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Hi there, I have a perry currently in the secondary fermenter. There is a white film forming on the top. I've read about the possibility of it being film yeast, but from the pictures I've seen, it doesn't look the same. Any thoughts? Am I screwed? For what it's worth, I have a pear tree...

I have a pear tree in my back yard, and it's the time of year when it produces a ton. Today, without any forethought, I decided to make a big batch of pear cider. I just juiced a ton of pears, and I pitched it with Nottingham yeast. For the yeast, I did a quick starter with dextrose and water...

Hey, I've moved back to Canada and I'm trying to sort out where to get the best supplies online. Does anyone have recommendations? Thanks

Hey all, I have a mead that I plan on testing out at Christmas this year. It has a stable SG, and I'm not concerned about whether I'd be bottling too early if I bottled today. I was just wondering if there was an advantage to bottling. If I want it to be at its best for Xmas, should I look to...

Hey, I just racked a Honey Brown into a secondary after about 18 days in the primary. One thing I noticed was there was a LOT of sediment still in the beer (i.e. not just settled on the bottom, or at the top). So I fully expect to have to use a tertiary to get the clarity I want. About...

Hey, my friend made a mead that had about a 1.081 OG, and is presently at 1.01. It's been about 3 weeks now, and he's re-racked it once. He told me wine continues to ferment over a 6 month period, but wasn't sure about mead. Does mead continue to ferment as well, or is it likely finished now?

Hey, I have a quick question about bottling, and the fermentation process for wine. Does it keep fermenting for months? I was told that "you know when to bottle when the gravity is stable for two weeks, around the 6 months mark." I have little experience with wine, but I believe with mead and...

Hey all, just starting a Honey Brown ale, and I'm not sure when to add the honey. Here's my recipe. BeerTools.com Recipe Library - Texas Honey Ale Thanks!

Does anyone have a good partial mash Saison recipe? My brewing process seems to be rolling along, and I'm more content to have a brew sit and wait for 3 months or so before I indulge. A Saison sounds like it'd be fantastic. Anyone have a recipe for one that turned out great? Thanks very much

Hey, I'm making a blackberry melomel. I have fruit in my primary now, with pectic enzyme in there as well. It's happily fermenting away as I write. I'm considering adding some more blackberries in my secondary. A few questions I have are: 1) My OG was 1.082, and my expected FG is .994...

Hey, had some technical difficulties with my thermometer, and my mash temp was upwards of 174. I got it down to 161 right now (30 min into mashing) and should be able to get it to mid/low 150s soon. What is the effect of mashing at too high of temperature? Thanks

Hey, very basic question here. For HighTest's yeast staggering, Stage 3 is to go in at the halfway point ((OG+FG)/2). However, as I understand it, we don't want to oxygenate the must beyond 1/3 of the fermentation. Do I just throw the Stage 3 on top? Should I just gently stir it in? Thanks

Yep, forgot to sanitize the vial. I was shaking it out, dumping the yeast into my mini wort mix for the starter. Of course I dropped the vial into the starter. My plan is for this to be a 48 hour starter. Is there any way to know whether the starter is infected before I pitch it? What...

Hey, my friend just brewed a mead. He first used K1V-1116 as his yeast, but he saw no activity. So he decided to re-pitch, and the second time he pitched he used D-47. Still, there was little activity. However, one guess we have in talking it over is, after putting the must in the...

Hey, I haven't made a mead yet, but will next weekend. I've tried to read as much as possible, but the literature doesn't seem as extensive or as consistent for mead as it is for beer. So I figured I'd write out my plan, and see if any of you could find mistakes. Also, I'm comfortable with...

Hi all, I'll be making my first mead this week. I'm not going to boil the honey (just aiming for about 115 degrees or so), but I was wondering if you recommend pre-boiling the water the night before, then letting it cool. Is this normal, or should I just go with the spring water I have coming?

Hey all, thinking of brewing my first mead soon. I don't know what to look for when I'm buying honey. What attributes/types in particular should I be looking into? Thanks

So I did a starter from some Bell's Beer bottles. Seems to have caught nicely. I did it with half a quart of water, half a cup of DME, and some hops, boiled for ten min, then cooled. That was Monday night. Today, I wanted to re-up the starter, so I did the same mix, and added that to the...

I did it from four bottles of Bell's Beer. Not really sure what I should be looking for to see if it's working. I didn't have a glass jar for it, so it's in a little white tub with foil over the top. What signs should I look for to indicate that the yeast is developing? Also, I plan on...

Hey, my next batch calls for hops at flame out. I assume that this means that I put the hops in right when I take it off the heat, so just before the cooldown, correct? Also, do I need to do anything to sanitize the hops? I don't even know how I'd do that, but isn't there a risk of bacteria...