All Questions
34
votes
3answers
3k views
What's the point of secondary fermentation?
I've always bottled directly after the primary fermentation has finished. What's the point of the secondary fermentation? Can I use a bucket or is it something that really necessitates a glass carboy?
...
5
votes
4answers
231 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Cellaring
Given the limited space of an apartment, where do you store your homebrew before drinking?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the eighth question in a series of discussions about ...
5
votes
1answer
117 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Packaging
Given the limited space of an apartment, how do you bottle & keg?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the seventh question in a series of discussions about small-space brewing. ...
8
votes
6answers
994 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Equipment Storage
Given the limited space of an apartment, what tips do you have for storing your equipment?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the first question in a series of discussions about ...
7
votes
7answers
667 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Fermentation
Given the limited space of an apartment, what do you do to maintain a steady fermentation?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the sixth question in a series of discussions about ...
7
votes
3answers
269 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Boiling
Given the limited space of an apartment, what tips do you have for the boil?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the fourth question in a series of discussions about small-space brewing. ...
6
votes
3answers
205 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: The Chill
Given the limited space of an apartment, how can you achieve a good chill?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the fifth question in a series of discussions about small-space brewing. ...
5
votes
2answers
248 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Mashing
Given the limited space of an apartment, how do you mash in cramped quarters?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the second question in a series of discussions about small-space brewing. ...
4
votes
1answer
149 views
Small Space & Apartment Brewing: Steeping
Given the limited space of an apartment, what tips do you have for steeping specialty grain?
Do not consider budget to be a factor.
This is the third question in a series of discussions about ...
15
votes
7answers
18k views
If/When to move to secondary fermentation
Digression from What's the point of secondary fermentation?
What are the good rules of thumb for determining a. whether to use secondary fermentation at all and b. when to move from primary to ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
How to store beer
When you buy beer that you plan to keep for a while (a while being more than a month or so), what's the best way to store it?
Specifically, what are the rules for storing it cold or warm, on it's ...
38
votes
4answers
1k views
What equipment do I need to buy to start making beer?
What is the minimum equipment to start brewing some good beer at home?
24
votes
23answers
3k views
What software do most brewers use?
Just curious what most brewers are using these days as far as software goes. We are going to have to make a decision in the near future about this.
BeerSmith?
ProMash?
BeerTools?
Any others I ...
17
votes
9answers
8k views
[WIKI] Fermentation Temperature Control Methods
What different methods do people use to maintain or control fermentation temps? This includes maintaining temps for both Ales and Lagers. For most climates, active control is necessary for doing ...
14
votes
7answers
334 views
Brewing with a deadline
Occasionally I need to brew beer for an event, and I procrastinate. One time, I brewed a pretty hefty IPA, and went from boil to bottle (keg, actually) in about 10 days. It was pretty malty, ...
14
votes
2answers
4k views
What's the difference between 2-row and 6-row malt?
I know the difference has to do with how the grains grow on the stock, but I'm not completely sure what that difference is. It also seems like 2-row is more commonly used as a base malt, but I've seen ...
13
votes
2answers
752 views
Using trub directly vs. yeast rinsing.
Sometimes referred to as "yeast washing," the process of yeast rinsing separates the yeast from the hops and break material in the trub. Most brewers who reuse yeast — and store it for long ...
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?
8
votes
5answers
716 views
Long cooling before pitching
Summer brewing means warmer tap water, which means that my immersion chiller can only cool the wort to about 75 degrees. I typically cool the wort to 68 degrees before pitching. I have a ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Cleaning difficult krausen ring off Better Bottle
My latest brew has left a ring from the krausen just past the neck of my Better Bottle. I am on my third soak with a little bleach and warm water. Usually this does the trick, but I'm almost thinking ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Beer not carbonating
The IPA I made has been sitting in bottles for 2 weeks around 73-75F and is not carbonating.
One thing I did prior to bottling was I cold crashed the secondary for about 1 day to get some floating ...
4
votes
2answers
992 views
What causes Original Gravity to be lower than it should be?
I am an extract brewer and every brew I have done the OG was lower than the intended OG, (my OG is always lower than the recipe's OG). For example I brewed the stout recipe below from beertools.com ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
First batch. Tons of bubbling first day and half, little to none now
I can update this later with my specific notes/ingredients, but for now, just the basics...5 gallon brew of an irish stout. The morning after I put it in the fermenting bucket, I woke up to a mess. ...
11
votes
8answers
414 views
What are some good online sources for recipes?
What are some good online sources for recipes? Please specify the type of recipes the site has (extract, all-grain, mead, cider, etc.).
23
votes
21answers
5k views
What are the easiest and hardest commercial beer bottles to re-use for homebrew?
One of the great perks of homebrewing is the ability to reuse, rather than just recycle the bottles that come into your house. You just soak off the labels and re-use!
All bottles are not created ...
