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I've been brewing indoors as of late, and always start with 8 gallons of cold tap water. We were told since grade school to never use hot tap water as it picks up more lead in the pipes. Has anyone looked into this? Perhaps you could do a lead water test while cold, and another while hot to see...

I just got my first secondary regulator so I can serve some beers at a slightly lower carbonation. I just finished hooking it up and did a leak test. The reading on the secondary reg is a good 3-4 psi lower than on the primary. Is this normal, or do I have an issue somewhere in the chain?

I got this tank in a swap out program at welding supply shop - and am trying to figure out if it is almost empty or not. I don't see a TW though, so not really sure how to estimate what is left. It currently weights 30.3LBs.

I've been brewing and kegging for about 3 years now - and I have never encountered such a disaster... need your advice. :mug: My keezer hold 3 kegs, and today I noticed that one of the "empty" kegs inside was actually full. Hmm, what is this pray-tell? It was gassed up, and when I tried to...

I stepped up to a much larger kettle about a year ago, and have not really figured out how to recalibrate recipes around hop utilization. I've found that some beers are a tad bit too bitter, so I think some adjustment is in order. Rather that just continue to wing it (doubling batches and then...

Here's the short-hand story. Bought some Conan yeast, made a double batch of IPA. Kegged one batch BATCH1BUCKET1 a few days ago and washed some of the yeast. Made 2 jars, and the leftover larger jar sat on the counter for the last 5 days. I wasn't planning on using it, but didn't want to dump it...

I plan on having about 10 friends over to blind taste a large number of IPA's. We could just use paper to score each beer, but it occurred to me that phone apps could play a big role here. If everyone logged there scores into an app, or onto a shared document - it would take seconds to compile...

I guess the new season is around the corner (my fingers crossed that it will be a good one) but is there anywhere I can get a couple ounces of the 2012 crop? I love that tangerine flavor

I've been using an 11gal Bayou Classic kettle for BIAB - but have run into serious issues trying to do 10 gallon batches of imperial beers. I have to mash with only 60% of the water, top up, etc (NOT FUN). So, I want to go big. I'm eyeing the 25gallon version of the same kettle, as the...

When I bought all of my gear off of craigslist, I got 3x ball-lock kegs, and 1x pin-lock. I am all setup and running with the ball-locks, but the pin lock is just sitting there. All the kegs were in good shape, although I did replace the gaskets. I'm hoping there is someone out there who is...

I am starting to wash yeast and I noticed a lot of people boil the water before dumping it into the fermenter. Why is this necessary? In the cases of partial boils, tap water is poured directly into a fermenter - under the assumption that tap water is clean. By the same extension, wouldn't...

I'm interested in making a batch of beer with elderflowers, but wasn't sure what would compliment it well. I am big fan of a cocktail that combines elderflower liquor, grapefruit juice, and gin - so I wondered if I could play off those same flavors. Would elderflowers hold up to a grape...

I'm doing a low-key marriage next week, and then throwing a pretty large BBQ/party for friends on the 25th. It dawned on me to create a quick wedding brew that the masses would enjoy, and keep me from buying a few cases of bottles on top of the other costs. So... on the 3rd (a week ago) I...

I just needed some confirmation that this approach makes sense... I am doing the first BIAB this weekend, and it is also my first yeast starter. So, a lot of room to mess this up. OG: 1.085, 5.5gals. Yeast cells needed: ~319 billion. Planning to brew Sunday morning, so my plan is: On...

I recently did my first full boil, and added 1.25 gals (to total 6.25 gals for a 5 gal recipe). It was a pretty humid day in the 80s, but it appears I was left with 6 gals in my fermenter. I thought people typically boiled off a gallon an hour.... do you think my boil wasn't roiling enough, or...

I have a pretty old co2 reg I got off of craigslist. It has worked fine as long as I didn't try pushing it above 24 psi (it would leak from the weeping/blow-off valve). I'm trying to boost a keg, and it seems I am unable to get it above 15psi, no matter how far I turn it. I've never seen...

I bought an extract kit a few months back, and just got a big kettle and wort chiller. Can anyone advise how to adjust the hop additions (if at all)? I downloaded beersmith, but don't want to tackle both of these topics at once! Here is the recipe from NB. Thanks...

I've done a number of extract brews and am starting to plan a move toward to BIAB as my next step. I bought a huge kettle and will be building a wort chiller. It seems starters are the standard as you progress - even with dry yeast. So my question is: Is a starter kit necessary to make a good...

I just got a strainer for when I go from chilled wort to primary, and am really liking the amount of trub it catches. Certainly is going to make my life easier when I rack to the keg.... now I'm not sure how this will affect recipes with a <2 minute hop addition. Is it possible that the hops...

I went straight to kegging, and here are a few questions I still haven't picked up yet: Can I simply use a bottle wand attached to my picnic tap to 'bottle' some beer? (it's already carbed in my corney keg). If so, do you try to fill it right to the top so as to not leave any air in the...