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Just moved a saison over to secondary to age a bit and the gravity was at 1.002. I was thinking of adding some dregs from a few bottles of Goose Island Sofie to hopefully get some brett character. With the gravity already so low, should I even bother? Will I get anything from the brett at this...

The one at AHS (my usual store) says you can't test the mash directly. I can see it becoming frustrating having to cool portions of your mash, test, adjust, cool, test, adjust, repeat until you hit your pH. Is there a meter out there that can withstand high temps? My last dark beer tastes...

I brewed a big stout a while ago and it's been aging in secondary for a few months. The issue is that since my water is terrible for big stouts, (something I didn't realize at the time I brewed it) it has a nasty astringency in the finish that pretty much makes it undrinkable. I was thinking...

Big stouts seem to be my white whale as far as brewing goes. I've brewed a few and none have come out like I wanted them to. I'm going to attempt to brew another one soon and I think I've got my water problem under control, but another issue I had with my last batch was lack of body. I want...

I want to brew a big stout but have extremely soft water. What is the best way to work around this? Should I add chalk or baking soda to my mash to up the alkalinity or should I just add the dark malt late in the mash and if so, how late? Also, if I use chalk/baking soda, what are the proper...

It's mentioned later in this thread that we already have a thumbs up/thumbs down feature on this site. Would it be possible to expand this feature so that we could see which posts have been given a thumbs up/thumbs down and how many of each have been given? I think this would be a better way to...

Is there an easy way to do this? I brewed a big stout and ended up enjoying the partigyle more than the big beer. Can I some how scale the original recipe to recreate the partigyle?

Seriously, I've been brewing for a while and have never figured this out. I always end up just pouring an ounce into a shot glass to measure it out. I've tried every different cap on/cap off combo I can think of and I still can't get it to flow into the measuring part with any consistency. How...

For whatever reason, simcoe has started smelling and tasting more tropical fruity to me than piney. Is this just a variance in the 2010 crop? Did my palate change? Has anyone else noticed this?

Picked up a bomber of Racer 5 today just because I was in the mood for something different. I should've known when it was the last bottle on the shelf that it had probably been there a while. Normally I love this beer, but this one has zero hop flavor or aroma. I just mixed it half and half...

Can I add calcium chloride after fermentation is complete to help round out the malty flavors of a beer or are these types of additions strictly pre-ferment?

It has taken my imperial stout from 1.100 down to 1.020 in 4 days. Just figured I'd post this since a lot of people suggested against using it on a beer this big, but it has come through with flying colors just like I knew it would.

First explosion in 2 years of brewing. Fermcap, you have failed me and I will never trust you again.

Brewed a brown ale recipe I came up with about 3 weeks ago. The grain bill is below. I mashed at 154. Took a gravity reading about a week after pitching and it was at 1.024. Took another reading today, 2 weeks later and I'm still at 1.024. OG was 1.066. Yeast is washed US-05. 12.00 lb...

I'm pretty ignorant to water treatment. I've never done anything to my tap water other than let it sit overnight to get rid of chlorine. Our water is pretty soft (30ppm) which I understand is perfect for hoppy beers but is less than ideal for maltier beers. I've got 2 stouts coming up that...

I have come into possession of 1 bottle of the most sought-after beer in my state this year. The buzz for it was nuts. I've had the beer on draft, (kegs were more widely available) but everyone has said the bottled version is much better. I was only able to score 1 bottle (they only bottled...

I was planning to brew a special beer on New Years Day and then open the first 2 bottles next New Years Eve at midnight, then open 2 more bottles every year until they're gone. I wanted to do corked bottles since they're a little classier but I do not have a corker. Do I absolutely need one...

I'm brewing a RIS on New Years Day with an expected OG of 1.120. The grist is about 75% base malt and 25% specialty malt. Ideally I'd like to see an FG of 1.020-1.024. I'm thinking if I mash around 150 for 90 minutes, I'll get a pretty fermentable wort even with all the specialty malt. My...

Yesterday my boss gave me a bunch of equipment his Dad used to use when he home brewed. Got a few 5 gallon glass carboys, a beer thermometer, a few hydrometers, airlocks, carboy brush, 3 cases of bottles and a few other odds and ends. Among the equipment was a kit for an american pilsner with a...

I have 2 different ales that were brewed on the same day and both seem to have a diacetyl problem. Both were brewed with US-05 repitched from a 9% IIPA. I realize this is likely the cause of the problem. Unhealthy yeast produces more diacetyl. Anyway, both ales have been bottled. I, for...