out the directions that ...
2
votes
2answers
68 views
Are there Cooling “Spirals” or similar devices?
Not sure if that's on-topic, but I'm converting an old barrel into a tap system. Essentially a Keezer, except that I don't like something that still looks like an appliance - a barrel is just more ...
1
vote
4answers
66 views
Suitable small bottle for liquid
I need to find a leak proof glass bottle for some liquid, which I would later put into the refrigerator. And because I tend to put it horizontally, I would prefer to use a leak proof bottle which is ...
1
vote
3answers
90 views
Temperature control equipment and Fresh Wort Kits
My first brewing attempt (from a can) has just finished bottle fermenting and it turned out pretty bad (mostly just tasted very weak). I'm not concerned though, I know what mistakes I made along the ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
How important is the 'Best Before' date on Brewing Sugar?
I have a 1kg bag of Youngs Brewing and Winemaking Sugar. It was bought early last year, and the pack has a Best Before date of 08/08/12.
I was hoping to use it for bottle priming next week. Does ...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
Can I change the color to my beer to an arbitrary color?
It's a bit gimmicky, but I wonder if it's possible to make a purple beer? Food Coloring only works for "hard" food, but I've never looked into coloring beverages and I don't want to affect the taste ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Additives for 5 gallon batch
These are the ingredients for the extracts I will use in a 5 gallon batch, should I still use the priming suger. Orange- oil of orange, alcohol, water. Watermelon-propylene glycol, alcohol, water, ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Hydrometer correction equation
Can you identify the constants in your hydrometer correction equation? I know that 2.6X10-6 is the coefficient of thermal expansion for the hydrometer glass; what are the others (not related to ...
3
votes
3answers
94 views
What is the 'cake'?
I've been looking into ways to restart unfinished fermentation and some sources talk about using a Cake, or yeast cake from previous brews. They also talk about pitching on the cake. I've searched to ...
3
votes
3answers
109 views
How long can I leave my Ginger Beer (kit) in the primary?
Another fact finding question: How long can I - theoretically - leave my Ginger Beer brew in the primary (a 5 gallon glass carboy) before bottling?
The instructions suggest 8 days, hovever it's ...
3
votes
2answers
116 views
Too late to move a brew?
I brewed an IPA yesterday. All went well and it is bubbling away today. However, my friend's brewing fridge/fermenting chamber just freed up and he suggested putting my brew in there. It would ...
13
votes
5answers
5k views
What are the benefits of using brewing sugar over types of sugar?
In many kits I've used, the instructions recommend using brewing sugar. Of course it's okay to use other sources of sugar, but I was wondering whether there are any benefits of using brewing sugar ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views
Side-effects of 'lower than recommended' fermentation temperatures?
I have a Ginger Beer kit on the go. It's sitting in the kitchen and ambient temps are ranging from 15 to 20ºC (59-68ºF). The beer was started 3.5 days ago and I was away for the weekend, I can see ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
first time using pet bottles and have 8 flat
Is there a special way of sealing PET bottles?
This is the first time I have used these bottles so I just screwed the cap on by hand until I thought it was tight. I have had 8 flat bottles so far and ...
3
votes
1answer
66 views
Forgot bottle capper - priming interrupted
I was all ready to bottle up my IPA last night (and yes, since this is StackExchange, I named the brew "IPAddress"). Everything got sanitized, bottles were de-labeled, the whole nine yards. I boil the ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Peracetic acid as a sanitizer?
My friend got Paracetic Acid from his LHM store (they only had that and alcohol 70 there).
Is it a non-rinse sanitizer? How good is it?
Wikipedia says it corrodes metals, so no go for the crown ...
6
votes
2answers
751 views
Yeast nutrient schedule for meads?
Somewhere I remember a mention that a "more-modern" technique in brewing meads involves a regular schedule of adding yeast nutrients while in the primary. I was never able to find the reference again ...
9
votes
7answers
297 views
How to clear beer
I am brewing my first homebrew an American cream ale. Was just reading into secondary fermentation. In the directions and books I've read it seems to suggest doing this. But as I search online and ...
