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My wife and I will be heading to Colorado the last week of May for a wedding. Permission has been granted to spend at least one full day on a beer-cation. Any recommendations as to what city would be offer the best time for beer, Ft. Collins or Boulder? Looking for some tours and spending...

This topic may have already been addressed in the forum but thought I would post just in case it had not (a search did not reveal an exact answer). I preface this by saying that I am still very much a fledgling homebrewer so bear with me. My initial query concerned whether or not a smack...

Do to being under a time crunch I used the shake method to carb my beer. The beer is an Imperial IPA. According to the gas volume table the psi is to be set at 19 psi. I have tasted a couple of test pulls and the carbonation appears to be adequate. My question is to I leave the pressure at...

I constructed a ferm chamber using a mini-fridge and constructed a box to expand the size. I have am fermenting my first lager. Unfortunately frost / ice is building up on the perimeter of the freezer portion of the mini-fridge. The frost has started to encapsulate the airlock and the air...

I am about to brew a foreign extra stout and the recipe calls for a total pre-boil volume of 6.5 gal. My kettle is 6.0 gal and I have typically used a 3.0 gal pre-boil volume. I think I will be ok going with less than 6.5 gal with something like 4.0 - 4.5 gal but wanted to double check first...

I am brewing a Dry Stout Guinness clone recipe from BYO. It calls for the following: "Place crushed grains and flaked barley in a large steeping bag. Heat 3.2 qts of water to 161F, lower bag into liquid and steep at 150F for 60 minutes. Rinse grains withe 1.5 qts of water at 170F. Add water...

I just brewed a Widmer W-10 Pitch Black Clone. The recipe called for: 1.5 lbs Caramel Malt (10L) 12oz Weyerman Dehusked Carafa II Malt (450L) 10oz Briess Special Roast Malt (50L) I went to my LHBS and gave the employee my list and got the following: 1 lbs Crystal Malt (10L) 1 lbs...

A little late in the season to brew a pumpkin ale but did not have the time the last month or so. I have been planning on brewing a pumpkin ale for sometime now so no reason to wait another year. Brewing an extract kit - Amber Ale kit from LHBS and used canned pumpkin. Last night I spent a...

I recently brewed a 5 gal Porter from a kit. My OG ended up at 1.044 vs a target of 1.051 - 1.055. From what I have read there are a few things I could have done to cause this (i.e. too much water added to the wort prior to pitch, covered boil, age of kit - purchased back in Nov). It has been...

I have a Sanyo mini-fridge as the cooling source for my ferm chamber. Any thoughts on how to keep the freezer portion from running? I do not see a control switch for just the freezer.

I am trying to decide if I should get a wort chiller. The last two times I have brewed I have been able to get 2.5 gal of wort to 70 degrees within 25-30 minutes with an ice bath and using 4 bags of ice. How long does a typical wort chiller take to have the wort reach 70 degrees? If 25-30...

I will soon be brewing a Porter from a Brewer's Best kit. I would like to flavor this particular batch. To date I have not deviated from the few kits I have brewed and am an intermediate brewer at best. Any suggestions for spicing up my brew a bit?

Is it necessary to transfer a stout for secondary fermentation or am I wasting my time? I have been told that with a stout it really isn't necessary and from everything I have read there is no true consensus.

What is the best size immersion wort chiller should I use for a 5 gal brew pot?

I made it through my first batch of brew without any explosions. However, on the 2nd round of bottling I had two bottles break. I brewed a Paulaner Hefe clone and the yield was 48 bottles (er, now 46). I have read about exploding bottles and that if you use too much priming sugar it can cause...

I have read several threads relating to the use of a mini-fridge for fermenting. At this point I am not prepared to construct my own fermentation chamber with the aid of a mini-fridge. However, I would like to utilize a mini-fridge that can be temperature controlled to house a 6 gallon bucket...

I brewed a Paulaner Hefe Clone for my second batch. My intention was to steep the grains in a grain bag. Unfortunately after cracking the grains I tossed them directly into my brew kettle. Should I rack my primary into a secondary (carboy) or is it ok to leave the brew as is in the primary...