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You can get a tubing bender at a good car parts place. They help keep from kinking and breaking the lines.

I also brew partial mash starting with liquid malt extract, most of the time at least. I have brewed dozens of batches. The only significant drawback that I am able to ascertain is that, when brewing a beer that is supposed to be pale, there is greater carmelization of the wort in the brew...

No, Wyeast is White's competitor.

I have taken a couple years off from brewing due to being unusually busy with several other interests. It being winter and me feeling caught up on most projects I brewed for the first time last weekend. This involved in part going through my collection of Corney kegs and cleaning them and...

I have been using glass carboys for 15 years. They work great and last forever unless you manage to break one, which is not easy to do. The only disadvantage is the weight. I don't think it's a good tradeoff to switch to a material which while lighter is susceptible to scratches and to...

1) You will get a fermented cider-type beverage by following the steps with any kind of fruit. 2) Whether it will be of high quality is quite another question. Some crab apples, e.g. Dolgo, are passable as cider apples but lack sufficient tannin to do well. Eating apples and eating pears...

Made this a few years ago. It's delightful, still have a bottle or two left. 1) pick and stem enough Morello-type cherries to fill a 5 gal. carboy. Leave pits. 2) Add honey and water to 1.140 to fill. 3) Pitch Wyeast Sweet Mead. Rack, sulphate, condition, bottle in clear splits...

Well, I have a Dolgo on seedling rootstock that bears profusely. And I have a Golden Russet on seedling that should come into bearing this year. Then three Yarlington Mill trees and a handful of others. Also 12 (!) pear trees. They may not be hardy in my climate. This winter will tell...

There are linked posts on secondaries in the sticky in the beginning brewers' forum. In short, the secondary is used for clarification and conditioning after most of the fermentation is complete. The reason for moving out of the primary is to separate the beer/wine/cider/mead/etc from...

Needs a relief valve

Well, yesterday was a big brew day with 12 gallons each of ale and lager started. I pitched the lager at 3 pm yesterday from a quart or two of starter, and the ale at 4 pm from a Wyeast smack pack (yes, I know, they're only supposed to be good for 5 gallons). I split each batch between two 6.5...

Welder??? What's the matter with a sawzall?

I find that LME deteriorates in flavor very quickly and so I try to use it up within a few weeks. If it is free of obvious spoilage you could try using it in a porter or something else with enough going on that any minor off flavors would be covered up.

Probably not. Foamy white and orange/brown dots on top of wort are probably yeast. Solid white or brownish sediment is probably trub.

The conventional wisdom is that you shouldn't rack to secondary until fermentation is complete. The secondary is more for conditioning and clarification, and perhaps the last of the fermentation. But since you added honey, and yeast, there should be fermentation. You might want to be sure...

I pick up the fermenter and shake it for, oh, about 10 seconds or so. Works for me.

That's what I would have done. No. The dry yeast now has a running start so the Wyeast culture will not make as much difference as it could have.

When you rack, you'll be adding sulphite to get rid of the oxygen that you will inevitably dissolve. If you open the bottles without adding sulphite, oxygen will get in, and that will cause the cider to deteriorate. You could try adding sulphite and re-seal the bottles but unless you...

I have brewed in an apartment without problems. Depends on your situation, I guess. I would not characterize the aroma of beer being brewed as being stronger or more objectionable than the aroma produced by other forms of cooking involving grains.

I see. I would think that the Vienna malt would be workable even if not ideal. The advice to start by using extract still applies however.