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G'day everyone! A little history: I've been brewing beer for years, made a few batches of white and red wine, and am on my third batch of mead. Without getting into the gory details, my third batch of mead is getting ready to move to secondary and I would like to add some strawberries. The...

Hey folks, Long time no post. I hope everyone's brewing has been going well! I have a real head scratcher here that I MAY know the answer to but wanted to bounce it off all you brewmeisters. Some background: 2 freezers, one for fermentation, one with 4 kegs/taps. Full temp control...

Hey everyone, First off, if you don't like math your eyes will probably glaze reading this. Sorry. This is just a fun thought I had. (My idea of fun is somewhat questionable at times.) I am trying to figure out force carbing from a mathematical angle and wondered if any of you mathy...

Hey folks, I was at someone's house the other day, attending a BBQ, when I spotted what looked like a 15g Sanke keg in some overgrown bushes. I asked the guy who owned the house about it, halfway joking about taking it off his hands. He handed it right over. He found this thing on the...

Hi everyone, I have a strange one. I brewed a 12 gallon batch of a Milk Stout yesterday and put it in two 6.5 gallon buckets and then into the fermentation chamber at 68 degrees. I oxygenated 1 and then pitched one vial of WLP001. It is bubbling as of this morning. I forgot to oxygenate...

Hi everyone, All I have to say is WOW, what a journey. In February of this year, 2013, I decided to try my hand at making wine. I like wine, beer and spirits so why not try my hand? I bought a kit from somewhere, probably amazon, bought about 40-50 pounds of table grapes to experiment in...

Good day folks, I just started using a freezer hooked up to a Johnson Controls temp controller about 6 or so months ago with AMAZING results. (It's funny how just controlling your temps better turns your good beer into GREAT!) So we are getting into the cooler months and I am dealing with...

Hey folks, Reason for post I have really been trying to nail down my consistency between batches and am experiencing a sort of off taste/smell with a few batches. The smell is a little fruity, not really banana, and only happens from time to time. I have made the same recipe three times...

I missed my volume. Hence my gravity is high. 1.057 instead of expected 1.049. Not a big deal but would like to add half a gallon of boiled water to cooled wort to get my proper gravity. After calculations, adding the boiled water still hot to the cooled wort (67 degrees) should only raise...

I have seen some information on these forums about calculating number of yeast cells but I can't find it now. I made a starter with US-05, I know it isn't needed, just for grins and to get some rapid activity. I know conventional wisdom states that it would be hard to really overpitch but I...

Hey folks! Just a real quick question/opinion needed. I have been creating starters in a pitcher using standard ratios of DME and water. I have been rubber banding a breathable cotton cloth, washed in starsan, across the top to allow it to "breathe" when I give it a whirl every now and the n...

Good morning folks, With all the insecurities and questions I had surrounding temperature control I thought it would be a nice gift to the people starting out to touch on my experience. This is me giving back. I realize that a lot of discussion surrounds temperature control so let me just add...

My first batch ever turned out to be a dud in the end but I kept going and have since had some success. Friends are mistaking my pale ale for Sierra Nevada and I just cracked a Cream of Three Crops for the first time and damn if it isn't even better than the Pale Ale. With a Milk Stout and a...

Hey folks, I've done a couple SMaSH brews, a pale ale and a cream ale but never anything so dark as a stout until now. Using a Left Hand Milk Stout clone recipe it has now been in primary for a week and is still bubbling away. I really don't have any concerns, just curious if the...

Hey folks! I am making a left hand milk Stout clone today. Matter-of-fact I am right in the middle of it. I made a starter and put it in the refrigerator overnight to separate out so I can decant it. Unfortunately it didn't separate out enough and decanting would be useless at this point. My...

Just curious, how much does the average home brewer keep on hand? I just bottled my third batch and now have 3 cases fully carbonated and this final 2 cases of cream ale carbonating for the next three weeks. I'm going to brew a 5 gallon milk stout tomorrow because empty carboys and buckets...

Hey folks, I was racking into a carboy to mix in some priming sugar and my auto-siphon was submerged in my brew with a grain bag wrapped around it to filter out any trub. From time to time I would get a STEADY stream of bubbles coming from the brew, down where it was being drawn from within...

Until I find a good deal on a freezer I am going to delve into some ghetto cooling, no offense intended to the ghetto;) Can you check my thoughts please? I have a 32 gallon trash can, never used, in which I am going to place my 6.5 gallon brew bucket. I am going to fill it with 13 gallons...

Hey folks, A week ago brew day went great, (I am making a "Cream of Three Crops") I have kept ambient temps around 70-73 for the past weeks and today I checked my FG to find it at 1.010. Sounds good so far! But the bucket I fermented in looks odd. It's a solid surface and the trub never...

Tasted my first (self-made) home brew ever! 5 pounds of 2-row and 2 oz. of Cascade came together for my first brew day about five weeks ago. It's been carbonating for almost two weeks so I decided to chill and taste. It's good! It definitely needs another week of carbonation but wow. I am...