3
votes
3answers
126 views
Growing hops from seeds
Where I live (France) I can't easily find hops rizhomes, but I can find seeds, so my two questions are:
Any shop in France/Europ from which I can buy hops rizhomes?
If I grow hops from seeds how do ...
6
votes
9answers
3k views
Is there an online equivalent of Beer Smith?
Simple question, does anyone know if there is a purely web based equivalent of Beer Smith / Brew Target, etc? Just looking for a decent product that I don't have to install on my desktop.
1
vote
1answer
98 views
Low gravity reading after one week
My first home brew batch has been in the primary fermentation for one week and the gravity reading has dropped from 1055 to 1008. Is it going down too quickly?
4 kg pale ale malt
0,5 kg crystal malt
...
3
votes
2answers
88 views
Ensuring an accurate gravity reading
So I've brewed between 6-10 batches of beer at home using partial boil methods but have never managed to get accurate gravity readings.
The issue I have is that my readings somehow always seem to be ...
1
vote
1answer
167 views
Is this lactobacillus?
My last batch had a thin whitish 'membrane' on top of it and some white spots, visible on the picture bellow.
I think I saw something similar on a blog a while ago, attributed to a lactobacilus ...
1
vote
2answers
59 views
My brew is taking far longer than the leaflet suggests
I'm brewing two Coopers kits at the moment - a Pilsner and an India Pale Ale. Both have a generic leaflet which suggests I should leave 6 days at 21 degrees for fermentation (which seems quite short) ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
How does lemon juice ferment into hard lemonade?
I'm interested in making a hard lemonade after my cider is done, but I'm having a tough time figuring out how the recipes I've found actually work, and what's the best way to ferment lemon juice. ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
How can beer styles be classified?
Reading (or tasting) it is easy to find dozens of different styles, going a litte more in details than lager/ale distinction, what is a simple categorization of beer styles?
3
votes
1answer
64 views
Making a starter without DME?
Planning to start to use liquid yeasts and will need to do some starters.
It is hard to get hold of DME over here (I can get some hopped LME, though).
I was thinking on doing a starter from grains, ...
1
vote
1answer
244 views
Where are MillerCoors Light Home Draft units available?
MillerCoors used to sell Coors Light Home Draft and Miller Light Home Draft "kegs" at my local grocery store, but I have not seem them in a long time.
The reason I ask is because these units are ...
3
votes
1answer
68 views
Considering adding Fresh Ginger to a 'Simply Ginger Beer' kit
I'm about to start a brew using a 'Simply Ginger Beer' kit. I've heard that it's sweet, and light which is what I want, but it's not very gingery. Would it be ok to add some grated and boiled fresh ...
6
votes
6answers
305 views
Marking your brew pot?
I have a new stainless steel brew pot and it doesn't have any quantity markings. How do you recommend marking each gallon? I tried to make an indent but it's not very noticeable, any ideas?
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Inconsistent flavor between my bottles
I bottled my second batch of beer, a nut brown ale recipe from northern brewer. I added coffee to the secondary, and my first bottle I had after 2 weeks bottle conditioning tasted like a nice coffee ...
2
votes
3answers
114 views
Fermentation - only very small bubbles after 36 hours
This is my first batch so I'm wondering if I am worrying over nothing or if I need to take action. I brewed an all extract IPA kit from Williams Brewing. I feel I was very careful with sanitation ...
0
votes
1answer
171 views
Kegerator Parts for Ball-lock kegs
I know the difference between ball-lock and pin-lock kegs. My question arises in the fact my kegerator is set up for a commercial keg and I need to convert it to fit my ball-lock keg.
This is the ...
4
votes
1answer
107 views
Estimating final alcohol by Original Gravity
Is it possible to estimate final alcohol value from the orginal gravity of the wort? Is apparent attenutaion involved in the estimation?
I guess if I know OG and FG this is the answer. What if FG is ...
