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I’ve been AG brewing for quite some time now, and I’ve been dialing my system for a while. I consistency get ~60% brew house efficiency. After many attempts to increase my efficiency (trying different crushes, sparge methods, etc.), I just recently decided to let it ride. I did my first brew...

My friend gave me some rhizomes a while ago. I planted them a few weeks ago and have been watering. I haven't mowed in that section of the backyard and it's starting to get overgrown. My thumb isn't green at all, and it's hard for me to tell what makes overgrown grass, weeds, etc. Are these...

Hi All, After brewing for 5 years, I pitched liquid yeast that was propagated from another beer (Heady Topper). I essentially made a few starters to keep building it up (to save some). I brewed an IPA this weekend, and saw signs of fermentation (bubbles in airlock) 2-3 hours after...

Hi all, I was given this jar of harvested yeast from Heady Topper. I'm planning on making a 5 gallon batch of an IPA with an OG around 1.060. I've made yeast starters before, and I have the equipment to do so, but I have no idea how much yeast is in here. Can someone tell me how much DME...

Hi all, I was given a mason jar of harvested Conan yeast from a fellow Brewer. I'm an experienced AG Brewer, but I have never used harvested yeast before. The mason jar I have has about 25-50 ml of yeast (from Heady Topper). If I want to make 5g of a nice 1.080 DIPA, how should I do it...

Hi all, I was given a mason jar of harvested Conan yeast from a fellow Brewer. I'm an experienced AG Brewer, but I have never used harvested yeast before. The mason jar I have has about 25-50 ml of yeast (from Heady Topper). If I want to make 5g of a nice 1.080 DIPA, how should I do it? I...

I recently brewed an imperial pumpkin ale (5 gallons) that had an OG of 1.084. All went well during fermentation (used 2 packets of US-04 in fermentation chamber for 3 weeks, very active throughout). I kegged, but forgot to take a FG reading. I decided to try to take a FG reading of the...

Hi All, I have a pumpkin ale in my fermentation chamber at 68 degrees for 2 weeks now. I checked on it last night, and there were clearly spots of mold on the outside of my plastic bucket. I took the bucket out of the chamber, took a peek inside, and all looked well. Any chance that the...

Hi All, Intermediate AG brewer here. My friend is letting me harvest a ton of Cascade hops that he has grown on his farm. In the 4 years I've been brewing, I've only used pellets. I've been reading about how to harvest/dry store the hops, but I'm clueless when it comes to creating a...

Hi All, I recently brewed an AG IPA w/US-05. I pitched, threw it in the fermentation chamber, noticed visible signs of fermentation the next day. ~36 hours after I pitched, my temp controller failed, and the temperature dropped to ~45F for 4 days (I was away for work and I couldn’t get to...

I've been using my CFC for some time now, and it's worked like a charm. My ground water has always been cold enough to bring it to 60-65 degrees. I did not, however, anticipate the crazy heat we've had in NJ the last couple of days. I brewed on a super hot evening, and the ground water...

Hi All, I'm an AG brewer who puts EVERYTHING from the boil kettle into the fermenter. Before pitching, I typically aerate by shaking/agitating the fermenter. I then take an OG reading. Would the fact that I'm putting everything into the fermenter affect my OG reading? Meaning, would my...

Hi All, I currently use a gravity fed all-grain system. I've never had a need for a pump, but with my new CFC, I think I need one to get the flow started (it's worked without one, but I need to suck from one end to get the flow going from my boil kettle). Two questions: 1) Do I need to...

Anyone can! Seriously, I was the least handy, least tech-savvy guy before I started brewing, but building my own mash tun gave me confidence. I was given a spare fridge and decided to save a few bucks by building a temp controller. It was tempting to spend an extra $30-40 on a Johnson...

AG brewer here. I'm having an issue where I'm consistently getting FGs of around 1.005-1.007. I primarily make ales, so this is concerning to me. Most of my recipes have predicted FGs of 1.010-1.014. I've gotten this with WLP001 and US-05. I've read that mashing too low can cause more...

Most of the threads I've seen relating to this refer to mashing overnight (keeping the water/grains in the mash tun for an extended period of time). I'd be more interested to know if I can store my first/second runnings overnight, and boil the next day? If so, what's the optimal temperature I...

• I’m an all-grain brewer. I heat my strike water in a 15 gallon kettle (via propane) that is elevated slightly higher than my mash tun. Once I hit my strike temp, I drain it out into my pre-heated converted cooler mash tun. • While mashing, I heat my sparge water in my kettle via propane...

After several all grain batches without a stuck mash/sparge, I had had a VERY stuck mash. I was able to save it, but after inspection, it looks like my SS manifold shrunk significantly. See the picture below. New one for comparison. At first I thought it could be the heavy grain bed that...

I hear it a lot with US-05 and WLP001. Does this mean that the yeast won't add to the end flavor of the beer (assuming fermenting temps were OK)?

I exclusively keg, but I like to bring brews with me occasionally. I typically fill a growler straight from my picnic tap (after lowering the serving pressure), and it seems to work fine. I’ve done this with Grolsch-style flip top bottles, and it works fine too. I have a ton of bottles...