Search results

I'm planning to brew a stout and was thinking of adding pumpkin pie spices into the wort. I've been looking at various threads but having a hard time coming up with consensus. My plan is to brew a base stout batch (extract) and throw the spices in around flameout. Can you recommend amounts of...

I can't easily find a previous thread to answer this question, so if you'd be so kind to indulge me... I use Cooper drops when I bottle and have a handful of packages with leftover drops I've kept in my freezer. My assumption is these will be OK to "reuse" - that is, pull the bag out of the...

On their description of Noble Pils, Sam Adams says the brew is a "traditional Bohemian pilsner," however they use all five kinds of Noble family hops in the batch. Some basic research I've done on Bohemian pilsner recipes shows that Saaz is typically the only hop used in a traditional...

I just moved a saison to secondary and pulled some to do a quick gravity reading and taste. Smell is great, but the taste is pretty darn bitter. I used this Austin homebrew kit, but substituted the lemon zest for 1/4 ounces of "sweet" orange peel. I added the orange with 15 minutes left, per...

I brewed a saison for which I bought a packet of Belgian saison yeast. I smacked it last night - or so I thought I did. Apparently not hard enough as the inner packer never broke and I didn't know. I had left it sitting out all night and was about to pitch when I realized what happened. In a...

I ordered a kit and neglected to cancel the order for priming sugar because I prefer Cooper's drops. Has anyone ever dumped priming sugar - or Cooper's drops too, I guess - into the boil to try and slightly up the ABV?

I've ordered a summer saison kit from Austin Homebrew which calls for two packs of yeast for fermenting. The OG listed on the kit page is 1.065, which doesn't seem too crazy. Is it necessary to use two packs or will one suffice?

I'm moving a blonde ale over to secondary in the next day or two and I want to rack it on top of peppers. I used an Austin Brew blonde kit and was thinking of doing jalapenos. Does anyone have experience or thoughts on the best amount for a five gallon batch or preparation? I was going to use...

I'm going to bottle today and I'm using Cooper's Drops at the suggestion of a friend. Do I need to sanitize them before dropping them in a bottle? I saw another thread where someone said they just sanitize a pair of tweezers before plucking one at a time from the bag. There doesn't seem to be a...

So I racked my first homebrew into the secondary fermenter about six days ago. I checked on the hydrometer reading today and right now it has it at ~4 percent alcohol for a stout. I was hoping to hit at least 5 percent. I know some threads have criticized the reading you may get from a...

On another thread, I asked about the best way to introduce cocoa nibs to my 2nd fermenter. Someone noted it'd be good to soak in vodka for a day to release flavor and sanitize. For any ingredient added to that stage, would it need to be sanitized somehow? So if I wanted to add fresh hops, for...

Hi all, Long time, first time. After much procrastinating, I'm making my first brew next week. For the second fermentation, I bought cocoa nibs to add to a stout. I was curious - will I just need to dump them into the fermenter before or after I siphon the beer from 1st into 2nd?