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Recently I decided to sell all my HB equipment. My other hobby is HO scale trains, and I have time and resources for 1 of 2. I found some HB bottles that were 4 to 5 years old. Popped several, and they foamed all over the place. A batch of porter and a batch of generic golden ale. Of COURSE...

Note this uses a store brand cereal and does not use the proprietary name "Froot Loops" Is it possible to capture the essential artificial flavors and sweetness of fruit loops cereal? I finally threw together a small extract batch to test it. This is purposefully lower alcohol and low...

What are your priorities? I mean, who really needs bread, milk, and eggs?:D Our storm preparedness list: Toilet paper Water Power Internet Beer Wine Coffee battery powered light sources

Plain 'ol shelves would be boooring. There was just enough room behind the door of the hobby room. And it is good for really long tools, like the new mash paddle and auto siphon. The big ceramic mug is from my nephew's brewery, Archibald (Quebec)

Can you suggest a front-opening cooler unit with more interior space? Intent is to fit a 6 1/2 gallon bucket and a few bottles. A height of 36 inches or less would be ideal, I could make space for a slightly taller unit. Top-opening freezer will not fit. Normal refrigerator too big...

I started with a gallon of clear apple juice with no preservatives and it became very cloudy one day after fermentation began, and has not cleared at all after fermenting one week. This surprised me. I did not expect it to become opaque by using clear juice. Is the cloudiness from pectin or...

The wort was left for 4 days. Yes, I pitched within 24 hours but the yeast was obviously not viable, there was no action. I noticed a few very tiny floaties that are definitely mold. I tried it and it does not yet taste sour. Is it possible to save the wort by re-boiling and re-pitching?

How do I remove the smoke smell from the kitchen after making smoked porter? Yesterday I brewed my first rauchbier with cherrywood smoked malt. I do BIAB in the kitchen on an electric stove using a heatstick to help with the boil. All through the process the steam filling the room was...

Why did no coriander flavor come through? They were was very fragrant coriander seeds. I tried a summer wheat recipe with 70% barley, 30% wheat, and 1 oz of ground coriander boiled 10 minutes. I thought that was a large amount but no orange flavor survived. it is still a good, clean...

The first voile bag wore out - I learned some things about stitching, how big it should be, and I really wanted handles. Here is the second bag. It is significantly larger than the kettle, big handles for lifting narrows to a point for draining, Button-hole stitch on the webbing for...

If I do an Iodine test and it shows complete conversion (nice yellow color, does not turn dark) does that mean I have gotten as much maltose as possible out of the grain, regardless if the diastatic ability is low or high? The recent AG efficiencies have been low, like 50%. My process really...

Got my hands on about 3 lbs of triticale wheat malt, which is a cross between wheat and rye but not at all spicy like rye alone. It is sweet and a half shade darker than 2-row barley. What do you think of this recipe for 5 gallons? Too sweet? Target is an American blonde style but not...

The local Worchester/MA craigslist listed some 1890's beer bottles, supposedly never opened. Is it possible to harvest yeast from these? I am sure these will be gone soon - not me, I prefer to brew rather than collect beer items. Here is the link and some info if the posting disappears...

Any opinions on this? Too cloying from honey malt? Too strange a combination of hops? Spring is around the corner and it seemed like a good time to create a US version of a Maibock, a little hoppy, a little out there. Honey flavor is from malt, strawberry aroma is from the Belma dry hops...

This batch seems to be fermenting very slowly. Is this within the expected range? It is a 3 gallon batch pitched over the previous trub. Started at 1.059 (14.5 brix on the refractometer) and after 10 days it is 1.043 (10.5 brix). Ambient temperature is 62F to 70F, the wide range is...

Are you staying in and brewing during this snowstorm? It seems much more sensible than driving 60 miles in this crud. I woke up at 3am in preparation to drive family to the airport for 10am. Lots of snow around Hartford CT. Then start work via telecommuting. Then plow the rest of the...

OK, so, you were right. Leaving it in the primary fermenter for 14 or more days can be a good thing. The last 3 batches I had to leave in the primary until I got more bottle caps. One batch sat there about a month. They were absolutely clear into the bottling bucket. The yeast cleaned...

Here is a kit for brew in a bag, as in, ferment in a bag. Add the ingredients, close the top, 14 days later open the tap on the bottom of the bag. Probably not a wonderful tasting product, but it open up ideas. Like , why not keg in a bag? ‘Just brew it!’ Patented home brewing bag shakes up...

Unbreakable hydrometers. Really. :ban: And pails designed for brewing, not make-do version from the paint store. This from a company that normally makes air conditioners. WTH, if they have injection molding machines, go for it! Not yet. Soon. The company put out a product announcement...

We just opened the last bottle of our first all grain, capped 14 months ago. It was a simple American Pale Ale and no doubt is it the best batch I have made. After all that time it was golden crystal clear with no chill haze. It lost some of the floral aroma and kept all the hop flavor. So I am...