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Just started my brew day. I've got about a pound of German Herkules hops that I've had in the freezer for a few months, about 15% Alpha Acid. I know it is known mostly as a bittering hop, but any thoughts on using it as a single hop in a black IPA? Recipe is #15 2-Row #1 crystal 60, #1...

Yep. That is my input. I always dry hop in the primary (easier access cause I use buckets). If you choose not to secondary, your beer will most likely still clear out in the bottles if you let it. Of course you'd have that bottle sediment. Doing a secondary can help reduce that sediment, but...

Yeah its a 5 gallon batch. I currently only get about 70% efficiency so I think it settled out around 8-8.5% ABV Frankly I went with 2 row instead of pilsner simply cause it was way cheaper at the time. Also I like to constantly try new things even if others suggest against it. The biscuit was...

Saisons are probably my favorite style, along with IPAs. Then again, whatever style I'm currently drinking is usually my favorite style. My favorite saison so far was simply #15 2-Row and #1 biscuit, fermented with Wyeast 3711, Bittered to 25 IBU with nugget and flavor hopped with Polish...

Don't be scared, have a homebrew! I did almost the same thing with El-Dorado hops. The next brew I split it with Nugget and El-Dorado. I'm gonna make a black IPA with 100% German Herkules hops. Who knows why? Cause its mine and I wanna. If you are worried about the bitterness, don't. The...

I'm a minimalist stove-top apartment all grain brewer and keep myself on a budget. I know what its like to not want to splurge for that chiller. It took me 2 years of brewing to do so. My ice bath (in a bathtub) would cool just as fast with constant attention (and a bunch of Tupperware filled...

Agree to dry hop in primary. If you are seeking clarity you can transfer to a secondary for the sole purposes of getting it off the hops and trub and letting it clear out. 11 oz sounds tasty.

Does anyone have a link to the thread that has all the information of the "study"? I believe that the pH drop you are talking about was with distilled water. Distilled water has a higher pH than a mash would, so buffering capacity would be way off. Keep in mind that this product is a buffer not...

I have read a ton on water chemistry. I realize it is not complicated. Takes an adjustment goal, a calculator, and a scale. I'll be running experiments on the ability of the phosphate buffering solution (aka 5.2 stabilizer) to maintain an intended/pre-adjusted pH over the course of a mash. The...

Working on it. The public data is a little out of date (2013), and I have not yet invested in pH measuring equipment. I know I had saw the data months ago, but blew if off because I wasn't focused on water chemistry at the time. I can't say for sure, but I believe the pH was a point or 2 on the...

I ordered some of this 5.2 pH Stabilizer earlier tonight. Then I looked it up on the forum, with multiple threads of bashing it. I have only 4 all grain batches under my belt so far, and my efficiency has been lacking only in the slightest (like 65-66% when I shoot for 70-80 with big beers)...

Brewed a rustic saison with wyeast strain 3711. I used a hop variety called lubliner, for the first time. My recipe was: #15 2 row #1 biscuit Hops: Bittering: 60 minutes: 0.5 oz German Nugget Flavoring: 1 oz lubliner @ 10 minutes, 1 oz @ 5 minutes, and 1 oz @ flameout (3 oz total)...

Yeah. I only started doing this once I moved and stopped kegging. When you think about it, bottling is a mini-secondary fermentation. When your yeast is fresh it won't be lazy and gets the job done quicker. Keep in mind, that this isn't the best practice by any means as the beer will not be...

Yeah I don't take samples. Only use wide mouth fermenters and drop the sanitized hydrometer. However this got me thinking, and I don't see why I couldn't wipe it down with medical alcohol and/or lysol after a reading. It would kill any lacto.

If you're really in a rut, depressurize, let sit, and get ready to bottle the finished beer. Or transfer it to another keg. It will be easier to fix and investigate with the keg empty. It might be clogged in the tube or the disconnect. I used to have the opposite problem... beer would be...

If I'm low on homebrew, I often bottle after only 7-10 days, then crack one open 2-3 days later. At about the 4th-5th day, most of my beers are moderately to fully carbonated. With some yeast strains, I've found full carbonation after 3 days. I think it has to do with the yeast not having much...

This was a pre-boil mash, so it should have contained a lot of natural lacto. I did not add anything to it. Fermentation definitely took place over the course of a few days and has slowed down. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet in fear of contaminating my hydrometer, but I trust that there...

Ok so this is my first time experimenting with this. I collected less than 2 gallons of lower gravity wort from a larger beer mash and separated it into 2, 1 gallon containers I had on hand. I let it sit for 3 days so far and there is a krausen on both. You can visually see fermentation...

Warming it up and rousing the yeast could help, if there are any more fermentables. My bet is you mashed a little high and/or carmelized some of the wort. If you used any extract, it could be a limitation of the extract itself. Some brewers say to pitch a packet of cheap champagne yeast (less...

What FG were you expecting? BJCP guidelines state a Belgian Dubbel to have a FG in the range of 1.008-1.018 and ABV of 6-7.6%. Yours might be slightly lower ABV and maybe a touch sweet, but I'd call it an acceptable brew. Maybe try warming it up for a couple days to see if it drops anymore...