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After 2+ years of wonderful service, my chest freezer kegerator has stopped getting cold :( Following internet advice, I tested the resistance on the compressor, and the resistance seemed within the acceptable range, so I replaced the starter & overload. Started it up again, and still no love...

Now that we've insulated our house, I'm starting to plan a walk in cooler in the basement for keg storage and lager fermentation, since I can't rely on my cold basement for brewing lagers anymore. I've read the Deep Six article and thread, and various other threads here on HBT. I've got the...

I've brewed my last few batches with a f****d up thermometer (+10F) and as a result, I've been mashing at 162-164F instead of 152-154F. All the beers have fermented completely to about 40% AA instead of the ~75% I've been aiming for. In tasting the beers, they don't taste bad, nor do they...

I want to add cherries to my lambic https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/first-lambic-results-184124/ What type of cherries should I get? I assume I want cherries that have good, strong cherry flavor. I've not used fresh cherries before, should I prefer tart or sweet? We're going to be out in...

I brewed my first and only lambic back in Oct '08, and it's been getting funky with Wyeast 3278 in a dark closet ever since. I sampled it in Oct '09, and SWMBO agreed it has nasty, medicinal stuff. I was tempted to dump it, but haven't needed the extra secondary, so it has sat. I sampled it...

For my first year or so of brewing, I aimed for 5g in a 6g better bottle, resulting in ~4.5g in the keg. I eventually realized I should aim for 5.5g in the fermenter to get closer to 5g in the keg, so I don't have to brew quite as much. The last couple of times I've brewed high gravity beers...

I've recently become car-free thanks to a car thief. I'll want to take kegs to parties throughout the summer, and I want to modify my bike trailer so I can take 1-2 full corny kegs and a CO2 canister to parties. I'd like to still be able to use the trailer for regular loads. If I can dispense...

I just tapped a wheat lager, and this is one tasty beer. It has rich maltiness from munich, and there's something in there with just a hint of spiciness, which I assume is coming from the wheat. The recipe: 5# Domestic Wheat 5# German Munich 1/4# rice hulls 1 oz Sazz 5.1% at 90m 1 oz...

I have a Pils recipe that I love, and I've always used 5% Saaz hops. I now have 3% Saaz hops, and I'm wondering how I should adjust the recipe to get a similar flavor. Previous Recipe: 9# Pils Malt -> 1.050 OG 0.3 oz 13% Magnum @ 90 min - 16 IBU 1.0 oz 5% Saaz @ FWH - 15 IBU 1.0 oz 5%...

I just had my first Orval yesterday, after having read about it for years, and my first take is "not for me". I did drink my half, but the band-aid-esque phenolic taste just does not agree with me. I know there are many folks who love Orval, and I'm wondering if those who do simply don't taste...

Inspired by the TH's easy to use spreadsheet, I brewed my first batch with adjustments to the mash. I've brewed this same recipe with the same procedure 3 times before, just using straight Portland water, and each time I got 78% efficiency. This time, I added 3g each gypsum & CaCl, and my...

I've been reading "A History of Beer and Brewing" by Hornsey, and he talks about the refinement of the hydrometer. One of the early hydrometers was a glass bubble and the user would attach weights to the bottom to allow measurements at different ranges. This got me to thinking about my...

I'd like to put some ginger in a Munich Helles (Reinheitsgebot what?). I want the end result to be a slightly sweeter than usual Helles with moderate ginger flavor and a mild ginger bite, like what you'd get from a mild ginger beer soda. I plan on hopping it less than normal and using...

I brewed a Dortmunder style lager with Wyeast 2487. I made a 4 quart starter, and pitched the 1.047 beer at 50F. When fermentation slowed at 6 days I ramped it up to a 62F diacyetyl rest and held that for 2 days. When I racked it to a secondary at 2 weeks, it was at 1.015, smelled and...

I'm planning on brewing a 1.105 Barleywine on Monday, and pitching it to a yeast cake of Wyeast 1272. I'd like it to get to 10.5%, and I just noticed on the Wyeast site that 1272 has an alcohol tolerance of 10%. I saw the Dark Night of the Soul thread that makes it sound like 1272 can handle...

This is pretty neat, monitoring volume and CO2 pressure http://hackaday.com/2009/12/14/monitor-keg-volume-co2-and-temp/

As I type, I'm boiling a couple of lagers. I typically pitch & ferment at 50F, either using my kegerator, or relying on winter to cool my basement to 48F-52F. However, Portland is currently having a cold snap, and my basement is 40F. I suppose I can use hot water bottles in a water bath to...

I brewed a few big ales last winter (10-11%) and am now enjoying the results of aging. This year I'd like to throw a big lager into the mix. I've not seen much on brewing big lagers other than doppelbocks, and I generally enjoy lighter colored beers with less residual sweetness, so I'm...

I brewed a Doppelbock recipe 3 weeks ago, fermented with Wyeast 2206 at 50F, pitched to a yeast cake from a Helles. The OG was 1.076, and the FG is now 1.025 (corrected for temp), and the FG hasn't changed for the last week. The wort sample tastes a little too sweet from my taste. I brewed...

I'm looking to make a Dunkel Doppelbock similar to the wonderful Andech's version. What I remember from it was dark color, rich dark fruit flavor. Here is the recipe so far: 1# Caramunich .25 # Crystal 150 1 oz Carafa II for color 15# Weyerman Munich 4.5# Weyerman Pils OG - 76 FG -...