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I’ve been drinking this beer for about a month now. It’s pretty good. Not amazing but definitely good. This is my first real attempt at a lager. I over shot the gravity a bit so I think the balance is off a bit. It’s not quite as hoppy/bitter as I would have liked (or prima pils is). Nor is...

Well that shoots down any of my ideas. You’re mash temp is on the high side and a third of a cup is not much sugar to affect the gravity that much. Even for a mr beer sized batch. I guess beer is magic.

Notty is a beast. It’s my go to for any experimental brew ‘cause it will eat through everything. Including a wider range of sugars in your malt. I always keep a spare packet for experiments of back up or have some old slurry laying around. I wonder what your mash temperature was and how much...

That’s about what i’ve been using for years. I’d bet most folks here with DIY mash tuns are using cheap old coolers. It will make beer. Good beer.

I only use a secondary when I want to reuse the yeast cake but the initial beer is not ready to be packaged yet. I’ve added fruit to a primary, although only once. I leave high gravity beers in a primary for months without any noticeable damage. I actually forgot about a braggot in my closet...

I’ve used mandarina Bavaria in a wheat beer. I was not able to get much “orange” flavor out of it. It definitely has a subtle orage smell and has a nice flavor all around. But it didn’t come through as strong as I would have liked. So I’m subbed to see if someone gives you better advice on how...

It looks like a bit of mold. I’ve racked/bottled beer from under mold once and it turned out fine. I did drink quickly for fear it had more nasties in it. Nothing ventured nothing lost. I’d taste a bit then package it and see how it turned out.

I have little kids and a pretty demanding job.....and kids, did I mention they're demanding? I leave a lot of my beers sitting in the primary for weeks some time months. I literally forgot a about a braggot for a year. I regularly leave beer in the primary for two months and still have enough...

I knew this old man that used to always say "you know who makes the best Bloody Mary? Me, 'cause I know how I like it." That's kind of how I feel about beer. I'm not a great brewer. And just like my cooking, my brewing tends to be inconsistent 'cause I'll change up little things based on my...

I cracked open a bottle of the second running with the kolsch yeast. Turned out great. It still needs a bit more time to carb but it’s a nice American-wheat-kind-of-flavor.

I’d say keep it subtle and simple. For the cherry blonde. Skip the added hops and malts. Just ferment with your preferred yeast and rack on a small amount of cherries. Blondes are nice and light. Why not keep it that way? I did a super simple blonde a few years ago and added a small tincture...

Yes. It’s still valid. I used to use a hop bag and remove the hops after cooling. Now I just leave them all in the as I transfer to a primary. One less step and I have not noticed a difference in my beers. They will settle out in the trub.

I took some samples and bottled the second and third runnings this weekend. For the wheatwine, temperature control definitely helped the “hotness”. I mashed a little higher and the gravity is sitting at 1.016. It’s definitely fuller bodied and the higher percentage of wheat is obvious. I feel...

Oh and they make a plastic replacement cap for the screw top growlers that is supposed to hold pressure a little better. It works about as well as the metal ones but they don't last very long. I prefer bottleing in the flip top ones 'cause they hold pressure better, they're thicker and look...

I bottle in growlers all the time. Both the fancy ones with the grolsch style flip tops and the cheap screw top ones. I do keep the carbonation below 2.5 and I drink the growlers before my bottles. I have had the screw top ones loose carbonation after a couple months. That's part of why I try...

I can’t speak to the sweetness. For bottling after a cold crash, I do it all the time. I’ve successfully bottled after three months in a primary. It unlikely you don’t have enough yeast. If you’re getting any carbonation at all you probably have enough yeast to finish any sugar you’ve added...

If it’s at its final gravity and too sweet you could try blending it with a smaller batch of something dry. I had mild success doing that once blending a sweet beer with a dry cider. Honey would go real well with all that marris otter.

That drives me nuts too. Most breweries used to fill anyone’s growler, too. Now most only fill their own growler. I’m sure there’s some dumb regulations on it. But it sure comes off as if these places are more interested in selling tee shirts an fancy growlers more than they are beer. It’s a...

All done. Yielded three different beers. 5.5 gallons of wheat wine, 6 gallons of a light-sort-of-American wheat and 5 gallons of cider/beer thing. I used honey instead of sugar in the big beer. The second running will give me a nice kolsch yeast cake. That'll give me an excuse to make a...

Wheat wine is mashing right now. I've been trying to brew this the past two weekends. Weather and kiddos have messed with my plans, but we're better off. I got a new hellfire burner I'm rating out. It's a beautiful day and I'm waiting patiently to crack a homebrew until the boils to start...