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I've been having a problem with some of my beers lately. After some time, they become over carbonated in the bottle, and produce some off flavors. Nothing bad where I can't drink it, but not nearly as good as what it was when I first tried it. My beers are overall very good, and I've won an...

I'm in the middle of making my first yeast starter. I mixed 750 ml of water with 75 g DME. I'm only brewing a 3 gallon batch. I put it in a 2 liter bottle and pitched the yeast. After a day, I don't see what I thought I'd see in the bottle. I was expecting active fermentation where I'd...

I have been reusing my yeast by adding preboiled water to the primary after I rack off the beer and then pouring that into pint jars. I normally see a layer of creamy yeast on top of the sediment after everything has settled. The last time I did this, I don't see that creamy layer. Do you...

I just bought a refrigerator to store kegs so I can start kegging my beer. I wanted to have 2 kegs on tap at one time. I'm wondering what equipment I need to do this. I realize I need 2 kegs, a co2 tank and regulator. What else do I need? What's the best way to set this up? Are there kits...

I'm thinking about getting a setup to start kegging my own beer. I make 2.5 gallon batches. Is there any reason I wouldn't want to buy 5 gallon corny kegs? These are a lot cheaper than the 2.5 - 3 gallon kegs. I'm wondering if I'll have any issues trying to carbonate only half of the...

I just read a question in BYO about a person that had too high of a final gravity consistently on his beers. For all of those that do BIAB, do you find that your final gravity is typically higher than you would have liked? I do 2.5 gallon batches. I use a 5.5 gallon brewpot and put in 4...

I was trying to put together an Orange Honey Ale recipe with some leftover ingredients I have. What do people think of this recipe. I put it in Beersmith and the numbers look ok. I'm going for a sweeter ale for the summer. Note it's only a 3 gallon batch. Recipe Specifications...

I just finished fermenting a Sam Smith India Ale clone and was ready to wash my yeast and save it as illustrated in the sticky in this forum. The night before I was going to do this, I was talking to another home brewer who has a lot more experience than I do and brews some really good beers...

I want to make a 3 gallon batch of a Russian Imperial Stout. I was wondering if I need to make a starter or not. I've never done that with any of my other 3 gallon batches, and they've turned out well. I read a post that pointed me to the Mr Malty calculator. When I put in my number, it says...

I've just started doing BIAB recipes and have 3 under my belt now. All 3 of my beers seem to need more "flavor" to them. They seem very light bodied and not very flavorful, like my extract beers were. Based on Beersmith, I've been doing ok with efficiency. It was around 70% for the first 2...

Hi everyone, I'm starting to do 2.5 gallon BIAB batches and would like to start buying larger quantities of grain and grind it myself. What does everyone recommend for a grain mill? My first batch only used 5 lbs of grain, so if I have to manually crank it, I think I will be ok with that...

Does anyone strain their wort when pouring into the primary fermenter? I'm wondering if it's worth it so I don't get so much junk at the bottom of my primary. If you do, how do you do it? I just bottled a batch of beer and I went from my primary to a bottling bucket. This was the first...

I just did my first BIAB recipe today. I've been doing extract recipes for the last year and this is the first time I'm working with all grain, and it's the first time I've done a 2.5 gallon batch. I am making a Spotted Cow clone. Here is the recipe: 3 lbs 2 Row 1 lb White Wheat .5 lb...

I've brewed about a half dozen extract recipes and would like to move up to AG brewing. I don't want to have to brew outside with a turkey fryer, so I'd like to make 2.5 gallon recipes and use my stove inside. I also like to have a variety of beer around, so 2 cases of one kind gets to be a...

Is there a rule of thumb or guidelines on how much adjunct grains can go in to a 5 gallon batch of beer? Would I not want to exceed a certain amount? I'm looking to do a bourbon porter and want to add 1/2 lb Caramel 60L, 1/2 lb carapils, 1 lb chocolate and 1/4 lb of black patent. I'd add...

I've brewed a pumpkin ale (OG 1.060) and it's been sitting in the bottle for 6 weeks. I opened one today and it's still not carbonated fully. Over the past couple of weeks I've been trying one each week. When it's not carbonated, I've been rolling/shaking the bottles to stir up the yeast...

I'm trying to come up with a pumpkin ale recipe and here's what I got so far for a 5 gallon batch. I only want to make a half a batch. Is it safe to just cut everything in half, or do I have to consider other things? What about the yeast? Do I still use a whole package? 7 lb Amber LME .5...

I know there are a lot of threads on brewing pumpkin beer, but I would like to focus on when to add the pumpkin to an extract recipe. I've heard to steep it prior to the boil, in the boil, or to the secondary. What is everyone's thoughts? Thanks Todd

I just transferred my porter from the primary to the secondary and when I took a reading, the gravity was 1.024. Does that seem high? I hadn't seen any signs of fermentation for a couple of days. My OG was 1.042. I had it in the primary for 7 days and I aerated it very well when I put it in...

I've had some good beer, and I have some good, smooth beer. A beer that feels very soft when you drink it. What makes a beer smooth? And can this be done with extract brewing? Thanks Todd