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Any way to tell/guess how much abv boost you will get from barrel aging? I’m planning on doing ~15 gallons of bourbon stout (in a fresh 15 gallon barrel) with a friend. I’d imagine 10, if not all 15 gallons will be bottle conditioned. I keg, he doesn’t. Plan on giving a lot of it away too...

I have 5 gallons of each - a 1,2,3,& 4 year old extract lambic. I was thinking about having a few (1-4) people over to get some different perspectives on blends. What’s the best, or easiest way to go about this? Measure by weight, with a scale? How much to take out of each carboy for the...

I want to add some fruit juice & maybe lactose to a sour beer that I will be kegging. It is from a solera type barrel that is at least a year old (since last addition). I probably won't drink it fast enough to rely solely on refrigeration to keep fermentation at bay. I've read that people...

I'll start off by saying, I generally only brew wild/mixed fermentations, so it isn't a big concern. I made a starter for an neipa (wlp007 dry English ale) probably about a month ago, then couldn't brew. I've been busy every weekend lately, and just kind of forgot about it. Now, the starter...

I'm looking to make a "juicy" session type of beer using 5lbs extra light, and 1lb wheat dme in a 5 gallon batch. Probably do a 15min boil using 6 gallons of distilled water (~6.5 gallon boil total volume). I'll be using 1oz Columbus at 15min, 1oz Amarillo at flame out, a bunch of stuff in...

My plan is to make an extract lambic, doing a 60min boil with aged hops. I have a wild starter that I'm going to use, along with dregs and maybe a lambic blend to be safe. I have some old home grown hops in my freezer I'd like to quick "age" in the oven. I know that aged hops aren't...

Will lacto sour at 60-65, or is that too cold? I understand warmer is better, but is it necessary, or just faster? I've heard it takes longer at room temp, but what is room temp, 70, 75? Thanks, wickerman

When filling a barrel with beer, how full do you make it? Should it be full until over flowing? Seems like that would make an airlock fairly useless. I have a 30 gallon barrel that I'll be filling up with sour beer within the next month or so. I already have the beer fermenting, so this will...

I plan on starting a few 15 gallon soleras in the near future, but am not quite sure how I should go about using dregs. I'll be using either 15 gallon demi-johns or whiskey barrels for the secondaries, and 3 buckets for primary. Now my question is, if I primary in 3 different buckets (5...

I'm thinking about starting a solera type sour saison barrel. Ideally I would like to find a freshly emptied barrel from a local winery in the 30 gallon range, but haven't started looking yet. Id like to do a small (~4%) sour & funky farmhouse/saison type beer that I could pull 10-15 gallons...

I plan on making a few experimental meads with brett and bacteria. Will the brett/bacteria wipe out the flavor and smell from a varietal honey? I don't want to waste my good stuff (buckwheat & orange blossom) if there will be little to no contribution of flavor or aroma. Any input is...

This is the first time I'm attempting to use lacto (white labs), and have a few questions. I'm interested in doing some pre-boil souring and maybe a berliner with lacto pitched a day or so before the yeast. Now for the questions- -Do I need to/should I make a starter? If so, what should the...

I'm just getting into making wild brews and wanted to know how much headspace is too much? I have 4 gals of a braggot of sorts in a 6 gal carboy that I added brett C to about a week ago. My plan was to add 1 gal cherry juice to it at some point down the line, so I'd have 5 gals and still have...

I'm venturing into the world of using brett and other bugs. I was wondering if by just using them, is there a chance I could infect an area of my house? I don't make a ton of beer, but I have a good bit of mead aging in carboys. Is there anything I should worry about as far as infections go...

I was going to stir/degass a wine I made a few days ago, and I saw a fruit fly floating in it. I removed it as soon as I saw it. What do I do now? Should I just let it be and hope for the best? Or hit it with some campden or something, and re-pitch more yeast? Any advise is appreciated...

I'm ordering two 5 gal buckets of honey this week and need some tips on transfering the honey to smaller containers. I figure I'll do a few gallon jugs, mason jars (quart & pint), and make a batch with whats left. The best method I have found so far is to pour some from the bucket to a pot...

I will be making some experiment gallons that will basically be pure fruit juice and honey. My question is, should I still use nutrients as I normally would, or tone it down a bit? The juice will be cranberry, blueberry, currant, cherry, and apple if that matters. Thanks, wickerman

I am thinking of making a 12 gallon batch of pale ale, but don't really want to do two boils. Could I just use the ingredients for a 12 gallon batch in a 6 gallon brew, and add 6 gallons of water at the end, or will it be too diluted? I have a feeling I would have to add more hops for sure...

I have been doing research on how much oak to use, when to use it, sanitizing, and so on. There doesn't really seem to be any particular way to do it. I have 2oz medium roast frech oak chips. I was told to use 2oz (soaked in 100pf vodka over night) for about a month. I don't want to over do...

I found a recipe for a "Traditional Polish Mead" a while ago that has really intrigued me, but there are a few things I don't really understand (rough translation?). Don't remember where I found it, but here it is- Traditional Polish Mead Czworniak -("Quadruple" - refers to water to honey...