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I've been getting extremely low FG lately, like 1.007, with mash temps of 151F. I tried mashing at 155F, and got a FG of 1.01. I think I'm not stopping the conversion when I drain my mash. It's just sitting in the fermenter while I'm sparging. Should I be doing a mash out to stop the...

Did an AG hefe on the weekend with about a 45% malted wheat grainbill. The starch conversion took 2 hours to complete. I'm sure I must have done something wrong. The other 55% was German Pilsner malt. My mash temp was a little higher than usual at 158F, but I let it cool a bit to about 153F...

I'm making my first wheat AG beer this weekend(or whenever my stuff gets here). I couldn't find a definite answer on whether a 50% malted wheat/50% barley bill needs a protein rest. I'm getting conflicting info. Beer Captured doesn't have one, but Joy of Homebrewing recipes seem...

I'm doing a recipe from Beer Captured, and they all seem to say mash for 90 minutes. I've had conversions complete within 60 minutes, so if I do an iodine test and the starch conversion is complete in 60 minutes(or less), is there any reason to mash longer? Are you picking up more color, or...

I'm planning a Smokebeer recipe for this weekend and I'd like some thoughts on the amount of "smoke" in the grainbill. I'm doing a 3 gallon batch because I'm boiling AG on the stove. Currently my Smoke is 25% of the grain: 4.4 lbs. 2-row pale 1.6 lbs. Beechwood smoked malt .25 lbs...

I converted a 48 qt. Coleman(non Extreme) cooler to a mash tun and I tested it last night for temperature control. It did very poorly as the water I put in at 156F went to 126F(!) in an hour. I believe the grain will hold heat better, but I think I'm still loosing a lot of heat through the...

Made a batch of IPA that didn't ferment out well. Long story, but basically I'm stuck with a FG of 1.024 and 3% beer. Now I've decided to bottle it. I'm afraid that the yeast is dead and won't carbonate when I bottle(had this happen in another batch). Has anybody tried adding yeast to the...

I bought a light DME from my LHBS twice and both times, I got a stuck fermentation. This time it stopped at 1.03. I brewed another one with wheat extract and it fermented fine. Is it possible that the extract is bad or non fermentable? I aerated this one good(OG at 1.045), pitched Wyeast...

I made a hoegaarden clone a few weeks ago from Beer Captured. Last night, tried it for the first time. I must say, it's pretty good beer, but tastes nothing like Hoegaarden. It has a real hoppy flavor to it. Which isn't a bad thing, but I wouldn't call Hoegaarden hoppy. I followed the...

I'm making a Hoegaarden clone that calls for flaked oats, but I can't find them anywhere. I'm making today, so is it okay to substitute rolled oats? What difference would it make to leave them out altogether? Taste or just color?

9 days ago, I boiled my wort, cooled it to about 70F, then pitched the yeast. It was a dry nottingham yeast. Instead of following the directions, I just pitched it dry. After a day, I had no activity at all, so I pitched another batch. After another day, I did get some fermentation. My OG...

I just ordered some Wyeast Belgian White, and since I can't get it locally, I'd like to make a culture and pitch some off into each batch I make. Would it work if I make a small batch(1 gal or so) of DME wort, pour the activated yeast in, let it ferment out, and then refridgerate, then pour...

Today I did my first non-kit brew. I think it went pretty well, but I'm wondering if I aerated enough. I basically splashed the plastic spoon back and forth through the wort for a few minutes. My added water was about 50% to top up the fermentor. Did I aerate enough? Should I aerate more...

Hi, all. I've just started both beer and wine making. For the wine, I'm using a bottle tree and rinse-free potassium metabisulfite to sanitize the bottles before brewing. For the beer, however, I'm using pink powder for a contact time of 20 minutes, then rinsing them before bottling. It...