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Thanks for the replies. No offense taken chillhayze, Ive been brewing for about 3 years now and have made some good beers as well as some truly nasty stuff, including a couple real good laxatives. As far as moonshine goes, my dad used to haul the stuff back in the late 50s. The one time he got...

You can also use potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast. Might also try some cinnamon and nutmeg

I recently aquired my great grandfathers recipe for beer. It calls for 1 can (about 3 lb) Blue Ribbon Malt. Since this is no longer produced, any ideas for a malt syrup that would be a suitable replacement? Im also thinking about using DME, but no idea as to hops. I would think probably...

Might not help, but it sure wouldnt hurt. If its got plenty of yeast, the excess will settle to the bottom anyway

Honey is probably the purest form of brewing sugars. A lot of people think using honey will make a beer or mead sweet, but it will actually make the product dry. 5 lbs honey in a 1 gal batch will turn out very dry, unless the yeast gets all used up early and cant ferment all the sugars. Honey...

I am experiencing a long fermentation with my current batch. Its been going for almost a month now, but gravity is still dropping so Im just gonna let er go till shes done. You might take gravity readings for the next 2-3 days. If gravity is the same after this time period, go ahead and rack to...

Ive bought 2 bottles of the Triple Bock now. It is definitely not something to just turn up and see how fast you can find the bottom of the bottle. Ive found it best to serve in a small wine glass and take small sips

Pirtle Winery in Weston MO sells mead. Ive had both their raspberry and blackberry, blackberry was better to me, about $15 a bottle. They also have good wines and I liked their Port as well.

$2.00 a gallon is a good price. I pay 4 bucks here in southwest MO at my local orchard

I use nutrient at 1/2 tsp/gal. in my ciders. Dont know if it really helps att that much but it cant hurt. Using champagne yeast may cause a dry finish. If so you can add some potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast, then sweeten to taste with table sugar. Good luck!

I hope youre wanting a still cider. The sorbate you added wont allow carbonation

You can never have too many fermenters. Ive got 4 right now, theyre all empty at the moment, my local orchard was colsed today due to the ice storm were having, so I could get no juice or honey either one. Real bummer, as Im out of both mead and cider

Good point, david42. Most of the time the airlock activity is just excess co2 bubbling off, but just to be sure , take gravity readings 3 or 4 days in a row. Ive had several beers do the same thing

Sounds like you may have access to an orchard. Get 5 gal of fresh pressed juice, add some ale or wine yeast, some spices in secondary, and you have hard cider. This will get you a 5% cider, add 3 lb honey and some yeast nutrient with your yeast, and youll get a good 10% cider

I use spices in my ciders. Never used vanilla, may have to try that next batch. I use cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. No real measurements, just sprinkle some in after racking

brewman! I stand corrected on the K meta. I thought the K meta was basically the same as potassium sorbate. I have used the potassium sorbate in all the meads and ciders Ive done so far, and all have turned out fine, have never used in combination with campden tabs

Ive used flaked oats in several brews now, just steeped them with my specialty grains, turned out fine

As Pumbaa and beer4 said, take gravity readings each day for the next 3 days or so. If there is no change the beer is pretty well done with primary. Rack to secondary if possible for a few days to help with clearing, then prime and bottle. In the future, you might try to get pitching temps down...

How many burners does your stove have? You might try using one that doesnt get used all that often, I know with my kitchen stove I use one burner more then the others, and the repeated use over the years made it weak and it eventually burned out, had to replace it with a new burner. Works fine...

I did an Octoberfest last year and aged it on oak a bit too long, had an almost whiskey-like flavor. Not buttery or cedar, but didnt tast like any beer Id had either. Didnt bother me too much, but some others thought it was too strong.