11
votes
5answers
820 views
How do I keep yeast from a strain that I've bought?
I'd like to stop buying yeast all the time, especially when I use the same strain repeatedly.
This is especially a problem when it comes to seasonal strains. I'd like to brew with WLP351 Bavarian ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Can we estimate the temperature rise in the primary due to fermentation?
OK, this is sort of cheating but I really liked this question so I thought I'd ask the question again in a slightly different way and try and answer it.
I was wondering if we can actually estimate ...
8
votes
5answers
740 views
What is the minimum amount of equipment to dabble in All-Grain?
What is the minimum amount of equipment I need to have to brew very simple all-grain recipes? Bonus points for cheap & easy-to-find equipment. I'd like to go all-grain eventually, but for the time ...
15
votes
4answers
5k views
How do you sparge?
One of the biggest hurdles I came across when switching to all-grain was learning how to sparge. I honestly still don't think I do it 100% correctly. There are very detailed descriptions online, but ...
18
votes
7answers
2k views
Temperature Control for Fermentation
I am curious how everyone controls the temperature of their primary, especially those that live in the warmer climates. In Florida, where the temperatures can soar and remain in the 90's and above ...
12
votes
6answers
2k views
What is the secondary fermentation debate?
This question mentions a debate about secondary fermentation. Sort of like the existence of dark matter, everything I have read about homebrewing points to there being some disagreement about ...
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?
8
votes
1answer
613 views
What's a good breakdown of all the sugars in regards to brewing?
I'm a little confused when it comes to sugars. It seems like there are a lot of different kinds and they come in many different forms. What affects to different sugars have on brewing? Do they ...
5
votes
2answers
544 views
Cold Crash and Finings
This year my goal is to improve the clarity of my bottle conditioned beer.
I intend to do this by:
At the end of the fermentation, adding finings (Isinglass) to the brew barrel, followed by;
...
18
votes
6answers
4k views
Can I condition in growlers?
I read up a decent amount on conditioning in growlers before attempting it. I wanted to share my experience and see if others had had similar experiences.
The thinking, of course, is to minimize ...
11
votes
4answers
663 views
How many degrees will my carboy heat up as a result of fermentation activity?
Recipe calls for fermentation at 70 degrees, basement is 65. I know that fermentation produces some heat, so I was wondering if just letting yeast do its thing will be enough.
Otherwise, do I need ...
11
votes
3answers
953 views
What are the advantages and disadvantages of transferring to a secondary vs. a long primary?
The conventional wisdom in homebrewing has been challenged in recent years. This wisdom held that a beer should be transferred from the primary fermentation vessel to a secondary one after 7-10 days. ...
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 ...
7
votes
4answers
6k views
Why is our beer not carbonating?
We've made a few batches of beer and our recent batches have not ended up as carbonated as previous. I think the beer has been stored in a cooler place but I'm wondering if that is the only reason. ...
7
votes
4answers
713 views
should hoppy beers be aged?
Do hoppy beers not need to be aged? About how long does it take a hoppy beer to get to its maturation point?
Thanks,
Chris
6
votes
1answer
519 views
When to harvest wild hops?
Hi there fellow brewmasters! I have recently moved to all-grain brewing after two years of brewing with hopped extracts. The results are pretty good, and the whole process is a lot of fun, but I am ...
5
votes
1answer
507 views
Cherry vinegar (was supposed to be mead)
Last week I started a cherry mead and discovered yesterday that it had turned to vinegar (and not even nice-tasting cherry-flavoured vinegar - it smelled and tasted awful, though the colour was ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
How can I put minerals back into distilled or reverse osmosis water?
The tap water where I live is filled with chlorine, flouride, some pretty bad elements such as arsenic, chromium, barium, etc. So I would like to purify my water with either reverse osmosis or ...
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?
13
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the difference between Clean, Sanitized and Sterilized?
What is the difference between
Clean,
Sanitized and
Sterilized?
10
votes
5answers
6k views
Why do all my beers taste better after having aged for a couple months?
My impression is that ales are typically best drunk within a couple weeks of brew day. It's my experience that letting them age in the bottles for 2-3 months yields the best beer, both improving body, ...
10
votes
8answers
4k views
How to brew all-grain indoors
I've been brewing with extracts and specialty grains for two years now, and I want to step up to all-grain brewing. From what I understand, it's important to get a full boil when brewing all-grain and ...
8
votes
3answers
948 views
How many times can yeast be reused?
A good yeast sample can be retrieved, stored & reused regularly across brews. Is there a limit to the number of generations a sample can last?
I've heard that after so many generations a strain ...
8
votes
1answer
3k views
What is a proper blow-off tube setup?
36 hours ago I brewed a BIG red ale and pitched some kick-ass WLP001. The picture on the left is what I had late last night (24 hr in). Made me a little nervous. And this morning the krausen had ...
