All Questions
3
votes
2answers
290 views
Recirculating wort chiller
I am building an recirc arm for my chilling set up. Should my recirc have a gentle bend in it to 90degrees or would it be OK to just use a 90degree elbow of a piece of straight pipe under the wort ...
4
votes
3answers
515 views
Can extract brewing achieve professional results?
I was recently on vacation and I toured a brewpub in the Chicago area. I was surprised to find out that they are extract brewers. Is this common practice for small brewpubs? Would this place a ...
7
votes
2answers
531 views
Keeping a bottle of no-rinse sanitiser
Some sanitisers, like star-san, chemipro oxi and betadine are no-rinse in certain dilutions. Star-san can additionaly be kept diluted in a bottle for months and used whenever one wishes. Can the same ...
3
votes
3answers
3k views
Low Cost Conical Fermenter
I was looking around for some low-cost alternatives to conical fermenters, and I came across inductor tanks. Has anyone used or heard of someone using these tanks? Is there any danger/downside to ...
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 ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
What's the ideal size for a mash tun?
This question has been bothering me for a while and I looked it up using google. The only related search result was this thread http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/ ...
7
votes
2answers
585 views
Best beer styles for warm fermentation environment?
What beer styles tend to work well with a warm (at least 70F, possibly up to 90) fermentation environment? In other words, what styles will be best to mask or work with the off-flavors produced?
6
votes
5answers
265 views
Club Meeting Idea's
I'm a relatively new brewer (couple of years) and I'm on the executive of our local brew club.
I was wondering if anyone had some great ideas for club meeting topics.
If you have already done a ...
6
votes
3answers
264 views
What is a session beer?
What is the accepted OG and ABV of a session beer?
What other qualities does a session beer possess?
2
votes
3answers
198 views
What's a good session beer to serve cold?
I made an ordinary bitter a while back and it really brought to light why it's served at cellar temperature. At 55F, it was a bit malty, with nice hops. At 45F, it was like seltzer. Very drinkable, ...
14
votes
3answers
742 views
My keg is empty. Now what?
So I kicked my first Corny keg and need to get the keg and the system cleaned and ready for another batch, which might not be ready for some time. What's my process here?
1
vote
1answer
216 views
Is normal PVC tubing okay for a racking tube?
I'm having a few issues finding food-grade plastic tubing to use a racking tube.
Is normal clear PVC tubing that you'd get at a hardware store okay for this? (Once it's been sterilized etc of course)
...
2
votes
1answer
370 views
What are the symptoms of poor aeration?
I made a beer over a month ago. Rather than taking 3-5 days to ferment, it took over 20. After fermentation finished, I took a gravity reading and it fell from 1.040(ish) to 1.010(ish)... Primed, ...
3
votes
1answer
221 views
Hop schedule for Single hop ale brewing
I am planning on brewing up a handful of quasi-pale ales using only a single hop varietal per batch. The goal is to get a feel for the bittering, flavor and aroma of some varieties I want to ...
1
vote
1answer
375 views
Brewing a braggot.
How much honey do you need to put into a beer recipe before you can really call it a braggot? I am sure the taste is largely subjective.
I want to brew a beer with 1/3 Honey, 1/3 2-row, 1/3 wheat. I ...
2
votes
2answers
874 views
Boiling water and plastic equipment
I've been boiling my water prior to brewing (extract), and pouring this whilst still hot into my plastic barrel figuring the boiling water will make sure anything that survived the sanitisation is ...
4
votes
1answer
403 views
Maturation - what does it mean?
Homebrew recipes often give information along the lines of "6-8 weeks maturation". What exactly does maturation mean here in terms of conditions? Is it the same as a secondary? Can the beer "mature" ...
1
vote
2answers
375 views
pH for oatmeal stout and how to get it
I am planning an oatmeal stout and read that the mash pH is really important for stouts in general. Which pH should I go for in my oatmeal stout and how can I get to it?
5
votes
1answer
287 views
Bottling kegged beer
My dilemma is this. I received a rare beer in a 1/2 barrel keg. I've been nursing on this beer from my kegerator now for 5 weeks (even had a party) and I've still got 5 gallons left. It sits at 9% so ...
3
votes
1answer
472 views
Sanitizing Second Hand Equipment (plastic fermenters etc)
Would you ever use second hand brewing equipment?
What's the best way of making sure it's absolutely clean?
Ordinarily, for something like this, I'd just buy new (so you know where it's been), or ...
5
votes
6answers
917 views
Tips for my first English IPA
I'm planning to make my first English IPA on this Sunday and I wanna know from more experienced homebrewers if my recipe is ok:
For a 20L batch
Ingredients:
Amount Item ...
7
votes
3answers
189 views
What is the best book for beginning wine makers?
What is the best book for beginning wine makers?
** Please post 1 book per post, then the resulting votes will show what most people consider to be the best book.
2
votes
1answer
499 views
How much sugar should be used when priming with Brett?
I've read that Brett will consume sugars that other yeast strains cannot. Is this true? I couldn't really find too much information on it.
If this is the case, should I be worried about over ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Home-made LME&DME-is it achievable?
Pretty often when you brew an all-grain batch you get a quantity of extra wort with no apparent use. A common practice is to keep some of that wort for a starter for the next batch. Could someone ...
3
votes
3answers
231 views
What are some good places to get a keg for a brew kettle?
I got my first keg from a beer store, whom I asked if they had any kegs I could buy outright. The keg they "sold" me was in really good condition, and only cost me $30. I'm looking to get a second ...
3
votes
5answers
627 views
The move from kit brewing to all grain brewing
I have brewed a few batches of beer using pre-measured kits.
