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I brewed my first pilsner (also my first lager) two weekends ago and it tasted great going into the fermenter; there was no hint of DMS. That made sense because I boiled vigorously for 90 min and chilled to below 80 F within 10 minutes. But then, a couple days ago I took a taste of the...

I just bought a used corny and replaced all the O-rings / poppets. I kegged a pale ale this morning, but when I tried to attach the quick disconnect, it wouldn't latch. The QD attaches fine to my other kegs. I checked to make sure that the beer and gas posts weren't switched and they're not. I...

I'm building a homebrew stir plate and I'm having potentiometer issues; the 25 ohm potentiometer I bought doesn't turn the fan down enough. This is how I wired things initially: +>rocker switch>potentiometer(25 ohm)>fan - >fan So then I added various amounts of resistance (10-200+ ohms)...

I'm currently fermenting an american wheat for my girlfriend. This beer has to be passible at a minimum because it's a birthday present. There is also no margin for error, the due date is upon me. THIS beer must work! It's now been 3 days since pitching a smack-pack of Wyeast 1010 american...

I just started kegging about a month-and-a-half ago, and last week I had occasion to give some homebrew away to friends. So I read all the posts about the BMBF and so I thought I try something like that, but it seemed too complicated ;) This post is mostly just to spread the knowledge I've found...

Whenever I make a hoppy brew, it tastes really nice and citrusy for the first week or two, but then it starts to fade in a peppery/spicy taste. I've noticed it especially with Cascades. How do I stabilize these flavors? Is it simply poor ingredients? I love hops and I must get this right.

I brewed an APA/IPA (it's debatable) on 10/25 - bottled 11/07 - that has a slight astringency to it. It's not unbearable, just enough to give the beer a roughness after the swallow, leaving me apathetic about taking another swig. I do not think that the astringency came from the grain, however...

What is your idea of the perfect homebrew setup? That is, anything from boiling to chilling to fermentation and storage; everything. I find that homebrewers tend to feel like they're working towards some ultimate setup. My holy grail setup is as follows: A simple 5 gallon, 3 tier system...

I just ground my flaked barley for a stout very very fine in order to speed gelatinization. I looked at it afterwards and I'm noticing some husk bits. I had assumed that flaked barley was like oatmeal: no husk. So now I'm worried about tannin extraction. Should I be worried?

I would like to move my beer to the fridge as soon as possible after brewing, in order to keep it fresh. Bottle carbing can sometimes take months and diminishes the freshness of my beer. To combat this problem, I am going to top-crop some yeast from fermentation, save it in the fridge, and...

I want to bottle in the largest crown-cap bottles I can find (up to 2 liters); sort of like a mini cask. I found 2-liter growlers at northernbrewer, but the crown caps seem more durable than the swingtops, and less likely to blister my thumbs. Anyone know where I can find crown cap bottles...

I find that hop aroma and flavor tend to dissipate quickly at room temperatures (70 F). After a few weeks, the light tangerine aroma from my pale ale dulls. This poses a problem for bottle-conditioning it seems. We have to let the beer sit for several weeks at room temps in order to develop...

Until Recently, I've written off the idea of growing hops at home because I really prefer pellet to whole hops. Pellet hops just work much better with my system. So after researching pelletization of homegrown hops, it seems that such a process would not be feasible but I'm looking at an...

I have a bunch of blackberries on my property and I'm thinking about making it into wine, but I've never had the opportunity to try blackberry wine. Is it any good? Does it taste even remotely like blackberries, as raspberry wine tastes somewhat like raspberries? or is it a different but good...

I was writing a paper and I suddenly started thinking about the perfect beer, an IPA with high ABV that tastes like quaffer. Very dry, yet no alcohol burn. I read that taurines will balance out alcohol and they come from middle addition hops. An extremely drinkable IPA this should be. This is...

I have an old propane burner I got off craigslist a while ago and when I use it, the flame is blue on the bottom and otherwise mostly yellow. I took it apart and cleaned it, but no luck. Could it be a problem with the regulator? Any ideas?

I find that many people on message boards such as these, and in general conversation, often describe lager yeasts as neutral - like an ale yeast with fewer esters, phenols, etc. Many have attempted to recreate lagers by fermenting ale yeasts in the high 50s (F), something I'll admit I've never...

I enjoy many disparate beer styles. Along with the usual APA's and IPA's, I love the English, Belgian, and German styles with those spicy and earthy hops. I live in the Willamette Valley, where the majority of U.S. hops are grown, and I have no doubt that I can grow the U.S. citrusy and floral...

I give away a lot of beer to friends, but I hate the looks on some of their faces when I explain how to pour and leave the yeast sediment behind. For me, sediment is fine, but friends new to homebrew think it means that my beer is inherently different (worse) than commercial beer. So I came...

I do single-infusion mashes in a converted cooler. Normally, I mash out with a relatively small amount out boiling water to bring the mash up to 180 F and then sparge. I'm doing an IPA with an OG way higher than I usually do (1.085) and the amount of boiling water needed to mash out...