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Are there other hops to look into that aren't Saaz? Or is it forever a Saaz beer style?

It would seem that Saaz is "the" hop for Czech and American pilsners. I don't have any Saaz on hand and was wondering what else people have used and like in Pilsners. I want to make an example of the Pilsner style but don't necessarily need it to be Czech, American, or german. Ive got a lot of...

So this is an interesting update... I have had the 1084 on tap and haven't been drinking it because of the smokiness, and the US-05 keg has been room temp for the last 3 weeks under about 30psi. I purged it a bit this morning just to confirm that it has the same smokey aroma... and it doesn't...

My pH was in line at 5.46 and my water should have been good. I use filtered tap water but I drop a whole campden tablet in for a 10 gallon batch. The fact that it's smokey is concerning though. I've heard of e-Brewers getting the flavor from their element burning wort but I'm on propane...

Not too long ago I brewed an Irish Stout. Jamils recipe, pretty basic. I split my batch and tried US-05 in one and Wyeast 1084 in the other. I use temp control and set the temp at 65*F. They both showed activity after a day or two and then virtually all the krausen was gone within a day or two...

You may want to add a small fan. I had foamy first pours on my keezer and as soon as I installed a small AC fan my pours have been great from the get go. You will be able to tell because your taps will be cold to the touch if there is air movement. The cold air is settling at the bottom (which...

You'll be happy. I use Wilser bags for my 16 gallon kettle and I love them. The hop bags are wonderful too. I got some cheap spring clamps from the depot to hold them on and it works great. The pulley system also makes brew day a breeze.

Thank you for that response! I think I'll try the dry beaning method and report back. I'm glad you mentioned that this works well with brown ales because I've been meaning to make one and was wondering if it would work well with coffee.

I would like to make a split batch of, likely a stout, and add coffee to one of the kegs after fermentation. Would I be able to do this and still get two good beers or would I have an issue with balance? If so, what styles would take Coffee the easiest? Anyone have experience doing this with...

I have some questions about using co2 to transfer beer from carboys to kegs. I'm looking into switching over to this style of beer transferring and I think I understand the basics but I'm not entirely clear. The whole point seems to be to avoid oxidation but wouldn't you introduce oxygen anyways...

Can an infection produce that much phenol character in two weeks though? Isn't that extreme?

I guess I will try boiling my o2 stone & wand. As for my fermenters that have had this problem... are they ruined? I can't help but wonder if this could also be from the pbw soaks as I didnt have this issue with new fermenters. Actually in my early days before any problems I was using dawn dish...

I don't think I'm underpitching because I'm making starters, and I've tried using two dry packs at a time as well. It's also a consistent flavor between over 5 yeast strains so far. The hot temp of water intrigues me though... What would it do if it were too hot? My house water does get insanely...

No ball valves to clean. I dump the wort from my kettle by hand into my fermentor using a funnel.

So a few months ago I had a nasty phenol flavor show up in all of my beers. I switched to RO water and got new fermenters and for awhile there it was gone.. but now it's back and it's in everything. The smell when I remove the lid of the fermenter is just "plastic" and thats the general overall...

Second the temps and ~100B pitch rate. I use that same pitching rate for 5gal batches and with a lower temp it turns out very good with plenty of esters. If it gets too hot you'll get soapy flavors in my experience. I also tend to always overbuild starters for the purpose of saving money. Indeed...

And when it comes time to sanitize for brew day just put a little bit in there and shake it around occasionally so it covers everything.

UPDATE: Just an update. I switched to RO water and started using PET carboys. All of my beers so far with RO & PET carboys have turned out great and there is no more phenol off flavor. However... Some of my beers in my HDPE buckets have developed phenols. In fact, I had a quad :'( develop this...

I can second Bell's yeast. I recently harvested their strain from a 6 pack of amber ale. OP's question seems to also be about which strains will work in what. Really there is no limit but you should pick a strain that matches what you want to accomplish. Is it a clean/neutral beer you want...

Step up your starter. Once it's done and the krausen resides, stick your starter in the fridge. The next day brew up some more wort and pour off the beer. You'll be left with a yeast cake in the bottom. Let it warm up to room temp and then put your new wort on top. Use the starter calculator...