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I've been brewing for 5 years (this is the 6th season). The question of secondary or not is why I joined this forum. I'm completely convinced that primary only for more complex ales produces better beer. This is especially true for stouts and porters. The flavor is just more "complete". I don't...

I'm on the cancer management treadmill, and may be for the rest of my life. Like most people in this circumstance, I have read about any and all diets and food types that will help manage cancer and there really are just a few to intensely avoid - I'm not talking about what causes cancer, but...

First, rinse your bottles immediately after pouring. When you get ready to bottle, soak them in Oxyclean (Free) for at least 2 hours. I use the bottle brush after soaking just as a precaution to loosen everything that the Oxyclean didn't. Put each bottle on a bottle jet for a few seconds and...

I've just about given up on lower temp fermentation for ales and stay above 65F all the time now - because of the attenuation problem. It also takes longer for the conditioning with the lower attenuation. You might see if you can borrow a max/min temp monitor to make sure you aren't dropping...

It's over-rated and has really dropped in popularity. I don't know anyone that buys it anymore.

When the brew pubs started opening up in the early-mid eighties, it changed everything. I started buying growlers because the beer was so much better than bottled beer. I don't remember many of the names except for Wynkoop's Rail Yard Ale and they had a crandberry ale during the holidays. It...

My LHBS has some very knowledgeable people, but their prices are not competitive - at all - with the online suppliers. My LHBS got me started, but it didn't take long to figure out how to save quite a bit by buying online. Once my confidence was significant enough to be more independent, I...

On the webradio broadcast, the head of Wyeast said that secondary transfers can cause the fermentation activity to pick up again because of the oxygen that is introduced by the transfer. It should die down again.

The problem isn't the label, it's the glue. Some glues are either not water soluble, or are almost insoluble. The labels that come off easily probably have water soluble glue - and God bless them. Whether you use just hot water, or Oxyclean, or PWB, you can't get the difficult glues off without...

Article about "Common Beer Faults" in latest version of Brew Your Own magazine (March-April). It's fusel alcohol/oil. Usually due to high ferm temp or less than healthy yeast not completing fermentation.

Although I'm new to the forum, I've been brewing since 2005. I can think of several things that would help someone just starting. Start with proven Ale recipes. Always use a checklist for your process. It's easy to forget critical steps when things get busy or when you get interrupted...

Many, many kit recipes call for the use of a cup of brown sugar in a brown ale for a nutty flavor. I think it's the molasses in the brown sugar that provides it.

Use the vinator for your bottles and store your bottles on a bottle tree to let them drain. Removes all paranoia too.

Once in a while I get a batch that has some fizzy bottles...even after many weeks of aging. I've always figured it was due to not getting a bottle or two clean enough. I'm very careful about soaking and sterilizing the bottles before adding the starsan. The one process point that is full of...

Something that bothered me when racking is how air would get pulled in between the hose and the extension/tip of the racking cane. You will see and hear bubbles entering the hose when this happens. So, keep a few twist ties to maintain a tight seal between the hose and cane. I'm not sure it hurt...

I brew Kolsch more than any other ale. I no longer use the Wyeast German or Kolsch yeasts. They are rated as "Low Flocculation", and they just make a mess in the head space of the carboy. Kolsch needs to be clear, so it takes a long time for things to settle out. The White Labs yeast is rated as...

Loved it. The Christoph Waltz character was amazing. I've never seen anyone transition across so many languages, in perfect accent, and yet come across as the strange, evil character he played. Less blood and guts, though still lots of it, and my favorite Tarrantino film.

Why would I go to a 7-11 to buy beer when I don't stop there for anything else? To me, and most people I know, the problem isn't a decision between a convenience store or a liquor store, it's which store has the best selection of beer. Liquor stores will never lose that battle. If more stores...

I have a SS chiller and it's great. I put the 16qt brew pot in the sink with ice water, put the chiller in the brewpot and use it to swirl the wort while chilling. I can drop the temp of about 10qts of wort to about 75F in about 5 mins. Using the chiller coils to swirl the wort makes a huge...