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For various reasons I recently made an Imperial IPA from a kit. (fermentables9.9 lbs of LME and a pound of corn sugar and Wyeast 1056 instead of the yeast in the kit). I have a Brew Belt hooked up to a thermostat so I have been able to maintain a constant temperature of 70 degrees for the last...

I have a book called Craft Beer for the Home Brewer by Michael Agnew. Several of the extract recipes with steeped grains call for adding some hops while the grains are steeping. I have never heard of this. Has anybody done so? What is the benefit? If one of the recipes was converted to BIAB...

It has been 24 hours and so far no sign of fermentation. I did something a little differnt this time. Three days ago I got my starter going, planning on brewing two days ago, but something came up. The starter was doing fine after a day so I put it into the refrigerator (which, according to...

My daughter gave me a 4-pack of Heady Topper for Christmas (she gets Daughter of the Year award). On the can it says to drink from the can, but the label shows a person drinking from a glass.

I took a starting gravity reading on the beer I brewed yesterday that came out at 1.064 at 70F. When I cleaned up I forgot to empty the hydrometer and this morning when I looked at it the reading was 1.066. There was a lot of hop sediment that had settled out overnight and I wonder if that...

For my most recent brew I used Wyeast 3711. My SG was 1.06 and it fermented furiously for two days, then stopped. I thought that maybe I had a stuck fermentation, but when I measured the gravity, it was 1.012, which was pretty much my target. I don't think that I have ever had such a fast...

How important is it to rack? I have a carboy and have racked brews in the past, but I'm feeling lazy. My latest brew, an IPA, has fully fermented in the primary and I figured I would leave it for another week just to be sure. I'm not planning to dry hop.

I had a dry hopped cider made by Nine Pin in Albany, NY recently and I liked it. It had little hop flavor, but a definite hop aroma. I've made a couple of gallon batches of cider and I would like to dry hop the next batch. Any suggestions on type of hops and quantity?

My latest brew, a porter, failed to bottle condition. There is a tiny pffft when I open it, and I can detect very slight carbonation while drinking it, but it really is too flat for my taste. Also, though the flavor and body are just about where I wanted them, I want a bit more hops. So...

I have been hearing about people using plastic soda bottles for bottling beer and cider. Other than the fact that they are clear, how well do they do compared to bottles with crown caps? I'm thinking about using some for my cider to avoid bottle bombs, but might want to put some beer in a couple...

I accidently left the brew belt on when I put the insulating blanket around my fermenting batch of ale. Temp got above 80 before turned off brew belt and took blanket off. So what is the worst that can happen? Is the batch definitely ruined, or just maybe ruined, or maybe not as good as it might...

I'm going to be moving my brewing operation outdoors, partly to keep spouse happy (she dislikes the smell) and partly because I'm going to use a propane burner. My plan is to do BIAB (5 1/2 gallons before boil) and wrap the pot with insulation while mashing. Will the mash stay at ~152 for the 60...

My daughter was going to give me a Big Mouth Bubbler for Christmas, but her local HB store discouraged her. I have now seen some talk about fragile glass ones, but are there any issues with the plastic big mouth bubblers?

I have just bought an Edelmetall Burner so that I didn't have to rely on my electric stove. My back porch, just off the kitchen, is covered, but open on two sides and I was planning on using the burner there. The directions warn against using it near wood surfaces, though, so I am a little...

I picked up two gallons of local preservative free cider at a farmers market and decided to make hard cider, pretty much on a whim. I bottled it in late February, so I figured it was about time to give it a try. It was a two gallon batch and I used three tablespoons of sugar to bottle...

Bottle bombs seem to be a much bigger concern with cider than in beer brewing. Why is that? I am about ready to bottle my first one gallon batch of cider and I would like to get some carbonation. My plan was to add about three tablespoons of corn sugar and then bottle away. Just how worried...

I was wondering if it is possible to over aerate wort? I use a paint stirrer on an electric drill to aerate, and it does double duty circulating the wort in the cooling bath. Last time I brewed I went a bit overboard and by the time the wort had chilled I had built up quite a head of foam. It...

I brewed a 5 gallon batch on Monday and used a starter that I had prepared the day before. By mid-day Tuesday the fermentation was so strong that it was coming out through the air lock (next time I think I might use a blow off tube). By Wednesday all activity had ceased. I can't believe that the...

I have been wanting to get into making starters, especially after having some problems with stuck fermentations. Because I'm kind of cheap and I like to build things I made my own stir plate, though I didn't have an old computer to scrounge form, but a new computer fan and other components cost...

I just bought a pack of Wyeast and noticed that the date on it is April 2013, so seven months have passed since packaging. Should I try it or just take it back to my local store?