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Is this a pellicle or mold? This was a cucumber ferment with dried dill and garlic cloves with a 5.5% brine (I know, that's too strong). If this is mold, how do ya'll keep your herbs from floating to the top?

I have some questions about fermenting cucumbers to make pickles. It's been a while since I've been active in HBT, so I'm trying to relearn the layout of the site and the etiquette regarding posting. I didn't see a pinned thread regarding fermented cucumbers, but I could be overlooking it. I did...

Happy Friday! :ban: I have a vial of Brett C. WLP645 and want to do a 1.25 gallon batch with it. Mr. Malty say I need 96 billion cells and the vial has 1.8-2.7 billion cells in it. How big of a starter do I need to get from 1.8-2.7 to 96? I was thinking of starting with a 500ml starter and...

I pitched a vial of White Labs WLP645 Brettanomyces claussenii into 1 gallon of unfiltered organic apple juice and a few days later I saw what I hope turns out to be a healthy pellicle. I didn't see any activity in the airlock or even any co2 bubbles in the juice. Is it normal to not have any...

I've been scouring different threads on here trying to figure out the cell count of White Lab's Brett vials. I guess it's supposed to be 50 million/ml but is that ml in reference to the yeast slurry in the vial or the vial as a whole? In the thread below BeerSmith says it's 1.75 billion cells...

I have two vials of Brett. C. and I would like to toss one in a gallon of unfiltered pasteurized cider and use the other to make one gallon of beer. I figured I won't need a starter for these small batches. Both will be 100% Brett C. brews. My questions are can I just ferment the cider in the...

I had a buddy give me two vials of White Labs Brett. Clausseni and I would like to use only them in a 2.5 gallon batch of something prob around 1.055-1.065 ish. Will a 2 Liter starter on a stir plate be good enough if I toss both vials in there? How long should I let the starter go for and can I...

Listed below is a recipe based closely on Jamil's Black Forest Stout from the "Brewing Classic Styles" book. I read some posts on here about other people who have done this recipe and some said it came out too "roasty", while others said it had too much cherry flavor. I am going use all of the...

I have noticed my corny keg lids sometimes start to leak gas at lower a psi. This usually happens when I am about to fill bottles from a keg and have turned down the psi to about 2-4. Any ideas of why this is happening and what to do about it?

Am I right in assuming I need to purge a keg of gas before removing the gas quick disconnect? I ask because I have a regulator can only handle two kegs at this time and I just transfered an Oktoberfest into a third corny keg for lagering. It seems like every time I purged the Oktoberfest keg of...

Anyone here have experience with pre-hopped canned kits? Specifically Munton's kits? The directions say the kits make a 6 gallon batch, but this seems to me like it would make a very light beer if only made with the (1) 3.3 lb canned extract that comes with the kit and 2.2lbs of corn sugar or...

What Are Some Causes for Slow fermentation? I did a Cooper's Ginger beer kit and after 6-7 days it has only dropped from 1.027 to 1.019. The kit says it should be done by then, although I usually let my beers primary for 2.5 to 3 weeks so I will let it sit longer anyways. I usually do my own...

I followed all directions for a Cooper's ginger beer kit (to make the alcoholic version, not the soda version) including adding 2.2 lbs of white sugar except I rehydrated the dry kit yeast in warm, preboiled water before pitching. It seemed to take off slow and the airlock never really picked up...

Just taking a poll here: Do you think Mr. Malty rates are too high? Also give a reason for your your answer, if you would like. (Also let me know if you use the Date/Viability feature on the calculator.)

I know, I know you are all going to say that you can't taste Star San and not to fear the foam. And I believe it, since I have used it many times with no issues and even put some in plain water to taste it by itself (it's only a little tart) Well a buddy and I are trying to figure this off...

In the "Brewing Classic Styles Book" they recommend to use Nylon paint strainer bags from a paint store and I did find some there and they are a lot cheaper than the Nylon strainers at my LHBS. They do say 100% Nylon, but does anyone know if these can handle the high temperatures for steeping...

In the "Brewing Classic Styles" book they state it might not be good to directly add a starter that was "continuously aerated" (I'm assuming they mean w/ a stirplate) since this could alter the flavor of the finished beer, and instead should be put in the fridge so only the slurry is pitched...

I just made my first batch of Apfelwein and I followed the recipe exactly except I added about 1 tsp of yeast energizer and I re hydrated the yeast before pitching. Since I was using corn sugar from an unopened 4lb bag I had to measure out 2lbs for the recipe wich means the sugar came in contact...

I am new to soda making, but I've made quite a bit of beer. I would like to try making some soda using yeast for carbonation. From what I understand, when you make soda with yeast you let it ferment for maybe two days to create some carbonation and then bottle it and put the soda in the fridge...

I'm trying to get my kegging system set up and balanced. I've read so many posts and threads and articles about the subject my head is going to explode! After using the balancing calculator it looks like I should have about 14'-16' of tubing if I set the system to 12-14 psi @ 47*-50*. I did...