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Since my daughter was born, I haven't had time to do all-grain batches. As a result, I've decided to sell a few things. The first item is a Penrose Kettle. These are no longer manufactured. It's an American-made 15.5 gallon kettle with a 1/2" ball valve for easy transfer. The second...

I made 9.5 gallons (supposed to be 11, but I messed up) of centennial blonde ale on Sunday. Due to numerous problems, I was pretty frazzled when I got everything into fermenters, and I forgot to measure the original gravity. Is there any way to measure the ABV of a beer without the OG? It...

I was doing some all-grain brewing in my kitchen today. Here are two problems I ran into. I thought posting them here might help out others. 1. When you are heating up your sparge water, make sure the burner that you turn on is the same one your pot is on. Otherwise, you may spend 20...

I just pulled a pint out of my first kegged beer ever, a dunkel lager. I primaried for 2 weeks, raised the temp for 2 days, and then lagered for nearly 10 weeks at 34*. Then, I transferred it to the keg, force carbed, and it's been in the keg in my fridge for about 3 days. It's not quite...

I'm looking for a place that does CO2 refills or exchanges in the greater Philadelphia area. I live in Roxborough, but I work in Jersey, so anywhere from Cherry Hill to City Line Ave wouldn't be too far out of my way. I'm specifically looking for a place that does food-grade gas, not a welding...

How long should a CO2 tank last? My regulator said the pressure in the CO2 tank was just under 800 psi when I first hooked it up, and after kegging and dispensing what I guesstimate to be 1/3rd of my first keg, it's down to just under 600 psi. Do these things really only last about 2 kegs?

I want to make a currant wine out of a black currant juice that I acquire locally. It is basically smashed black currents, sweetened with a small amount of fructose (it is still pretty tart). It is pre-chilled when I buy it, and the label says to keep refrigerated. Is it safe to make wine out...

I use brewtarget, and am very happy with it, except that I don't know how to add apple juice to it. Does anyone understand what to put in all the textboxes? I know the volume and amount of sugar in the apple juice, and I could measure SG if needed.

I want to start washing yeast. I been reading about it for a couple of days, and many people seem to say that you can re-use yeast for around 10-15 generations. I'm curious how professional breweries maintain their strains of yeast, since I'm sure most of them have gone through many more...

I am hoping people who are more experienced might have some tips about what mistakes I made today. Here is my story. In addition to extract brews, I've done a few BIABs before (never more than 2.5 gallons) and I've also done some partial mashes. Today I did my first 5 gallon AG brew, with a...

Has anyone substituted a pyment for red wine in cooking? Say, in a slow-cooked beef roast? I assume it would be a bit sweeter, but otherwise provide similar flavors.

I got a fermentation chamber that holds two batches at a time, so when I made lagers, I made two simultaneously. One is a schwarzbier, the other is a helles. I bottled them on the same day. I started drinking them recently, and was satisfied with how they turned out. However, about a week...

(Possibly the dumbest questions ever posted on this forum.) I just bought a Penrose Kettle. I put the connector on, and then the valve, to check for leaks. No leaks, but now I cannot unscrew the connector. The valve came off, but the connector seems stuck. Is there a tool or trick I should...

I bottled my first mead this morning, Malkore's Not-So Ancient Orange Mead. I found both of them (1 clove and 2 clove variants) to be VERY spicy! I've only had two other meads before, both commercial, so I am not qualified to say how tasty my mead is. It was definitely drinkable, just not...

I've done a few 1 - 2.5 gallon AG batches on my stove, but I finally got a propane burner so that I can do full size AG batches. My question is: does anyone else use their burner on a deck? My (wooden) roof deck would be the most convenient place to do it, since there are far fewer bugs, plus...

My first lager, a Vienna Lager, turned out pretty well. Smooth and malty with a mostly clean taste. However, there was a slight yeasty after taste. I am wondering if this is from bottle conditioning, and if kegging would be a better choice for my next lager. I know to leave 1/4" or so of...

Has anyone tried using Pure Black from La Colombe for a coffee stout?

I'm making a Chateau Northern Lambic Grand Cru, and the instructions call for racking it to secondary after 1-2 weeks. I don't care for a lot of recipe kit instructions, because they usually tell you to bottle your beer after a week, or some other thing that may not be optimal. A lot of people...

I'm currently making a lambic that I fermented with Wyeast 3278, which contains "a Belgian style ale strain, a sherry strain, two Brettanomyces strains, a Lactobacillus culture, and a Pediococcus culture". Is it a bad idea to reuse this bucket to ferment a "normal" beer? Or will a good...

What are the options for stainless steel fermentors for ~5 gallon batches? I know about conical fermentors, and that some people use kegs. Is that pretty much it?