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In a hope to reduce some bottling I purchased a set of mini kegs, about 1.25 gal per keg. I processes the batch in the same manner as always, using corn sugar to carbonate. I filled 2 mini kegs and finished the batch in bottles. After a month or so the bottles finished nicely however, when I...

I brewed, partial mash, a Blue Moon clone 6 weeks ago. The brewing process went well however, the og was lower than expected. I pitched the yeast and after several days didnt see much activity. So I racked to clean carboy, mixed well and capped up. after a couple of days I began seeing some...

I have just bottled my 13th batch of wine, here are some of my observations and questions: Most of my batches finish with an bitter-alcohol taste. These get better after 6 months to a year of aging. Reguardless of which fruit is used, the wines finish very light with little or no flavour...

I have successfully harvested yeast from the primary after racking to secondary but, when I was racking to bottling bucket I noticed a significant layer of yeast in the bottom of the secondary. My question is can this harvested yeast be used or will it be exhausted and insufficient to brew...

Is there a rule of thumb or ranges to identify the dryness or sweetness of a wine using specific gravity? For example if I have a wine which finished at a specific gravity of 0.99. This is fairly dry. Where does the specific gravity have to be raised to to achieve a semi sweet to sweet wine??

I have been brewing for a little over a year now. I have brewed 8 batches of beer and 10 batches of wine. I have had some good batches, some not so hot and have had to waste 1 batch due to a sanitation problem however, I have hit a wall. I have not found that favorite beer and in the end, as...

I am looking at bottling some sparkling cider and was wondering what type of bottles would be best. I was planning on using some beer bottles but also thought a larger size would also be nice. I have had corks pop with wine bottles and doubt they would be strong enough anyway. I would guess...

I have just bottled a batch of Cherry/Lemon wine roughly based on the Skeeter Pee recipe. The wine cleared great however, with a ABV of 10% it has an alcohol taste and smell. I'm expecting this will have to age 3 months to be able to drink. Did i do something wrong or is there a way to fix this...

Does anyone have a killer wine recipe for the holidays. I'm looking for something not too exotic or needing 6 months of aging. I have a lemon/cherry SP going that promises to be good but would like to have something a little more festive.

I harvested yeast from a batch of Amber Bach using Wyeast 1007, a German style Ale yeast. I did this 3 months ago and now have the time to use it. How long is a yeast harvest good for? It has been refrigerated during this time. I'm planning on waking it up and making a starter to see if its viable.

I am looking for a method to carbonate Skeerter Pee. I have tried the corbonation tablets with no success. My thought is that the yeast is dead at the end of the process so that it does not react with the carb tablets???

Can anyone tell me what the difference between Claret-Bordeaux-and Hock bottles are? Also is there a rule of thumb for which type and color of bottle is to be used for the types, colors etc. of wines. I have been using clear bottles mostly but have used green and brown (amber) as well. Hard...

I entered my first brew into a contest to get some feedback. The judge said it needed to be ballanced.? Does that just mean adjusting ingredients to achieve the gravity, bitterness and color for the beers style? Or is there more? Tbe beer wasa Belgian Wit style.

I have finished my first batch of Raspberry Lemon pee. The process went well using a 1 gallon recipe of raspberry wine for the slurry. The wine cleared terrific however the final wine is bitter, not tart or sour.....I dont think additional sugar would help, just make it overly sweet. My wifes's...

Well its been 2 weeks and I opened up the fermenter to check Sg. A heavy layer of krausening? was on top bubbling away. The Sg was at the posted FG 1.012. I buttoned it back up and the air lock started bubbling away. Will this Krausen layer sink or will I have to rack to secondary to allow the...

I have a newbe question: I have made a few beers using kits, they have come out well. I currently have a batch in the primary of a beer that I have brewed from a recipe using individual ingredients. The kits fermented quickly and were finished, at FG within 1 week. The recipe version i have has...

I am a newbie having brewed a few extract brews and am looking at branching into partial mash and recipe brewing. I have found several recipes that sound good but I cannot find the actual ingredients at the brew shops. Is there a rule of thumb to follow or a substitution calculator out there...

Hi, I am a first time brewer and have just finished my first batch but nothing looked right. I used a Irish Red Ale Kit. While I was cooking the wart I did not see the foam that I expected during the boil. I boiled for the total 60 minutes that the kit specified but am not feeling confident in...