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I'm brewing some Munich Helles and transferred it to secondary the other day. It was a bit slugdy and smelled a little funky and rubbery, but I used a pilsner lager yeast so I was prepared for that. The color was light amber and I figured it'd clear up after a couple weeks in the secondary (I...

I read the yeast starter FAQ (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2270) and it seems everyone has a slightly different take on the best approach. My question is, what's the best water/sugar ratio? 3/4 cup with a liter of water? 1/2 cup with 1/2 liter? I know high ABVs and Lagers...

I did a batch last night, thinking I'm starting to get the hang of this homebrewing thing ... This time I went with a Munich Helles Lager. Being a lager, I know temps must be kept low so I cooled it to about 73 before pitching the yeast (White Labs liquid #WLP800) and put it in room temp of...

Got a partial for Munich Helles but I need to get a mesh bag for boiling the grains ... So far my kits have been canned extracts or bagged powders, so I'm not quite sure what the best option here is. My impression is that I should create a giant teabag. It seems one of those oven bags you use to...

I found myself having a bit of a problem with the bottling bucket in that while the bucket is round, the plastic spigot seems to be made for a flat surface. As a result, no matter how much I tighten it (yes, rubber washers on both sides) there is a small but annoying drip whenever the bucket is...

I got myself a carboy for secondary fermentation and my batch of Hefeweizen is closing in on done in the primary. I was thinking I'd put it in the secondary for a week or two, since that seems to be the consensus for best taste. BUT... I also read a lot about how the secondary is mostly...

I'm guessing this topic has been discussed before but it's not showing up in the forum search so here goes ... For my very first batch, I used a pack of dry yeast that had been sitting unrefrigerated for about 4 months before I used it, judging by the made-by date printed on the bag. It turned...

After bottling I cleaned everything pretty thoroughly for storage ... Almost, it seems. I ran a ton of water through the flexi-tube and thought that'd be enough until sanitizing it with my next batch. Well, as I pulled it out today I noticed a bunch of small milky dots scattered along the...

I usually drink pilsners and lagers, but I'm thinking of trying a batch of amber ale. I'm thinking something along the lines of Fat Tire -- not a big fan of the heavier stuff, so I'd rather err on the lighter side than going too dark. Any recommendations for good kits to look for? (preferably...

I'm gearing up for my second brew and I'm planning to get a secondary. I'm paranoid about dropping a glass carboy, so my thinking right now is to go plastic. Morebeer.com has a plastic 6 gal carboy that seems nice enough (http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=6531). It says I should also...

I recently bottled my first batch after 11 days in primary (don't have a secondary yet, but I timed 2+ mins between gurgles.) I'm using 12 oz glass Heineken bottles. I added 3/4 cup dextrose for priming prior to bottling, and the storage temp is about 65 degrees. So far so good, but a friend...

To the joy and delight of my wife (who probably regrets getting me started on brewing by giving me a starter kit of xmas) I'm about to place an order for a bunch more stuff on morebeer.com. As I'm checking out I noticed the coupon code option. I checked the usual coupon websites and ran a...

Per advice from a previous post, I added 1.5 lbs honey to the boil to make up for low alcohol content in my kit. Having done a fair deal of reading on the old threads it seems honey will prolong the fermentation, but there seems to be no consensus on exactly HOW long it takes. I read someone...

I've been reading a lot on this board how people move beer from the primary to the secondary before bottling, but I haven't been able to figure out the benefit of this extra hassle. Admittedly, I'm a beginner just starting out with simple kits, but the book I have, the kit instructions and the...

I live in Monterey, CA, which along with the surrounding central coast towns makes for a decently sized "cluster". We also have a nice beer festival. So I was quite surprised to find there seems to be no home brewer clubs or even any brewer stores around here. I've run some online searches and...

I started my first batch yesterday (from a kit) and later realized I goofed in that I dumped in the 5 oz dextrose packet along with the rest of the ingredients (ie. the priming sugar). It's bubbling merrily right now so it seems the yeast is happy, but the question is: should I add another 5 oz...

I ordered a kit online ... Turns out the full name of my "Continental Lager" kit was "Continental LIGHT Lager" with a really dinky alcohol level. I'd like to bump it up about 2-3% so it gets to a more normal level. Any thoughts on the best way to make this happen without negatively impacting...