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If you're going for smoked flavor, focus on the outside of the fruit. The seeds and the inner veins are where the heat will come from, while the outside provides most of the flavor. Are you using dried, roasted/smoked, or fresh peppers?

Good point. I plan on adding either a touch of Woodford Reserve (so well-rounded and very slightly sweet) or Baker's (a little sweeter, I think) and I wouldn't want to waste any, especially if I ever make a whole 5 gallon batch. I'll do a tasting tomorrow with some store-bought stout to decide...

If you use buckets I use thin dish towels as a layer between my bucket and a 1-gallon plastic juice jug frozen, laid on top. They soak up the condensation and transfer cold (or absorb the heat) from my buckets much more effectively. Takes a while longer to cool than, say, dunking the...

Dude, I hope you have access to a cool closet - yesterday and today were hot as hell in the city. I had my roommates who work at home keep some jugs of frozen water on top of my bucket since my room was close to 80 degrees. The English-style yeast in my beer is really prone to fruity flavors if...

What kind of cider, and juice, and what kind of yeast? If you used clarified apple juice and champagne yeast, you won't get a krausen. There are few of the same proteins or lipids you get in beer wort in there - it's a whole different ballgame. Same with the yeast, too - it will act very...

That's what I was thinking - even if it's Beam, it's not vodka! Bourbon porters and stouts are awesome - Try some Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, it's incredible. Unibroue makes a dark Canadian whiskey beer too, I have some in my fridge, though I haven't tried it. I have a coffee stout...

I feel like a no-sparge full volume mash would still leave a bit of sugar in the grain bed. Probably little enough that it wouldn't affect your efficiency too much to use this method, but (excuse the amaterish analogy) it could be like washing clothes with really solute soap solution, instead of...

Looks like the man who just brewed a coffee bourbon porter is the perfect man to help me! Moving on from the "separating beer" question - do you ever add either coffee or bourbon straight into your primary, or do you always secondary? Neither contains many solids, and I try not to secondary...

Nice! One recommendation - it would be "Cerveza Diamante," not the other way around. Great job on these, though - the cherry chocolate stout sounds awesome!

Hey guys, I brewed another coffee stout and want to experiment with adding real coffee (cold-brewed) and bourbon to part of the batch. I have 5 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket right now. I have two questions: 1) I want to add bourbon to only 1 gallon. Would it be ok to rack 1 gallon to a jug for...

Makes sense. Thanks!

Yeah, it's more for people just trying to get into brewing - or people who may brew a small batch 2x a year or so, just because they like kitchen experiments, etc. $15 for abou 10 beers isn't terrible if you're ok with putting time into a craft (though it's definitely worse than my 50 beers for...

^ I like the long format of the label, the typeface is great. Very rustic, desert-like. Great dog, too! Pets and beer belong together.

I still don't understand why you need to naturally carb the thing. Can the CO2 cartridges not force-carb it enough? Also, my understanding is that people use less priming sugar for their tap-a-draft systems. Would the same apply here?

Plain paper, brush or rub milk on to get it to stick to the plastic, print on a laser (not inkjet) so the ink won't run when wet. Comes off with a quick rinse, but be warned that condensation will wrinkle the label, and storing the bottles in a tub of ice will likewise wrinkle/loosen the labels.

Keep that S-4 in the mid-60s or lower unless you want a weird berry flavor. I realize that some esters may be called for in some styles, but this yeast, in my experience, picks up and drops off quickly, so have some sort of temp-control before high krausen if you're making a beer you don't want...

I do wish Brooklyn Brew Shop would not sell their 5-gallon kits without proper instructions. The directions are just the same as the 1-gallon sizes scaled up to 5-gallon sizes. They 1) Assume you have a stockpot that can hold the grain for their high-grav beers (who has an 8-gallon stockpot...

^Maybe it's because bland beers aren't that great in and of themselves... if I make the best Imperial Water Lager (with a finishing gravity of 1.0001), do I deserve an A+? I'd argue that in a BJCP panel judging, yes, but on Ratebeer, no. It's possible for a beer to be exemplary of it's style and...

I really have to disagree with these points. Since when did we staff missing the forest for the trees? A brewer's overall prowess means nothing to me (personally) unless I enjoy the beer. Who cares about styles sheets? Is a brewer more worthy of respect because he can brew pilsners, browns...

If I remember correctly, Corona's official stance is that there isn't enough hop character in their beer to skunk it due to light exposure. Kind of hilarious, no?