Search results

I plan to brew an English Porter using a recipe that calls for Chocolate Malt 430 SRM, but the homebrew supply only has 350 SRM. I think I can substitute the 350 SRM but at a higher percentage, giving the same beer color as in the recipe. The idea is that both color and flavors are less intense...

I had Covid several months ago. It was a pretty mild case – just felt like a mild case of the flu. After it was gone, I didn’t think much about it. Several months ago, I made some process changes - I started having trouble getting good hop flavor and aroma. I didn’t make a connection with...

I’ve been cooling wort in a water-and-ice bath in the sink for many years – over 200 batches. A few years ago, a leak developed at the basket strainer after brewing. I replaced the plumbers putty that seals around the basket strainer, and it never leaked again. Then a short time ago, a plumber...

I looked up the BJCP guidelines today - interested in Belgian Pale Ale. I found three different web pages for it - not all the same: https://www.bjcp.org/beer-styles/16b-belgian-pale-ale/ https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/24/ BJCP Releases 2021 Beer Style Guidelines – Beer Judge Certification...

This post is continued from a previous one, but since the subject has changed, I started a new thread. I made an order from Williams Brewing on 5-29-22 - it arrived a few days later. It included three pouches of LME. Two had no problems, but one, the Nut Brown extract, started fermenting in the...

First time this has happened. Belgian Pale Ale in the fermenter 17 days - checked gravity at 1.0085. (I use a narrow range bottling hydrometer, read it to a tenth of a gravity point, and corrected for temperature.) Beer was crystal clear. Then checked at 21 days - should be ready for bottling...

My CaCl cakes up, from moisture apparently. The house generally stays at a good humidity, around 50% +/-, although sometimes it is higher when the HVAC isn't needed. Does anybody else have this problem? Do I need to put a dessicant pack in the bottle?

In my never-ending quest to find problems with my process, I have come up with something new. I’ve been using Star San for years – dip a washcloth in it and wipe it on the equipment that needs to be sanitized. But if I squeeze the washcloth while in the Star San (even unintentionally), some...

I've had two batches recently that have been overcarbonated - the first one was slight gushers. They were both primed for 2.65 volumes - pretty normal for me. To see if these continued to ferment after bottling, I checked the gravity of a bottle after conditioning - ready to drink. In both cases...

I've used Mangrove Jack's yeast four times. Three of these had very slow fermentations (long time to reach stable gravity) – 29, 40, and over 57 days (The last is still fermenting now). They all took off ok and seemed to be doing well, but just kept fermenting longer than expected. No compaints...

The latest BYO newsletter had a link to an article about brewing safety - passing it along: https://byo.com/article/homebrew-safety-techniques/?mc_cid=53fc943f89&mc_eid=2f2f3c6e82

My fermeter is a bucket - the lid has a rubber O-ring for sealing. I would like to get some keg lube to apply to the O-ring to improve the seal. The plan is to apply a thin coat of keg lube and then dunk the O-ring in Star San, then put it into the grove in the lid. Is keg lube the sort of...

My latest batch didn't ferment as usual. It was an extract batch with 50/50 Pilsner and Munich malt. I typically take a gravity reading after 15 to 20 days, and again two days later. It's always stable, and I bottle. On the last batch, I sampled at 18 days - 1.0148 and hazy. Checked again at 20...

I would like to avoid using any yeast containing diastaticus because of the potential for gushers or bottle bombs. I was interested in some of the Mangrove Jack's Belgian yeasts, but I couldn't find any info about it on the their website, so I emailed and asked. The answer was “To the best of...

Apparently I don't like the aroma of Willamette or Fuggle hops. In an English Bitter they smell like sweaty tennis shoes to me. It seems odd because the raw hops smell good in the bag. I've tried some from Yakima Valley Hops since they're very careful in handling them - they are vacuum sealed...

I use Irish Moss and yeast nutrient. Irish moss is added dry - yeast nutrient is dissolved in a cup of warm water. They are both added at around 10 - 15 minutes before flameout. I'm thinking this could be improved by putting the Irish Moss and the yeast nutrient in the same cup of warm water, at...

Cloudy Star San solution is a subject that has come up in many podcasts, and in many HBT threads. I thought I would pass along some recent information from Five Star Chemicals. When my local water department changed water source and treatment, my Star San started turning cloudy as soon as it...

Recently I got curious about my bottle cleaning routine. For several years I've been hot water rinsing after pouring, and not doing an Oxi Clean soak. I always check, and they look spotless. No infections, and nobody has noticed any off flavors from them. I tried a test. After the normal hot...

For several years I've been using hops that weren't vacuum sealed or nitrogen flushed by the supplier, but were stored refregerated - with generally good results. Even my APAs, with a hop stand for aroma and flavor, come out good. But the last three of my ESBs (with Willamette or Fuggle for...

I was planning to brew a week ago but have held off because the house has been invaded by gnats (or fruit flies, etc.). I brew indoors. I think if gnats get into the wort before the fermenter is sealed, it would create a nasty, infected beer. Has anybody else postponed brewing because of gnats...