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Not that I am remotely interesting in brewing a non-alcoholic beer, but I was wondering today how you'd go about it. Does anyone have any idea? The only thing I could come up with is potentially mashing a really low gravity beer (like a final gravity... except original) and not fermenting at...

Er, I'm gonna be getting back ON topic here. I've brewed 3 all grains now, and I've had pretty bad efficiency myself. I've found [the first page of] this thread very useful. I was only about 60%, and I was getting frustrated. Now I've come up with several tips. One question I have for...

I have successfully brewed 3 all grains thus far, but each time I end up with a lower OG than targetted. Sometimes substantially. For example, I brewed an English Pale on Sunday with a target OG of 1.048. Mine turned out to be 1.039. I know there can be a host of reasons for this, but my...

English Pale Ale with my fresh Fuggles this Sunday!

That's a bummer. Maybe he'll take an exchange. I'm looking for something with a 0-32% Brix scale, right? I don't want to mess this up again. Is this what I'm looking for: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330161453159 ?

Anyone? Will this thing be useful for a beer brewer?

I've never used a starter (because I have only brewed 4 beers). Twice I've used dry yeast packets, twice I've used Wyeast smack packs. My very first beer was brewed with a dry yeast packet that expired well over a year before brewing. Oops. I've had intense, vigorous, washing-machine-like...

I broke down and bought a refractometer off eBay. Probably not a good idea since I wasn't exactly sure what I should be buying. I ended up getting one that only has a percent alcohol scale... Can this be of any use to me? I'm aware that normal refractometers usually have a degrees Brix...

I've harvested the Fuggles hops off of a neighbor's vines :rockin: (with his permission!) and dried them out. What can I brew (AG) this weekend that would benefit from these lovely smelling gorgeous hops? Recipe suggestions anyone? :mug:

I like the third one as well.

Haha! I've actually seen that episode of Good Eats... where he makes beef jerky without a commercial dehydrator. That's what I'll do then. Seems simplest and cheapest. For storing these hops after drying--freezer, right? Or will the fridge be sufficient? And what sort of bags am I...

Welcome from Madison!

Awesome, thanks for the quick responses! I'll look into a food dehydrator, and I think I know someone with a vacuum sealer. I'll take pictures of the hops (vines and flowers) when I harvest them, if anyone's interested. :p This should be just about the right time of year to harvest I believe...

I am pretty new to the homebrewing scene (2 all grain, 4 total brews under the belt). It has recently come to my attention that my mother's neighbor grows hops for aesthetic value. At the end of the season, they chop down the vines and throw it all out. All those precious hops wasted!! I...

I'm a full time student and I also work full time in a call center. :drunk: Luckily, I'm getting laid off (center is closing) in about 3 months. Looks like I'll be brewing a lot more with all that free time!

This might be sort of off-topic, but since we're talking about fruit beers, I had a couple questions. Is it better to use fresh or frozen fruit, or doesn't it matter? And how do you ensure that putting fruit into your secondary won't get anything nasty in there?

What is the best way to ensure you won't get any contamination when you rack to the secondary on top of the raspberries? Sorry if this is a silly question--I've never brewed a fruit beer before. :o

First all grain a success! It was a lot easier than I thought... Ran into one problem with my immersion chiller, but a hose clamp will fix that leak. Quick question about EdWort's Haus Pale Ale: the recipe says you should have an OG of about 1.051. I came up a little short, at about 1.046...

EdWort's Haus Ale it is! Thanks for the suggestions. :D

Alright, I've got 2 extract brews with steeping grains under my belt, and I'm ready for my first all grain! I've made a mash tun out of a 10 gallon cooler via Fly_Guy's technique; I've got a wort chiller and a big old turkey fryer. I think I'm set to go! Any suggestions on a good, simple AG...