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I got higher than expected attenuation with my IPA and it is tasting dryer than I would have liked. Since maltodextrin is supposedly unfermentable, is there any harm in boiling some (maybe 4-6 oz.) along with the priming sugar and adding it at bottling to add a little body to the final...

Figured I'd try batch sparging for the first time on my California Common. It will be about 10.5 lbs of grain. For the first infusion of the sparge, just going to add some boiling top-up water after the mash to get as close to 170 degrees as possible for the first 3.25 gallons of runoff...

I was looking in Szamatulski's Clone Brews book at an Anchor Steam clone that uses 9 lbs. US 2-row and 14 oz of crystal malt for the grainbill. What gets me is that the book recommends a protein rest at 122 for 30 minutes and conversion at 150 for 90 minutes. Seems like this would make a...

I understand (hopefully, incorrectly) that Westvleteren does not distribute to the US. Does anyone know the most economical way that one would go about getting Westy brews or any other extremely rare brews, for that matter? Surely, there is a trusted source somewhere in the States that keeps...

I'm getting ready to make my first draft beer and I decided to brew an English brown for the occasion. I'm not following any particular recipe, so I thought I'd run the one I pulled out of nowhere by everyone. 9 lbs. English Pale malt .5 lbs. Crystal (75L) .75 lbs. Briess Special Roast (50L)...

After about a year of brewing, I'm getting tired of bottling, and I'm toying with the idea of getting set up for kegging. The only thing that has stopped me so far has been a shortage of cash, but things have been looking up lately. I was looking at Best Buy at a kegerator that includes a CO2...

Not that I have the desire to recreate a 20% abv+ brew, like DFH 120-minute IPA (yet), but just for the sake of adding to my general collection of knowledge, can this be done using "conventional" high gravity brewing methods (the same methods used to make a brew of, say, 11%)? It seems that...

I believe I asked a similar question to this months ago, but there was a big difference in my batch size. Anyway, the question is: I use a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket w/drilled lid for my primary, and if I want to brew a 5-gallon batch of high grav Belgian ale (around 1.109), am I likely to have...

I use a round 5-gal. igloo cooler for my mash/lauter tun and have always skipped the mash-out step, but next time I want to give it a shot. I was reading that a mash-out is pretty simple if you draw out some of the thin mash, boil it, and add it back. Sort of like a mini-decoction. If I...

I am planning a high gravity Belgian ale that uses a base of German Pilsener malt. The recipe (from "Beer Captured" book) calls for a single infusion mash at 150. From what I've read, it seems that this type of malt generally benefits from a protein rest when brewing certain styles. Is this...

If the optimal temp for my yeast strain was 64°-75°, would being at the very lower end of that temp range, or even slightly lower affect attenuation? My EPA is done fermenting, and I calculated my attenuation to be 67.3% when the attenuation range for the strain I used is 68-72. Generally...

I have 2 questions for everyone. 1. Does anyone has any info or know where I can find a table that shows how much wort is absorbed by whole leaf hops. When I use hop pellets (all I've done in the past), I plan my mash/sparge water amounts so that I end up with 5.5 gal. of wort in the kettle...

Normally, I break the Wyeast smack packs (125 ml size), let them swell for 6 hours, make a starter, and pitch the starter after about 12 hours. I've had good results pitching while the starter is at peak and would like to keep doing it this way. Tonight, during an absent-minded move, I smacked...

I have a recipe for this brew that recommends using Wyeast's Strong Ale yeast, but recently, after drinking a bottle, I noticed what appeared to be yeast collecting on the bottom a few days later. Does anyone know anything about the yeast in this brew? I know many of the Trappist-type ales use...

I am planning to follow a recipe (5 gallon) I found to make an imperial stout with OG approximately 1.110 to result in about 11% ABV. The recipe looks like it's trying to clone Rogue imperial stout or Avery Czar, both of which I love. Ohterwise, I probably wouldn't shoot for such a high...

I just had Uerige Doppelsticke (strong altbier 8.5% ABV) for the first time tonight and I must say that it is one of the best beers I've had in a while. I am here hoping that someone knows where to find a clone for this particular brew or at least one for another altbier of similar gravity...

The time has come for my 2nd AG. This time, going to take a crack at an EPA. I don't have a particular recipe. I just thought, with the help of this forum, I'd try to formulate something. I was considering using 9 or 10 lbs. of Marris Otter as the base malt and about .5 to 1 lb of 40L...

Wanted to throw an aeration technique I use out there and see what everyone thinks. I've been trying to avoid spending money on an aeration system if other, more manual, measures work (as long as they don't require shaking 5 gallons of wort). Here's the one I used last time: After cooling the...

It's over and I'm waiting for fermentation to begin. Things didn't go 100% as planned but hopefully it will turn out decent. For my mash/lauter tun, I use a modified orange Rubbermaid 5-gallon round water cooler. The starch conversion went well according to the iodine test. The only problem...

Seems that a lot of you use this product and have been satisfied, so I figured I'd try some for myself. Before I use it, I want to make sure I'm reading the directions right because they seem a little confusing. The directions say: "Use at a rate of 1 TBL./5 gal. of water used in your brew...