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How did it turn out? I just threw 2 gallon sized frezer bags of home grown Cascade hops into the boil at different times. It was a ton of hops but last time I used one bag and didnt get the flavor I wanted. When I look in on my primary it is just a layer of hops on top (no bag). Just curious how...

Im glad you brought this up. I have had the exact same issue with either the cardboard or even chemical taste after a few months in the bottle. I thought maybe it was just green but it tastes the same after a year. I am super interested to see if your beer tastes the same after you go to all...

I would let it sit for a few more days in a warm room (above the temp it is at now) to see if any yeast comes to life. if not then you are fine. I once pitched 2 packs of yeast into a dunkel and then racked it onto another yeast cake with no change to the FG. I bottled it and no bombs. the...

I have scorched sugar (lme/dme) during the boil that made it unfermentable and left me with a high FG. It is not uncommon to end around 1.020 when brewing extract.

I have had this same problem a few times with extract brewing. i believe the problem comes from adding the extract with the flame on a little and some of the sugar scorching on the bottom of the pot. that sugar becomes unfermentable and therefore will keep your FG reading high. it is not...

Chemical burps sound phenolic, which could be either an infection, chloramines or underpitching your yeast. Not really something we see with starsan, since again, the starsan breaks down into some the same ingredients that exist in coca cola. Mostly phosphoric acid. I find it highly unlikely...

With beers I want lighter I will do the Ol' texas two step. Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the LME at the begining of the boil and the other half with about 15min left. This should lighten up the beer and I havent heard any strong arguments against it yet........

I have had a chemical taste with a few beers and was told at the LHBS that people sometimes complain of that from star san. I have tried everything but changing from star san (because of these threads) but on my next brew I am going to go with one step to see if that changes the after taste (and...

I have also had this problem many times. I am actually warming a bucket that is at 1.033 hoping it will go down. It is a porter and i might add a little blueberry if i cant get it down anymore just to make sure there are some sugars in there to kick it back fermenting again. But i have...

@Gman2-- Wouldn't I have to boil the mesh in order to use it at this point (and for that matter, sterilize any funnel)? I thought that pre-boil, sanitation isn't as crucial, but post-boil, everything has to be clean as a whistle. I usually just soak the grain (mesh) bag in the star san I am...

I usually put my mesh bag around the bottom of my racking cane and that takes care of it.

Sounds like trub/yeast suspended by CO2. Give it more time and if it is just yeast rafts/trub then it will settle out.

I never even thought of boiling my top off water. Interesting idea. I just assumed that the water out of the tap is sanitary. Never had a problem.

Awesome. Sounds like I need to get a few more bags of hops from my dad next time.

Thanks! This helps a ton.

Great, thanks for th advice. I dont think I had an accurate OG reading because I didnt stir up the wort with the top off water. I believe it was 1.04. Stevo155, you bring up 2 questions for me. At what point do hop additions impart the most flavor? Im guessing I boiled off a lot of the...

Great. Thanks everyone. I have never used whole hops before and always had pellets, so I didnt know what to expect. Hopefully it will produce a great flavor. Carrotmalt, how much hops did you use? I had no way to gauge the weight so I tossed in the entire sandwich bag and hopped for the best.

My dad is growing hops and he gave me some this fall to throw in a batch of beer. They are Cascade hops. He gave me a regular ziplock sandwich bag full of cones. I put them in the freezer for about a month before used them in my beer. When I pulled them out the other day there was yellow...

I second the star san in the bottle. It is the best way to make sure it is sanatized. I half fill the sink and rins the bottles through threr before I put them on the drying rack. I dont boil the sugar for more than 2 minutes. The only reason to boil is to disolve the sugar. Just make sure...

I have always heard that soaking them in water at 170 is best to pasturize. I heard boiling them can cause off flavors. Frozen fruit is good because the membrain is broken already and they give off more flavor. Just make sure there are no perservitives in the berries you buy and you should be set.