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Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've been around here. I haven't brewed in well over a year and am finally ready to try to get back into the game. My first course of action is to clean out my kegerator and get it ready to serve again. I'm replacing all of my plastic and deep cleaning...

I've been unsuccessful in brewing drinkable beer pretty much all throughout 2015. I took a break for a while and am trying to get back into it, but I brewed in August and the batch went bad 3 days into fermentation. I did some more research and determined that the most likely culprit was my ball...

I've got an infection problem. I'm not sure where it's coming from and I'm not sure what to do about it. I'm not even sure what kind of infection it is. There are no visible signs of infection, but the beer is definitely sour. I'm meticulous with sanitizing and cleaning, so I'm not sure what to...

I've been brewing for a little over a year now and I've got plenty of batches under my belt. I started out with all grain and have never done extract. I have a friend who works at a major brewery in the area who offered to get me some hops. The hops he brought me are whole leaf and I've only...

I know there's a lot of debate on whether or not it's appropriate to reuse a yeast cake, however, I've successfully brewed an 11% IIPA off of an old Wyeast 1056 cake before. I've currently got an IPA finishing up using US-05 and was wondering if there's any issue with reusing a yeast cake from a...

This is sort of a "is this infected" thread, but I don't have pictures, the beer's already kegged. Here's the story. About 6 weeks ago I brewed an Irish Red Ale using Denny's Favorite 50 Yeast. I don't have temp control (I know, I know!) so the yeast fermented on the low end. We're talking 58...

Last weekend I had to move a beer out of a carboy and into a keg because I needed the carboy for another beer I was brewing that day. I also had noticed a small film on top of the beer which I've noticed on some of my beers before but they never turn out to be infected. I think it's from the...

Hey folks. I have an American Ale 1056 Yeast Cake that I'm racking a Mosaic/MO SMaSH off of (6.3% ABV) off of on Sunday. I'd like to use it for another brew but I'm not sure what to make! After doing some reading, I'd like to go for something big. Like... 10% big. However, my options seem...

Over the weekend I made up a stir plate and it has a few issues. One issue is that it throws the stir bar. I have a nut on each of the screws spacing the fan away from the lid of the project box. I have had as many as two nuts being used as spacers. When there were two nuts, it didn't throw...

I just have to brag for a minute. I'm 29. My wife and I have been married for four and a half years. We have a beautiful little six month old daughter. I started brewing a year ago, long after we found out my wife was pregnant. She's been super supportive of my hobby. She let me build a 3 tap...

Hello! I'm interested in brewing a Roggenbier next weekend but I haven't had a lot of commercial samples. I fell in love with the style while working at a local brew pub many years ago. I remember the yeast being the highlight of the beer... lots of banana and clove going on there. I've done...

I got myself a refractometer on Black Friday off Amazon for super cheap. I planned on taking a reading of my IIPA using both my refractometer and hydrometer to compare the samples, but I broke my hydrometer while setting up to siphon (whoops). Anyway, I took the sample using my new...

I posted a few days ago on the recipe board about a batch I suspect is infected. You can read the description here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/harvest-ale-sourness-505512/ I've already ordered replacement hoses, siphon, disconnect, thief, and picnic tap. I am thinking I should probably...

I know... no such thing, right? I've got 4 kegs, two 6.5 gallon carboys, and one 5 gallon carboy. Help me solve the puzzle. All 4 kegs are currently full. I have one (Brown Ale) That I've been trying to kick since Friday to no avail. I've gotta be close at this point, though. I have about...

Hey folks, I'm trying to figure out where I'm getting a sour flavor from. I'm not sure it's sour per-se, but that's the only way I can describe the flavor right now. I'm going to post my recipe below then explain the process to see if anyone has any thoughts. Maris Otter Pale (UK) 8.0 lb...

I'm planning an outside brew day this weekend for Learn to Brew day, hosting 3 other brewers and some friends at my place. The weather forecast is looking like rain and wind, so I was thinking about using a canopy that my wife uses for craft shows to cover up our beer/friends. Has anyone done...

I made a mistake. I let my wife pick out my juices for my latest batch of Apfelwein. It's been fermenting for over 3 months, I kegged it last night, and it's terrible. So my wife wanted me to make a cranberry apfelwein but the cranberry juice she got was the "100% all natural Cranberry"...

I'm currently on day 11 of fermentation using Wyeast 1272 and the krausen hasn't fallen yet. I'm fermenting in my basement so the fermometer is reading around 66 or so. I had a very bubbly krausen to start, it fell down to nothing within a day or two leaving some light bubbles on the surface...

Not to get all religious on you, but my wife sent me a text this morning to inform me that today is the Feast Day of St. Boniface who is the Patron Saint of Brewers. I thought that might be something interesting for some of you... as if any of you needed another reason to brew today...

Howdy! My wife is gluten free due to a gluten intolerance. She's, fortunately, not so sensitive that we can't share a spoon to stir pasta and she would be fine if I used the same siphoning equipment/carboy for a gluten beer as I do for a GF beer, but we have some friends who are not so...