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I've often wondered about this question, myself. In lieu of hard facts and data, I've kind of settled into the assumption that the closer the operation of the fridge/freezer to its intended manner of operation, the longer it will last. In practical terms, this means minimizing the frequency...

I never bother with trying to swing the mash temperature around after it starts - I just roll with what I get, which is usually within a window of 2degF of target. I've duffed it a few times on the high side and ended up around 164ish but oh well. Every time, tasty beer has been the end...

I never heard of Craig until I decided about 2-3 years ago that it was time to move to kegging and I was searching YouTube for how-to vids. I found Craig's videos on that subject very helpful and approachable at the time. I'm not sure how he has managed to uphold such a dynasty without...

IMO, these guidelines are overly-prescriptive for a homebrewer. Why precisely 7 weeks at precisely 37? Why not make it a round 8 weeks at 35? Only the author knows for sure, but regardless, I'd bet my bottom dollar that it wouldn't make a lick of meaningful difference in the result of that...

I used to think this, because in my early days of brewing I did just that - I shook up a sample really badly, got it all full of air bubbles, bottled it, and set it aside. After 2 months I drank it side by side with a normal sample, and I couldn't tell them apart. So, I guess that can be taken...

Wow - very interesting experiment with that temperature plot. I'm not terribly surprised, though, based on my experience repurposing common fridges and freezers for homebrewing tasks (namely, fermentation chambers and glycol chiller for draft trunk line.) Suffice it to say, I quickly became...

Thanks for sharing. Let this serve as a cautionary tale to the rest of us--we need to be careful with this sort of thing. I've been using the ceramic-reptile-bulb I remember trying a pretty low-wattage solution - I want to say 20W - and I found it was not quite enough during the winter in...

I guess if you're eventually going to open your fermentor anyway and let it sit wide-open to the air while you transfer your beer to kegs or bottling bucket, then doing a quick in-and-out to check gravity isn't going to matter much. I mean, sanitizing a thief isn't rocket science. But if...

Brew a "clone" of a beer you like, or find some well-regarded recipes with lots of reviews from a site like this one. Reading a whole slew of "testimonials" from other brewers of a recipe is a great way to leap-frog over a bunch of early failures and hit the ground running. Regardless of...

Unless the main goal is to participate in homebrew competitions where the style guidelines actually come into play, fussing over style guidelines with any rigidity almost sounds antithetical to the spirit of the hobby, IMO. But with that out of the way, I definitely think there is benefit to...

I am an outdoor/garage brewer using a classic hodge-podge homebrew setup and winter is definitely not helpful. But, where there's a will, there's a way. I buy RO water from the store so that aspect doesn't change with the seasons. Where water supply comes into play is for cleaning and wort...

Agreed, and I was definitely one of those homebrewers. I can honestly say I've never tasted wet cardboard or strong sherry-like flavors in any of my beers. But at the same time I eventually had to admit to myself that my hoppy beers were garbage compared to any half-decent commercial example...

With all of the info out there on homebrew forums, etc. regarding the damage done by oxygen post-fermentation, I'm pretty surprised that cold crashing in the fermentor without regard for oxygen intrusion continues to be such a common practice, especially if clarity is the main goal, because it...

I treat clarity this way: I follow what I believe to be a sound process with due focus on what experience has shown me to be the major factors (namely: recipe design, mash temperature, water profile, yeast handling, fermentation temperature, cold-side oxygen avoidance). If the beer ends up...

Warm and flat samples of dry-hopped beers don't tell you a whole lot, IMO. Don't get me wrong, I always take a swig during packaging, but it's more of a "why not?" thing than a useful step. I guess it does provide a final "screening" step for any trace of infection or other bad off flavors...

The recipe looks like it could be simpler while still achieving the same basic result, but it looks fine as it is. And, since this is a forum where the whole point is to exchange ideas, I'll offer a possibly-controversial suggestion that I know many will not agree with and you're 99.9%...

The physics of the transfer are pretty simple, so the answer to your problem must be simple. I'm not really clear on how you're preventing pressure from building up in the receiving keg, but you can do 20psi or 80psi in the fermentor and eventually flow will grind to a halt if there is nowhere...

1. Ales are easier to brew than lager? Easier? Maybe not the right word. More forgiving? Yes. Quicker? In general, yes. A better choice for a brand new brewer? Definitely. 2. I live in tropical climate, so room temp here is around 25 degrees celcius (77 Fahrenheit). Will it be...

I have 10 kegs and exclusively do 10 gallon batches, because 5 gallon feels like a waste of time in comparison. It's hard to imagine ending up with "too much beer" but if that happens I have lots of people who will gladly take it by the growler full. Brewing when opportunities arise, even if...

I just started doing this as well on my last handful of batches. I really like it. If a keg is just going to sit in a corner of my basement anyway, might as well have it carbonating so it's ready to go when a tap frees up. Some claim that keg priming also helps to consume dissolved oxygen in...