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I had about 12 pounds of pilsner grain left in a 55lb sack. I dumped it from the sack into a different container and noticed the bottom of the bag had mold. Sifting through the grain I see some of it is dark and moldy, but only a small amount of the entire 10 pounds is visibly so.. like only 1...

My IPAs have always been lacking-- mostly in the flavor department. I'm working on getting the late hop additions just right for good flavor and aroma. This is what I have come up with: 5 Gallon Batch: 13 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 1 lbs 8.0 oz...

My fermentation fridge went dead on me, and subsequently I had a batch of beer using WLP011 get up to 80F for a few days. It has some pretty bad off-flavors as a result. I need to re-brew this same recipe since it is for a party coming up. I have used existing yeast cakes in the past, but never...

A friend asked me to make a batch of beer for a fall party he is having. He wants something more malty than hoppy, with an amber / copper color. Pretty sure he was looking for something like a Marzen / Oktoberfest, though he said anything along the lines of what he described would be great. I...

I've been doing all grain brewing for many years, but I have never made a GF beer. It's a last-minute request for a party I am attending this summer, so I don't think I have time to get up to speed on malting my own grains. I've developed the following extract recipe and wanted to get some...

I have a bock that is ready to be racked to secondary and put into cold storage. I also plan to make another bock-type beer tomorrow using the exact same yeast strain. I have never harvested yeast before, but it seems silly not to use the bountiful supply that is sitting at the bottom of the...

I found a submersible water pump that is 1/4 horsepower and capable of moving 30 gallons / minute. Instead of running my hose for the entire time (especially in winter) I thought I could just recirculate ice water from a large tub through my plate chiller. From people's experiences, would...

When I do a mash I typically use the Bru'n Water Spreadsheet to calculate any additions I need to make to achieve the water profile I want, but mainly to achieve the proper mash pH. In the past I have done mostly single infusion mashes. When I test the pH of my mash after 5 minutes, it is...

I have extremely soft water where I live. It's essentially the exact same profile as Pilsen, Czech Republic. I plan to make a Bohemian Pilsner and have a malt bill of 90% Pilsner, 5% Light Munich, and 5% Carafoam. According to the Bru'n Water spreadsheet (which has been 100% accurate for all...

I cold crashed a batch of beer to get some more clarity. I have 5 gallons at 40F right now. The primary fermentation was at 65F. Two questions: Should I let the beer warm up to room temperature before bottling, or can I bottle it immediately while it is at 40F? If I did bottle it at 40F...

In the past my IPAs have been okay, but not really great. I am brewing today and want to make sure I really get the hop additions right on this one. Here's my grain bill, first: 6.5# Pale 6.5# Munich 0.75# Honey Malt I have whole leaf hops of these varieties: Amarillo: 4 oz Citra: 3...

Hi all, A co-worker gave me 2 pounds of fresh honey collected from his bee hive (he raises them). His request was that I use it to make him a batch of beer. Of course I am more than happy to do so! I'm looking for a good recipe to use. I do all-grain brewing in batches up to 5.5 gallons...

Hi everyone, I'm working on a stout recipe. I want it to have more milder chocolate notes than coffee / bitter roasted notes. I also had the idea to add some Belgian candi syrup at the end of the boil to give it some of those dark fruit notes found in a quad. This is the recipe I came up with...

Making a blueberry beer. I usually do not do any flavors, and the recipe initially called for 5 pounds of blueberries in the secondary. They're somewhat out of season right now and hard to come by so I am considering making up the difference with blueberry flavored agave nectar. About half a...

I made an IPA and we had a bit of a heat wave while it was fermenting. I had it in the coolest part of my basement but the temps still got high enough to really cause this beer to get out of control. It went down to 1.006 and developed some strong alcohol flavors that are way out of balance. I...

I have a 5 gallon batch of black IPA that turned out a little more bitter than I would like. I think it's the roasted flavors that are not working really well. It's not bad, just a bit too much. It's in secondary being dry hopped right now. I was wondering if adding lactose to it at this...

Let's say I have a broken wort chiller and a steaming kettle filled with fresh beer. Typically I chill the wort and funnel it into a glass carboy. Instead, can I drain it into a brew bucket, slap a lid and air lock on it, and let it cool down overnight and then pitch the yeast in the morning...

Hello everyone, I am using the Bru'n Water spreadsheet to makes sure I have the proper Mash pH for a brown ale. BTP has my recipe coming in at 22 SRM, while Bru'n Water has the same grain bill at 25 SRM. This discrepancy seems to be affecting the mash pH level predictions in the spreadsheet...

Hi everyone, Some friends of mine have requested I brew a strong IPA. I don't drink a lot of IPA or Imperial IPA, and I have never brewed one, so my experience is limited. IPAs I have tried and liked are Wachusett's Larry, Pliny the Elder, and Ithaca Flower Power. I know you want to keep...

Hi everyone, I was working on a beer last night that was supposed to have an original gravity of 1.054. I got distracted during the process with some emergecy work matters and was trying both work from home and brew at the same time. Compounding matters, my digital probe thermometer was...