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Just finished my first American wheat and bottled it. After tasting it, it came out much more bitter than anticipated. I added the zest of four blood oranges and the fruit of two, I'm afraid I included too much of the white portion of the orange. Is it possible that the bitterness will dissipate...

My Northern Brewer kit has been fermenting for two weeks now and I'm not sure if fermentation is complete yet. I modified the recipe by adding blood orange fruit and zest which I'm sure lengthened the fermentation process, but how can I tell when it is finished? In the past what I have done is...

How bad is it? I would like to start taking gravity readings of my beer which has been in primary for 12 days, but I am scared because I keep hearing how you shouldn't add air. Also, since I use a bucket I'd like to be able to steal a couple peeks every now and again just to see what it looks...

I'm coming down to the end of my two weeks waiting on my beer to be finished fermenting, and in the two times I've checked on it there has been a significant amount stuff floating on the surface. I am making an American Wheat Ale in which I substituted one half gallon of water for one which was...

After my beer finishes fermenting in two weeks I plan on racking it into my bottling bucket, adding priming sugar, and then just putting it into the sanitized bottles. Is that a sound plan? I know that getting air into the brew is a nono, so I am at a loss for the proper procedure for bottling.

I had my first brew day today, and it went fairly well. I followed the recipe of the American Wheat Ale kit from Northern Brewer with a couple of alternations. Blood Orange Ale 6# Wheat LME 4 Blood Oranges Boil 1 oz. Centennial Hops (60 min) 1 oz Cascade Hops (15 min) 1 Lemon Zested (10 min) 1...

I ordered the kit from Northern Brewer and I'm planning on having my very first (beer) brew day tomorrow. I was wondering if there were any easy things I could do to make the brew a little more summery. I recently tried Leinenkugel's Summer Wheat beer and soon fell in love. I'm not looking for a...

I ordered my kit, and the one component I'm missing is an appropriately sized brew pot. Where can I find one that will work for a beginner and won't break the bank?

I am starting my first beer here in the next couple of weeks, and I need to find a place for it to ferment. The only place in my house that is consistently one temperature is my basement, but it is around 64 degrees all the time. Will this work?

So my skeeter pee reached an FG of .998 so I added in five campden tablets, sorbate, and sparkolloid. I have done some reading and I am afraid that there was still too much activity for the wine to be stabilized. Will this be a problem? If there still is some work for the yeast to do, will it...

I have been struggling to find any great Home Brew stores in St. Louis, I know that in a city like St. Louis there has to be at least one. I've been buying all my equipment and ingredients at a store called Worm's Way which is a gardening store with a small home brew section attached. It is...

My Skeeter Pee is approaching it's final gravity--or at least what Lon believes it will reach--and I am concerned about bottling. I have a filling wand and a bucket with a spigot, is it really that simple? I know I have to sanitize everything beforehand, but do I just have to put in the desired...

I am halfway through my first batch of Skeeter Pee, and I'm already planning what my next batch will be! I definitely want to brew some kind of beer, preferably an IPA of some sort, or something comparably awesome :) . Do you guys have any suggestions for recipes? I can't wait to get my first...

I have bleach and water mixed together in a spray bottle--in safe proportions. Can I first rinse off then spray my stirring spoon and have it be sufficiently sanitized for stirring my must? I would like to stir a couple times a day, but would really prefer to do it this way as opposed to filling...

I am four days or so into my first batch of Skeeter Pee--easily the largest and most complicated recipe I have tried for. My airlock is putting along nicely, and I think it is nearly time for me to add my last bottle of juice and rack into a new vessel. The recipe calls for a carboy to rack...

I just got some Campden tablets to add to my Skeeter Pee, and my question is, what sort of ratio should I use? The packaging gives no indication of how much to add, and the tutorial doesn't mention tablets. :(

According to Lon's recipe, there a number of steps throughout that call for whipping the must. How exactly would you guys do this? I gave it some rough stirs with my plastic spoon but am at a loss. Is that whipping?

I'm supposed to be taking gravity readings of my skeeter pee, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that when my must is fizzling away. Thanks.

Started my very first "large scale" brew a couple of days ago, and it appears to finally be fermenting. It's a five gallon batch of Skeeter Pee, and Lon--skeeter pees mastermind-- says that once fermentation starts, you should get "active fermentation." My bucket has been bubbling since this...