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I have a few random questions. This water stuff still seems really complicated to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 1. I use RO water. I like the idea of building water from a "clean slate" instead of dealing with tap water. Just because our city water fluctuates so much. Is RO...

I'm fairly new to kegging, but I swear the 4 beers I've kegged so far taste "duller" than they should. I'm using 5 feet of 3/16 line and my refrigerator is 36 degrees. I keep 12 psi on them and let them carb up that way. I don't force carb them at 30 psi for a few days like some people do...I...

I recently made a coconut stout that I threw Malibu Rum into when I kegged it. It actually turned out pretty well. I used an entire 750ml bottle which is 25 oz...or approximately a 1/2 oz of rum per 12 oz bottle in a 5 gallon batch. I'd like to bottle 12 of these to consume at a later...

I've been brewing beer for a year and a half and am really enjoying it. Just for fun I started reading the wine forum today, and I should NOT have done that! Now I'm excited to give this a try also. 1. Can you recommend a good Cabernet Sauvignon wine kit to try first? 2. Do they really...

I bought 4 kegs a while back, and on all of them, the liquid post poppet was different than the gas post poppet. I don't remember which is which, but one of them has a spring that is a separate piece from the valve...the other is a single piece with a built in spring with 3 prongs on the...

I'm fermenting 10 gallons of IPA and using WLP 007 yeast. This yeast likes higher temperatures. I was shooting for 68 degrees, but I have a funky room in my house that stays around 61 to 63 degrees in the winter. I use the swamp cooler method, so while I can lower the temp with ice bottles, I...

I batch sparge and my cooler mash tun uses a stainless steel braided line. It works really well, but recently while brewing last weekend I noticed that I had to vorlauf several more pitchers before the grain specs went away. Afterwards I took a look at the SS braid and it seems to have a...

I took Denny's Vanilla Bourbon Imperial Stout recipe and tried to make it into a "Winter Warmer" with Christmas spices. It turned out pretty well and smells fantastic, but it has a fairly harsh bitter aftertaste to it that I'm trying to pinpoint. I went light on the spices (I think), but am...

So this is my first time kegging. I've received a lot of really good advice from everyone at HBT, YouTube, BN, NB, and other sources before doing it. Also, after almost 2 years of brewing and plenty of batches under my belt, I also feel like I'm starting to get a good grasp on that and my...

I finally ordered and received my kegging equipment last week and am ready to keg 10 gallons of beer this weekend. I just realized that I forgot a 2-way splitter that allows me to connect both kegs to the same CO2 tank at the same time. I've also decided that I'm going to do the "set and...

I just listened to a podcast where the brewers at Ska were talking about the importance of water, in terms of home brewers cloning this beer. They said they only use Gypsum, Canning Salt, and Baking Soda to treat their water. Is Baking Soda the same thing as Calcium Chloride? What is the...

I've been brewing for a little over a year now, and planned on making the move to kegging soon. However, I was recently diagnosed with a medical condition that I will have for the rest of my life, and the doctors are adamant about me limiting my alcohol intake to no more than 2 beers per day...

I'm planning on kegging a 10 gallon batch of beer in the next few months. I have a friend who has offered to let me use his kegs and regulator for a while since he isn't using them. I have a refrigerator out in my garage that is dedicated to beer...but I don't have room in it for 2 carboys and...

I've been brewing for a year now. I started off with extract and brewed 7 batches before moving to all grain. Since then I've brewed around 10 more batches. My last 5 brews have been less than awesome. Each one has been thin, with very little body, head, or head retention. I'm currently...

I was brewing a batch of beer today and everything was going along great...until it came time to cool the wort with my wort chiller. I tightened the water hose connection a little too tight and it broke off. I didn't have a way to fix it, nor was I able to go fetch ice....so I just had to let...

I wasn't planning on brewing this weekend, but a small window just opened up. If I start brewing tomorrow morning by 5:00am I think I can pull it off. The problem is that I haven't started my yeast starter yet. I usually put it on the stir plate for 24 hours, then put it in the refrigerator...

I finally bought a pH meter and tested my mash pH. I was surprised to find that it read 4.6. I've read that 5.2 to 5.4 is the ideal range. I've also read that pH climbing too high, 5.8 and above is generally the problem. I bought some lactic acid to adjust it with in case it was too high...

I brewed my first All Grain batch yesterday and overall things went pretty well. This was also the first time I brewed with my new brew kettle which is a 15.5 Gal converted Keg. I missed my mash temp by a few degrees and my original gravity was a few points lower than it should have been, but...

I'm doing my first All Grain batch in the next few weeks, but I have some questions about water and pH. 1. I plan on starting with RO water and adding the following below for 5 gallons of water. 8 grams Gypsum (CaSO4) .83 grams Table Salt (NaCl) 3.5 grams Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 1 gram...

If fermentation has stopped completely at 10 days, and you've taken 3 days worth of gravity readings and know that it has really stopped, is there any benefit to waiting another week before bottling?? I have an Oatmeal Stout in the primary right now that I'm anxious to bottle. Fermentation...