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One thing I have always found to be a little weird is the hop character of a beer when I sample it right when I pitch the yeast. No matter the hops, style, etc... it always seems that the hop character is more pronounced than it ends up being in the final product. Can't explain it, except that...

Your yeast advice is contrary to my LHBS owner. This time, I'm gonna go with him, since "proper" pitching rates are supposed to be like triple what you get in a White Labs vial. Plus, US-05 is a clean yeast, so I'll still only get yeast-induced flavor from the Trappist. Yeah, the IPA's numbers...

bump. bump.

After a 4 month break from brewing (work has been terrible!), I'm finally gonna brew again this weekend. (I'll also get my new iPad right in the middle of brewing to make it an absolutely perfect day. If I can drink a lot of beer and have sex, I might be ready to die :) ). It's been a while...

Jesse, I hate to do it, but I have to disagree. I've done it this way for 6 or 8 batches now, and I can tell you for SURE, based on my latest batch, that the beer being served isn't over-carbonated. The top may be, but not the bottom. Should I crank it down to 12-15 and let it sit? Why...

No, I'm not asking how pressure forces the CO2 to dissolve into the beer. I don't like to "force" carb my kegs in the traditional method. I think I shake it too hard or something, but my first two kegs I shook the crap out of didn't taste right. Since then, I've gone with the following...

UPDATE: I tasted a small sample this morning, and though it's obviously not carbonated yet, being cold gave me a better idea of its quality. The flavor is unique, but that's probably due to the fact that it's a SMaSH DIPA (Maris Otter and Simcoe). I can't detect anything that I would call an...

Not yet. Didn't want to waste any more before checking to see if this batch was toast. Also, I'm down to only Simcoe pellets and I need to get a hop bag.

Well, the recipe was 1 oz. of Simcoe leaf hops (mash hop) and 1 oz. of Simcoe FWH, then 3x1 oz. additions of Simcoe during the boil. Total IBU was supposed to be 100+. Could that be the issue? If so, would the white "spot" simply be a higher concentration of those oils? Thanks!!!

What IS a pellicle? The best I can tell from some google searches seems to indicate that it's formed from a particular strand of yeast that is used for lambic beer brewing. I've also seen some comments that seem to indicate that sometimes a "brett pellicle" will form unintentionally in a beer...

malkore, I don't want to challenge you, but I've never seen my yeast turn whitish, and the floater I removed (kind of like a waxy, slick spot) was definitely WHITE. Still the same answer? Thanks!!!

Thanks for the comment. Pardon the stupid question, but what makes a beer "infected?" Is it bacterial? Why is it possible to drink infected beer without it making you sick? I've always heard that if it's dangerous, you'd either not be able to stomach the taste, or you'd literally not be able...

Update: My wife tasted it (without knowing why :)), and she didn't think it tasted off. I tasted some more (about a half a beer) and I think that if there wasn't anything floating on top, I would never have noticed anything being amiss. Still, I'd love to get some opinions. Thanks!!!

OK, so I've read a few of the posts on here about infections, but I can't seem to classify my brew. It's a DIPA SMaSH, brewed about a month ago. Primary only. When I opened the lid to rack it into my keg, it smelled very strongly of alcohol, exactly as I would expect. BUT, there was a...

From EdWort's Apfelwein Wiki page: Apfelwein (German: apple wine) is a German style of cider. Unlike many other cider traditions that rely solely on the naturally occurring sugars in apples, this German variant usually includes added sugar, resulting in a higher gravity beverage.[1] Page...

I did an Apfelwein using cloudy cider. 2 months in, after using 2 separate clarifying agents, it's still cloudy. I'm thinking that a mechanical filter would be necessary at this point. I won't use cloudy cider again.

There's one more thing that wasn't mentioned yet, and that is the fact that getting fermentation to start when your SG is so high is extremely difficult. I am currently trying to make a homemade rum (sans distillation), and my OG was over 1.200. After an entire month, using champagne yeast...

Um... Luigi, it shouldn't be a surprise that you got a really sweet beverage. Based on my cider experiments, apple juice/cider has an SG of about 1.048-1.050. Let's assume that yours was more like 1.035. I'm not sure how much you packed in your brown sugar, but 1.5 cups of white sugar should...