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I just ran your recipe through Brewer's Friend, set to Partial Mash with the efficiency set to 0% to account for the steeping grains. Assuming your batch is only 5 gallons, I ended up with a predicted OG of 1.063. Check your Brewtoad settings. Something in there isn't right.

Are you adding top-off water? If so, it's probably not mixing fully with your wort before you're taking the OG readings. This is a known issue with using extract. If you're adding top-off water and ending up with the correct volume in your fermenter, your OG is probably very close to your...

I have a Czech lager that's been lagering since the middle of April. I'm hoping to bottle it this weekend or early next week. Usually, I don't add yeast to my beers when priming, but since this has been sitting so long, I figure it's probably worth a shot. My question is which yeast to use. The...

Is this kit an extract kit? If so, you've most likely assumed correctly. Also, how are you measuring gravity, with a hydrometer or refractometer? 3 or 4 weeks for primary fermentation is completely normal. Most of my beers sit for 4, usually because I get busy and don't have time to do...

The only dark beers I really make are Altbiers, but I do something similar; I mash my light grains while steeping my dark ones in a separate pot. Mix it all together at the start of the boil.

I'd toss it and brew again. They say that the refrigerent is non-toxic but I can't imagine it's good to ingest it. You don't actually have to chill your wort- look into the no-chill method. Tons of us on here do it. It could save you water and, in your case, you're not adding anything to the...

Could be overcarbed. 5oz of priming sugar in 4 gallons would give you about 3.2 volumes of CO2. Most IPAs are around 2.5 if I recall correctly. Did you refrigerate the beer before opening them? If you just crack them open out of the box, the CO2 hasn't dissolved back into the beer. This will...

Invest in a bottle tree: http://www.thehopandgrain.com.au/product/bottle-rinser/

Had this happen once with a hefe. One bottle out of a batch of 24 cracked cleanly at the bottom, no shattering or exploding. All the other bottles were fine after a few days in the fridge with perfect carbonation. I chalked it up to one defective bottle. Take some precautions like putting...

Nope, no infection that I can see. Egg is a good smell, too - means sulpher is being produced as a by-product. Let it ride and this will dissipate. Lager yeasts are bottom-fermenters, meaning that the majority of activity will take place at the bottom of your fermentation vessel. They can...

You're definitly looking at zero carbonation. As mentioned above, you need to botte immediately after adding your priming sugar in order to produce the CO2 needed to carbonate the beer. Live and learn. I wouldn't classify this as a major screw-up, though. Worst case, you'll end up with a...

I second day_tripper, that's yeast floaties.

Where in Poland are you? Generally, water in the northern half of the country is softer but harder in the southern half. If you can get a copy of a water report from your local Gmina or Voivodship, I can have a look at it - I speak decent Polish. Maybe it can help you diagnose what your...

Infections can chew through more complex sugars that yeast cannot, so it very well may still drop quite a few gravity points. If you want to reduce the chances of bottle-bombs, let it sit for a while longer. Keep checking the gravity and make sure it's truely stable. Then, I'd prime with half...

I frequently have sinus and ear infections. My doctor has alway said to me to avoid all alcohol while on antibiotics. I'm no scientist but my guess would be the alcohol may minimize the effect of the drugs and/or not be good for your liver, since your liver then needs to process the drug and...

I average about 12 hours from pitch to kräusen in winter. In warmer weather, it's about 8 hours as well.

I'm a bit confused about when you added your hops. Did you add them AFTER you boiled your wort? If so, you'll end up with very low bitterness in your beer. Are you 100% sure your beer is not fermenting? How are you determining it isn't? Take a hydrometer reading to find out what is...

It should say on the back of the bleach bottle. Mine says 3 tablespoons per liter for a good 'soak' solution. 5 gallons is about 19-20L. Use warm water for best results.

I used home-made applesauce in the apple beer I just made. Stewing the apples in organic apple juice gives better flavor, I find. 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves each does the trick.

My starter habbit is any time I walk into the kitchen, I shake the crap out of the starter to feed it oxygen. Once it begins to form a kräusen, I leave it alone, though. Works pretty well thus far.