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I just opened a Hofbrau Maibock. Strangely, it was hazy. I looked into the bottle. On the bottom, a small ring of yeast sat placidly on the bottom. Could it be? Was it possible that a reputable German brewhouse had allowed a cell of yeast to survive into the bottle? That their...

Bottled a Belgian blonde today, primed to carb to 2.2 volumes. I've had a few beers get very slightly stale in the bottle before, so I decided to try an experiment. I filled 12 the ordinary way, leaving about 1.5 in. headspace, and filled the rest to the brim by filling it ordinarily, then...

This past Friday I went to the newly-opened brewery and restaurant Vivant (www.breweryvivant.com). Just thought I'd post a few thoughts here, and welcome any other discussion about the place. The brewery is basically an attempt to bring a bit of Belgium/Alsace to America. All the beers...

I'm fermenting a Czech pilsner right now. My force ferment test shows that the wort is way too fermentable - it went down to 1.008. My target was more like 1.016, double that. Guess I should have stirred my mash better before taking the temp - that or trusted my math more than my...

I have a vienna lager that's been in primary for 17 days. The last 4 days it's been at about 60-65F, diacetyl rest. Problem is, I'm not getting the attenuation I want out of it. OG was 1.051, was 1.020 at the beginning of the d-rest and is has now been at 1.017 for the past 3 days. I'm...

Hey, all. I'm brewing a czech pilsner right now, and am a bit disappointed with my starter. It was made from an old vial of WLP800 Czech Pilsner yeast, and took a long time and some TLC to take off. Right now, I've got about a half gallon of pretty nasty starter solution (I had to keep it...

Hey all. I just got a vial of WLP400 Belgian Wit. It has a strange appearance - there are two distinct solid layers under the liquid. The top is dark tan, the bottom is creamy white - as I would expect yeast to be. I'd post a picture, but it got mixed up in transport here. It's settling...

I brewed a dubbel a while back. It stayed in primary for about 4 weeks, then I moved into about freezing temps for another three weeks, still on the yeast cake. I'm planning on bottling soon. Should I depend on the old yeast (it's WLP500) to bottle condition? Or should I pitch in some...

Hey, everyone. I'm planning on devising a Witkap Pater singel clone for this summer. I think this beer is fantastic. But I'm not sure how to get the acid profile it has. Would you add some Brett at the beginning of fermentation? At bottling? Or would it be better to culture something from...

So I just made my first major blunder, I think. I mistranscribed a number from my mash calculations, and added way too much boiling water to step up a mash temp. It went from protein rest to about 170*F - denaturing temps. I brought it down quickly with ice when I measured it - say, within 1...

Hey, all. I discovered recently that I have a garage that keeps at 50 deg F, and a shed that keeps at 30 deg F in this season. Finally an excuse to brew some lagers! I've never tried before. I went to the LHBS to get ingredients for a Vienna lager and a Czech pilsner. I was planning on...

Hey, all. I brewed a dubbel about a month ago; OG 1.066, WLP500 Trappist yeast (from Chimay). Fermented at 70-75 deg F. I let it sit in primary for 27 days, at which point it had finished off and cleared nicely. Then, knowing that all trappist brewers cold condition their beers after...

I'm brewing a gingerbread brown ale right now. Made a 1L starter (just making a 2.5gal batch) from a yeast slurry I've been storing about 2 months in the fridge. Thing is, I used too much of the original slurry, and now I have a nice, healthy yeast layer growing on top of a dark layer of (I...

So there's this restaurant franchise. I'm not sure how widespread it is, but it has two locations by me. It caters to college students and others without taste or money; needless to say, I, as a recent college grad, have been compelled to go there by social circumstance several times. I...

So I'll out with it: I love O'Hanlon's Royal Oak pale ale. And I have no idea how to make it. It would be great if I could; it's rare and expensive here in Michigan. My main hang-up involves yeast. The deep and subtle fruit dancing off wood aromas it has couldn't be provided by any...

So I brewed a British ESB back in late September. Overall went great. Racked into secondary after about 10 days; bubbling was very slow at that point and stopped a short while later. Given the high gravity at that point, I suspected a stuck fermentation and so added some yeast nutrient and...