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I made a Dubbel recently, the first I've ever brewed. At the time of bottling, there was way too much nail polish character. Three weeks after bottling, this character has decreased, but I still find it pretty intrusive. I generally followed the guidelines for Dubbel in Jamil's BYO article. I'd...

I recently made a beer with this yeast (60% Pils malt, 20% Vienna malt, 20% Spelt malt, Motueka finishing hops, OG 1.054, FG 1.008). I pitched one packet without a starter, as I often do when I want more fruit character in a farmhouse type ale. I let it ferment in my basement at ambient...

I brew mostly ales, mostly because I prefer them, but also because my equipment for cooling beer is limited. Yet sometimes I'll make an amber lager when winter temperatures bring my basement down to the low 50s Fahrenheit. I don't attempt pale lagers because I figure they won't be as good...

What are other homebrewers' experiences with attempting a pale lager using this California Common yeast? Some people say it works OK for this below 65°F. Others, such as Denny Conn on the AHA forum, say without elaborating that it doesn't work well. I just attempted it myself, and the result...

"Sticke Alt" is not such an unusual style, so what's the right category to enter one in a competition? The description for Altbier, 7B, specifically says don't enter strong altbiers there. So maybe it goes in 34B, Mixed-Style Beer? Yet it's not a mixture of styles. It's surely not an...

I'm trying this Lithuanian farmhouse yeast from Omega for the first time. 12 hours after pitching (directly, no starter), I'm getting a very strong smell coming up through the airlock. I'd call it peppery in an unpleasant plasticky kind of way. But not like bandaids. I've never encountered...

For experienced lager brewers out there, I have a question, since I don't know much about lagers. To put it briefly: how short a lagering time can I get away with around 37-38 degrees, and get most though not all of the benefit? Longer version: I usually brew ales, and don't have a fridge for...

I've got a strong saison, OG 1.070, in primary at 80-85 degrees F in my warm attic (I don't have other means of temperature control). As usual, the 3724 is starting to slow down 48 hours into the fermentation, so it will likely stall as it's prone to do. I'm thinking of letting it finish on its...

This was my first attempt to make a session strength Belgian pale ale. Grain bill for a 5.25 gal primary fermentation was: Golden Promise pale malt 9 lb White wheat malt 1.75 lb Aromatic malt 1 lb Biscuit malt 0.25 lb Cara 20 0.5 lb Acidulated malt 0.25 lb Infusion mashed at 152 F in an...