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The molasses is fine but it definitely has a different flavor. Honey is more of a hint of floral and molasses is kind of nutty with some burnt sugar. I use molasses in my nut brown and it works well there.

As for using pH strips, I wouldn't recommend them. I haven't used them but have read many posts in the Brew Science forum saying they are not particularly accurate. A pH meter is worth the investment. I had an $80 one that lasted me 3 years. I then upgraded to a Milwaukee 102, which is great and...

This was our 6th annual Oktoberfest party. I save anywhere from 6 to 12 bottles of each brew throughout the year and they become the beer list for the party. This year I ended up with 12 brews for a total of 5 cases. Each year the tastes seem to vary among the guests. The hot ones this year were...

I usually treat all the water and then separate the sparge water. You don't have to but it's easy enough that's it's not a hassle.

I agree with Gnomebrewer about using bases. Just add your mineral additions (calcium, gypsum, etc) to get your profile. Then you can use acid to lower your pH (light beers) or base to raise it (dark beers). I usually use pickling lime to raise pH since it doesn't add sodium and mixes easily. You...

Sounds like you've already found the Brew Science forum. Good. The next thing to do is download Martin's Bru'NWater spread sheet. It's free. It has a little bit of a learning curve but is well worth it. Read the instructions page. You enter your water report on one page, your grain bill on...

I use a triple wrap of reflectix insulation wrap (Lowe's or HD). I lose about 1F per hour. Otherwise, as RM-MN said, you don't have much to worry about.

Finally checking back in. My d-bock finished at 1.028. The US-05 helped a little. It was still higher than I wanted so it's a bit on the sweet side but not annoyingly so. I gave it 2 weeks in the mid 60s. A week of that was with the US-05. I bulk lagered for a month and then bottled with CBC-1...

I usually crush them a bit first. You can put them in a zip lock and smack with a hammer or use a mortar and pestle, whatever works. Just a slight crush, not powder. Then put them in a clean jar and fill with booze until they are just covered and put the lid on. For a neutral flavor, use vodka...

US-05 should be OK at that gravity but it may crap out. Anything over 1.100 I give it an extra hit of O2 at 12-18 hours in the fermenter. At 1.070, I'm not sure if you can give it any more O2 now. You may need to give it a swirl and pitch some WLP099 or something similar. I've had success in...

How did you determine that the yeast didn't activate? Did it not change color or develop any krausen? I have had many starters where there was no krausen but it did change to a milky lighter color indicating fermentation. Also, it sometimes takes a while for harvested yeast to wake up in a...

If it's only some bottles, it's a bottle infection. Toss those bottles or clean and sanitize the crap out of them. If it's all bottles, the infection was already in the brew. Replace all your plastic and clean and sanitize everything else. You can try to clean the plastic but, for me, it's not...

See Post #6 above for quick instructions.

Milk does work great and is marginally easier than gelatin. The only downside is if you plan to put the bottles in a cooler with ice. Milk labels don't stay on as well as gelatin. When the label gets wet, it falls off fairly easily. Labels with gelatin will get a little soggy but won't fall off...

Water chemistry is a big subject and important in brewing. Your first stop should be the Brewing Water Chemistry Primer sticky in the Brew Science forum. Read at least the first few pages of that thread and then you'll have an idea of some of the science and what questions to ask. Ask questions...

See post #6 for easy to apply labels that won't come off when wet but remove easily in hot water. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/beer-bottle-labels.656375/

Ditto Sharpie on the cap. When I do label (gifts, Oktoberfest party) I print 4 labels to a sheet of standard printer paper. The key is to print on a color laser printer, NOT inkjet. Inkjet will run run when wet. For easy to remove labels, microwave 1\2 - 3\4 cup of water to near boiling and stir...

*Note to forum admin: We could really use a sticky on making a starter* The basics Starters increase yeast count for liquid yeast. I won't go into detail here but don't do a starter with dry yeast. Just use multiple packets. Wyeast packs have ~100b cells. Some others (White Labs, Imperial) have...

I usually pass on the roasted barley or just use a couple of ounces, which gives the color but not much "roastiness". Lately, I use MO, med crystal, dark Crystal and melanoiden, which gives the red color and a bit of caramel. I've tried Notty and some others but like WLP004 Irish Ale best. The...