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Have never used a stir plate before but finally built one and am planning a brew this weekend. I know that one of the benefits of a starter is to make sure the yeast are viable before ruining a large batch. So my question is, if using a stir plate how do you know the yeast are doing their...

I am planning to brew in a week. I need to do a starter as I have a wyeast pack that is a few months old plus brewing an IPA above 1.060. I have the time to get the starter going today but probably not next weekend. Are there any issues with doing the starter today, letting it run for 24...

Is it better to boil uncovered or with lid slightly open or completely off? Or does it really matter??

I am going to brew a 5 gallon wheat with the following grain bill: 5lbs 2-row 2.5lbs white wheat .5 lb flaked wheat I have .5 oz centennial and .5 oz Amarillo hops combined from a previous brew. What would be the best hop schedule to get about 18 IBUs with decent flavor and aroma? I was...

I am brewing a mostly English based grain mild ale and the recipe calls for Windsor. I have read quite a few forums expressing dislike for Windsor. What is a decent replacement option for Windsor? I am open to dry or liquid.

Is it okay to store my StarSan mixture in my plastic Ale Pail?

I love wheat beers and especially Boulevard's 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat. I recently brewed Jamil' Evil Twin and love the idea of all late hop additions. How does the wheat recipe look below? 5 Gallon Batch - 60 Minute Boil 6 lbs 2 Row 1 lb flaked wheat 3 lbs white wheat .5 oz amarillo 20 minutes...

Here is a pic of some yeast I washed. I want to use it in an IPA (1.058) and realize I will need a starter. I have read many threads about it but am still confused of how big a starter I will need. It seems like all of the calculators require fairly subjective assumptions that can...

How quick should fermentation start if you're using a starter? My starter was fermenting pretty good when I dumped it in and it's been six hours and I have nothing.

I want to do a Black IPA. Since roasted grains aren't "must mash" grains, is it better to steep them separate from your base grain mash or does it really matter?

Brewed a batch last night and went to cool it down by turning on the faucet for the wort chiller. Went back to the garage and as soon as I started looking for leaks my vinyl hose that bridges the chiller and the garden hose exploded!!! Scared the s*** out of me and damn near blew my ear drums...

I am brewing a simple wheat beer and am looking for a good yeast. I have used Wyeast American Wheat 1010 in the past and am not a big fan. I would like to try something different but keep it close to its simple style.

I have had an IPA in the primary for over a week. Typically after a week the krausen has receded into the beer. I want to transfer to a secondary so I can dry hop. Should I wait for it to recede? Could it be Star San foam holding it up? This was the first time I used Star San and there was...

I brewed a partial mash IPA kit recently. The boil size was about 3.5 gallons. I plugged the recipe into ibrewmaster and the IBUs came out to about 43, which seemed low for an IPA. I changed the boil size to 6.5 gallons and the IBUs went up to 73, which I expected due to better hop utilization...

I brewed a wheat recipe that I designed and it tastes like the smell of dirty socks. I am wondering if it is the yeast I used. I used Wyeast 1010 American Wheat. A few sniffs of the airlock during fermentation were pretty bad so that is why I think it could be the yeast. My grain and hop...

Just kegged my go to pale ale. I typically transfer to a secondary but kept this in the primary for 15 days. When racking to the keg I could tell it was fairly cloudy. I figured that once it went in the fridge it would cold crash. It is still pretty cloudy and not that great tasting. I have...

Has anyone dry hopped in the primary rather than racking to a secondary and then dry hopping? Also, can you dry hop and add gelatin finnings at the same time?

It has been 48 hours with no fermentation activity in a wheat beer. Should I pitch more yeast? I ordered wyeast wheat online and fear heat may have zapped it during shipping. I thought about just pouring in another wheat smack pack.

I typically do all grain recipes but need to get some more brew in the keg and don't have the time to set up my all grain equipment. Can I convert one of my all grain recipes to extract by simply replacing my base grains with the appropriate amount of extract and steep the specialty grains...

I am going to do my 2nd AG batch this weekend and was wondering when the best time was to take the 1st Hydrometer reading. With my 1st batch I took one off the 1st sparge runnings and it was higher that it should have been. I did the full sparge and and took another before the boil. It was...