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I am looking at my options for counter flow wort chillers. Most of the ones that I have seen are rubber on the outside, but some are all copper. What are the pros and cons of each? I can see where an all copper chiller might last longer than one with rubber tubing on the outside. Thoughts?

I just received my water report from Ward Labs. Those in the know, please take a moment to look it over and make any recommendations. Thanks, as always. :mug: pH 7.1 Total Dissolved Solids 172 ppm Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.29 Cations/Anions, me/L 3.1/3.2 Sodium, Na - 2 ppm...

I have hear many brewers say that they try to keep the boil down to a minimum to reduce evaporation loss. In other words, not a rapid boil. I have tried this on my last few batches and I am finding out that my beers are really cloudy going into the keg. I do full boils and use warflock and a...

I have been all grain brewing for the past two years. I have never had an issue with a husky tannic taste to my beers until recently. I have made no changes in my process or equipment, and I always hit and hold a proper mash temperature. However, my last two batches have what I can only...

I just brewed my first Barley Wine yesterday and missed my starting gravity by quite a bit. Here's the recipe. __________________________________________ Briess 2-Row Brewer's Malt 14 lbs Weyermann Munich Type II 2 lbs Briess 2 Row Caramel 10 1 lbs Briess 2 Row Caramel 60 1...

I left some flip top bottles cleaning in Oxy Clean. I forgot about them and they were in there a couple of weeks. Now there is a slight reside on the inside that my bottling brush can seem to get to come off. Resoaking in Oxy Clean doesn't seem to work at loosening the reside. It's white...

Beer Math time. Is there a calculator that you can plug in the amount of your leftover runnings, the specific gravity and then know how much DME to add to get a 1.040 starter wort? I'm sure there is, I just can't find it. I have 1/2 Gallon 1.012 wort. I want to make a 1/2 Gallon 1.040...

When it comes to yeast cakes, I am confused about how much yeast is really in there. I have washed and reused Ale yeast in the past but I know Lagers need more yeast so please advise me. Here's the short version of a long story. 1. Brewed a light lager, 1.046, in order to build up my yeast...

I will be in Columbia, SC this weekend. Any place to get Green Flash beers there? I see on the Green Flash site that they are now distributed by Advintage Distributing in Charleston. Thanks. Any other beer related places to check out? We normally hit The Liberty Tap Room at least twice. They...

I have a yeast cake from a German Kellerbier I brewed a few months ago. I kept the entire yeast cake and have it stored in sanitized jars in the refrigerator. The OG was 1.046. Now, I want to use the same yeast, White Labs German Bock, to ferment a Bock with an expected OG of 1.068. Now, I...

I brewed a big RIS back in December. Everything seemed to go OK with the fermentation and my beer came in right where it should have for the final gravity reading. In all, it was in the primary on the yeast for at least 8 weeks. I kegged it and took it to a meeting and everyone loved it but...

I pitched yeast on a Dark Belgian Strong Ale back on September 19th. Here is the recipe: Belgian Pilsner 7 lbs, 0 oz Belgian Pale Ale 7 lbs, 0 oz Caramel Pils 1 lbs, 0 oz D-180 Dark Candi Syrup 1 lbs, 0 oz D-45 Amber Candi Syrup 1 lbs, 0 oz D-90 Dark Candi Syrup 1 lbs, 0 oz...

I brewed a RIS last December. It tasted pretty good to start with except the alcohol taste. At 9.8% ABV I expected it to need some aging so I have left it alone for the most part. Now, 10 months later it has smoothed out very nicely but it is sweet. I get a lot of chocolate and some coffee...

I know it it possible to brew an Oktoberfest like beer with Nottingham Ale Yeast but how will it turn out? Will the Notty ferment it out too dry? Is there a better use for this yeast? I bought a pack a good while ago just in case I had a batch that didn't take off. It needs to be used in the...

I am about to do my first step mash on a Kellerbier. It calls for bringing the mash to the following temps: 128˚F, 149˚F, 158˚F and them mashout. I found a really useful calculator to use to determine the amount and temp of the water to use in my rectangular mash tun...

I ran across this Kellerbier recipe http://northernbrewer.blogspot.com/2010/02/kellerbier-time.html, on Northern Brewer's Blog page. It lists what I assume is a step mash. Is it possible to do this with a simple Igloo cooler type mash tun? I don't have a kettle with a spigot and false...

I tapped into my natural gas line for my grill but I also want to use natural gas for brewing. I have a LP gas turkey fryer but I want to make a burner and stand from scratch. My pot barely fits on my current burner, and there's no way my keggle will fit. I have seen the Banjo type burners...

I just got a line ran from my natural gas line to my deck. It works great with my grill now that I drilled out the orifice a bit. Now to the turkey fryer burner. It is my plan to modify my existing LP burner. I want to use a quick disconnect system so that I can easily switch from the grill...

I have heard JZ speak of hop bursting, the adding of most of the bittering near the end of the boil. I am brewing an IPA and wondered if this type of hop schedule would be suitable. I would usually use Magnum as the bittering hop and I have a ton of Cascades at 5% AA. Could or should I go...

Just taking stock at the hops that I have on hand. I have a little bit of a lot of different hops but I have 6.4 oz of Magnum at 13.6% AA. Granted, I could use them just as bittering hops in any number of APA or IPA brews. Has anyone made a 100% Magnum Pale Ale? Just wondering how it would...