They have turned out great, and have I have enjoyed them. However, I would like to make the move towards all grain brewing.
Is this a ...
12
votes
12answers
1k views
What is the best book for beginning home brewers?
What is the best book for beginning home brewers?
** Please post 1 book per post, then the resulting votes will show what most people consider to be the best book.
5
votes
2answers
227 views
How do I propagate my hops?
I have a couple plants going, but I am ready to get more of the same varieties going in the future.
How do I go about getting more plants from the same plants I already have?
Can I take a cutting?
Can ...
4
votes
3answers
118 views
Is there a brewing software that supports late additions?
Promash doesn't support late addition of extracts (which affects hop extraction). Either that, or I can't find out how to do it.
I sometimes use beercalculus.hopville.com to create two recipes, one ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
why do you degas wine but not beer?
After reading this post, I was wondering why have I heard of people degassing wine, but never beer? Does one also need to degas mead?
3
votes
2answers
289 views
Did I Break My Airlock?
I don't really know what I did here. I cut off the bottom little cross guy on the stem of the airlock because it was getting clogged up during vigorous fermentations. Now the middle piece just kind of ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there such a thing as malt-free beer?
I am allergic to malt and thus need to avoid it. I currently drink hard ciders, brandy, and wine.
Are there any brew kits out there that does not use any kind of malt as an ingredient? I am trying ...
2
votes
1answer
330 views
What temp for a secondary maturation?
My first Irish Red Ale is at the secondary fermentation for about a week, I want to put the secondary fermenter to maturate on a refrigerator (with digital control for temp) for one more week before ...
3
votes
5answers
6k views
What to do with a stuck fermentation after 2 days with my first beer kit?
I am trying my first beer kit after trying wine once before. I picked up a "Summit Avenue EPA" clone of Summit EPA from Midwest Supplies.
On Monday I did the 60 minute boil, cooled everthing to ...
2
votes
2answers
234 views
What can happened in a wheat beer with a lot of foam?
Me and my friend made a hefeweizen a time ago and this beer had a strange behaviour, when we open the bottles the foam grows up fast until get out of the bottle.
The beer is ok, in fact it tastes ...
14
votes
6answers
3k views
How much water does a wort chiller use?
I am thinking on buying an immersion chiller and from other threads I've thought of using the post-chiller hot water for cleanup, and I've also heard of using the water (after it starts to cool down) ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there a more durable alternative to a plastic auto-siphon?
Right now I am using the standard fermtech plastic auto siphon, but it already broke and it's a pretty flimsy and poorly designed way to siphon beer (the plastic piece in the tip broke and it can't ...
1
vote
1answer
544 views
What hop should I use to get Fuller's IPA hop taste and aroma?
I'm just a beginner brewer, I have done just 5 batches of all-grain beer, some Hefe-Weizens, APA and an Irish Red Ale.
For my next all-grain beer I would like to make an IPA recipe. But the two best ...
4
votes
2answers
940 views
Time It Takes Brett C to Ferment
So I have this idea where I want to thread a citra-laden Belgian IPA with a pineapple beer fermented with Brett C and Brett C only. Does anyone have any experience using Brett C and can speak to how ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I batch sparge?
Currently I'm an extract plus specialty grain brewer. I want to be an all-grain brewer.
That said, I'm trying to figure out the whole sparging thing. I know I need more grain to get the same ...
3
votes
3answers
263 views
Question about Alt/ Kolsch hopping and yeast
I really enjoy German Alts as a favorite purchase brew, and as I live in Florida with the lowest ambient temp 72 deg F under Air cond., I can't possibly lager without inconvenence. I have a question ...
4
votes
2answers
267 views
Determining the potential gravity of non-grain additions
How do you determine the potential gravity of certain ingredients? I'm sure there are charts and the like online, but, let's say you want to use a new fruit in a beer.. What are the steps to ...
5
votes
2answers
985 views
Beer tastes like sanitizer
I've used a no-rinse iodophor sanitizer both times I've brewed. Both times the beer seems to taste a bit like sanitizer. Is it possible I am using too much sanitizer? The last beer I brewed was an ...
6
votes
3answers
436 views
Cherry Stout advice
I am about to get together the ingredients for making a cherry stout. I am going to add the cherries at flameout, but I have no clue how much to add. I want there to be a solid cherry taste in the ...
5
votes
2answers
156 views
Dispensing beers at two different pressures?
I'm working on getting a dual-tap kegerator. Is it worth it to pay the extra to dispense two beers at two different pressures? I can see dispensing a low-carbonation ESB and a high-carbonation ...
6
votes
2answers
192 views
Homebrewing: Decoction Mashing
Many beers, especially German, are produced with a method called decoction mash. In that, the rising of mash temperature is achieved each time by talking a portion of the MASH, boiling it, and adding ...
5
votes
3answers
799 views
Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Failure
I'll start by saying that I've never used liquid yeast before, so it could all be my fault... Anyway, I ordered some Wyeast 1187 Ringwood to use for a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA clone that I did on ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Lagering in corny kegs?
Can I lager in a spare Corny keg in the back of my kegerator? Can I then serve directly from that keg?
9
votes
8answers
5k views
What is the best brewing log sheet to use?
I'm looking for a log sheet to use to start tracking all the beer and wine I brew to (hopefully) improve the results over time. What's your favorite and what could be improved in it?
7
votes
4answers
7k views
How can I tell when wine has finished degassing?
I bottled my first home made wine last week. It's an apple wine that didn't turn out so well. The good news is that I think I know most of the reasons it isn't very good and I'm going to try again ...
