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I built a mash tun a few years back and used a 10 gallon Coleman drink cooler (shown below) that I picked up super cheap. Because the cooler was not round, I just used a stainless steel braided coil as a filter. Having brewed on this system for a few years, I now realize no matter what I...

I'm brewing up an IPA in the next few weeks. I'm a big fan of the tangerine flavor in Widmer's Drifter IPA, so I'd like to play with the summit hops. I'm also aware of the onion/garlic phenomena and studied almost every thread on the topic. Is there any specific times to avoid adding...

I've been fermenting a Belgian Golden Ale using Wyeast 3944. The fermentation temps began at 72 and now in day 3 are sitting at 74-75. I have the capacity to bring the heat up, but I'm not sure its necessary at this point. Should I bring the heat up to the top of the yeast's specified...

I was bored the other day and all my 3 and 5 gallon carboys were full. I decided to do a 1 gallon test batch to test an apricot syrup I wanted to use in an upcoming brew. I only did a partial mash, so I didn't worry about checking pH as I normally do on all grain brews. I used an apricot...

So, I had a meeting this morning for work and it was universally agreed that we should all leave work early and reconvene at another office at 300pm if I can bring a keg of homebrew. I'm all for getting off work early and drinking brew, so I want to make it happen. Problem is I've got a beer...

I've been keeping tabs on my efficiencies over my last several batches. Using a range of calculations, from my own to various calculators, I consistently get between 58% - 65% per batch. I'm looking to replace my SS braided hose in my mash tun, so I thought this would be a good time to seek...

I've been using a Pacman yeast strain for several generations. On the 3rd generation, I made a chocolate stout for the wife. The krausen never really materialized and I chalked it up to the oils in the chocolate. But then I used yeast left over from that stout to make an ESB, and it had a...

It's outside of fresh apricot season and I'm itching to make an apricot IPA for the spring. That leaves me with canned and frozen peaches as options. Bad financial times have led me to commit to keeping my beer ingredients at or below $30/5 gallon batch, and I'm already in $28 for grains...

I was having trouble finding a good hard cider recipe for fresh apples. Using a modification of Yooper's crabapple wine prep and after consulting several cider recipes, I concocted the following recipe to make hard cider from some fresh apples picked on my wife's family farm. The apples were...

I brewed up a robust porter on Sunday and pitched a healthy dose of yeast slurry from an ESB that had just finished. The yeast is Wyeast's Denny's Favorite 50. The temperature has remained a constant 65 degrees for both brews. The ESB moved from a gravity of 50 down to 20 over two weeks, but...

I've steadily improved my methods with yeast preparation over the last year or two, but none of this has translated into a faster start to fermentation. While the yeast are certainly growing (yeast cake expanding) in the first few hours, it always seems to take about 8-12 hours for a krausen to...

We picked a grip of apples the other day that have excellent flavor. I am currently full up on all my wine/beer capacity, so I can't do anything with them right now. I also don't have a press to extract the juice. Can I core the apples and puree them in a food processor, and then freeze...

I've been scavenging around the creek by my cabin this summer to gather as many varieties of berries as I could. I drove around the country roads and found chokecherries, and I waded up and down the spring fed creek to find elderberries and wild grapes. I caught the chokecherry harvest too...

I've read alot of threads throughout the forum on sulfur odors during fermentation. I've also read quite a few posts on recycling/washing yeast. I had washed some Wyeast 1028 a little over a month ago. I initially made a dark red ale with the yeast and liked the results, so decided to keep...

I am harvesting hops now and through the next few weeks. I have some Willamette, Cascade, and Nugget. We are going to dry and freeze them. But now I'm planning on a dark wheat brew which calls for Hallertau. I don't want to buy hops now that I have some fresh ones. I also don't care if...

I've never used any clearing agents for my beer. And, I wouldn't start now if it wasn't for my latest assignment. My sister-in-law is getting engaged and has commissioned me to brew her a special toasting beer for the reception. Given some research of her tastes and the November wedding, she...

I'm working up a brown ale with Rogue's pacman. It was an all grain with an OG of 1.060. I haven't bothered to take a gravity reading yet, but it's day 14 and there's still bubbles from the airlock every 1 to 2 minutes. For the first week, I had the temp at 60 degrees, and now in the second...

I have a brown ale fermenting with Pacman. I didn't realize that Rogue usually ferments this yeast at 60 degrees, and never over 70. About the best I can do with my current homebrew setup is 66-68. This involves putting the carboy in a cooler with some cold water and a wet towel with a fan...

i'm about to dry hop a cascadian dark ale (black ipa), and am trying to decide on the best hop for the task. i used cascades and amarillo during the boil. it the choice really all about aroma for dry hopping? if so, does the alpha acid content really matter? i thought about using simcoe...

I did my first all grain brew this morning. It was a small batch of a very big beer, about 8.5 lbs of grains in a 5 gallon pot. i'm only making a 2.5 gallon batch. when i finished mashing (131 degrees for 30 min, 149 for 50 minutes), the specific gravity was only 1.020. i'm shooting for...