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Folks, I have a 7 1/2 gallon batch of dark ale in secondary that finished way too thin. I would like to add some maltodextrine and some lactose to it to give it a bit more body and sweetness. In order to make sure that it is sterile, my plan was to boil the lactose and maltodextrin in...

Folks, A few weeks ago I started a dark ale batch. I had picked up the recipe from my local brew shop.The grain bill was mostly two row with a little Cara Munich and chocolate malt thrown in. The yeast was Wyeast Irish ale yeast. The recipe also called for amylase enzyme. It didn't make...

Folks, A few weeks ago I started a dark ale batch. I had picked up the recipe from my local brew shop.The grain bill was mostly two row with a little Cara Munich and chocolate malt thrown in. The yeast was Wyeast Irish ale yeast. The recipe also called for amylase enzyme. It didn't make...

Folks, Yesterday I filled an 8-gallon rye whiskey barrel with two batches of a Russian Imperial Stout I brewed up. The stouts were huge beers, with OGs of 1.095 and 1.122 respectively. They were aerated for an hour, each got a 2L starter of WLP 001 and were left to ferment for about a month...

Folks, This one confused me and I was hoping someone could shed some light on what happened. I'm brewing up an all-grain Scotch ale which started with an OG of 1.065. I aerated it for an hour, pitched two smack packs of Scottish Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1728) and at 68 degrees it took off like a...

Howdy Folks, After a few months off, I'm back to brewing again, having just done an all-grain Old Rasputin Clone, and a Citra and Cascade hopped Pale, both of which I have high hopes for. So here is my situation: I was speaking with a home-brewer buddy of mine a while back and he suggested...

Folks, Thank you very much. I've turned up the heat in the brewery and will give the bottles a gentle shake. Labradork

Folks, I recently made a Quilters Irish Death clone and a strong Scotch Ale, both of which came out to close to 9% ABV. I primed them with the recommended amount of DME and tucked them away in a cabinet at about 68 degrees. After close to 5 weeks, they are both under-carbonated. The yeast I...

Folks, Firstly, thank you all for your guidance. I very much appreciate it. As to the questions posed earlier: it is indeed Safale S-04 yeast I'm using, not the W-04 I mentioned earlier. My mistake. The bottle explosions I had previously were after back-sweetening and trying to stove-top...

Folks, I'm to the point where I'm pretty comfortable making beers, but don't have nearly the experience or confidence with ciders. I'm hoping someone can help me out here since my previous attempts at making sparking cider led to some outrageous explosions with property damage involved and...

Thank you very much. I appreciate the info and advice. I'll look into getting my own mill, as well as making sure my thermometer is accurate. I'm not sure what I will do with this beer. Irish Death is a personal favorite of a buddy and I, so I was reluctant to change the recipe by adding...

Hello All, I am new to all-grain brewing, and seem to be having problems with my efficiency. Even though I am controlling my temperatures well during the mash (using a Rubbermaid, 10 gallon water cooler), my last two batches were too high on the OG the first time and too low the last. The...

First off, I want to thank all the folks on this forum who have shared their experience and wisdom with me these last couple of years. I started to brew soon after SWMBO gave me Charlie Papazians book two Christmases ago and aside from the occasional beersplosion it's been extremely rewarding...

Here are the details. I used Munich yeast, started with OG 1.058, finished at 1.019. It was lagered at about 45 degrees for 9 weeks. I was mistaken earlier, I primed with 2/3 cup of dark DME in 1.5 cups of boiling water in a carboy with about 5 1/2 gallons of beer racked onto it. No other...

Heya, I bottled a bock almost a month ago, stored it at about 78 degrees, chilled a couple down, and opened them for the first time last night. The flavor was good, but they had very little carbonation. I had primed with a mixture of dme and brown sugar, as the recipe had called for, prior to...

Folks, I started a Bock and a Dobbelbock in early January. The bock started at 1.058, the dobbel at 1.08. Both are partial mash. The target FG for both was 1.016. After a month both were at 1.02 and my recipes were calling for racking to secondary. I warmed them to 65 degrees as a diacytl...

Thanks for the advice. I'll bring the brews indoors for a while and check them in a week or so. The lhbs I go to is the only one within an hour and a half drive, and we're just glad to have it. The truth is though, the proprietor has never actually done a lager either, so probably he was the...

Folks,, Thanks for the info. I aerated the worts before pitching with an aeration set-up I got from my lhbs. It's basically an aquarium pump with a hepa-filter at the intake and a length of plastic airline with an airstone. I also swirled the carboy and shot the wort from the pot into the...

Hi all, I currently have a Shiner Bock clone and a Doppelbock in primary, and could use a little advice as to how to proceed. I started both of them on 1-16-14, and they both are partial mash. The Doppelbock is on Bohemian Lager yeast (two smack packs) had a OG of 1.09, and is currently...

Hi folks, I've been brewing pretty steadily for better than a year and have done a dozen or so ales and ciders, but two weeks ago just started my first two lagers. I have a Shiner Bock clone and a doppelbock, both partial mash, in primary right now. Both have an inch or two of krausen evident...