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I have 6 gallons of white grape/peach in process. I racked to the secondary, added 6 Campden tablets, degassed it and discovered that I didn't have any potassium sorbate on hand. That was a week ago. Is it OK to re-rack onto potassium sorbate at this stage or should I just leave it alone, bottle...

So I think for the first time in my 40+ batch career, I will skip the secondary. I will just leave this one in the primary and move it to my low 60's basement for another week. Then bottle.

I have made a smoked porter using a Brewer's Best Robust Porter and adding 2 lbs. of smoked malt. It was excellent, but now I find myself wanting something more from the dark grains. I have 1 lb. each of Black, Chocolate and Caramel 120 to work with. I thought I would go with: 2 lbs. Smoked...

This actually turned out very well. As a newbie to lagers I panicked when I didn't have airlock activity after a couple days, so I wanted to pitch another vial of 830. My LHBS was out of 830, so I grabbed an 838. I don't know how wise it was to mix yeast strains, but all was well. It was a super...

Bottled today. It finished at a straight up 11%. It is a crystal clear dark ruby-brown. It is sweet and not very dry and is plenty bitter. Now I have to leave my hands off of it until 12/21.

When you pick up your 5 year old daughter from preschool and on the way home she says, "Hey Dad, after summer comes fall. Then it's time to make rauchbier."

I had the last one of these after aging for about a half year. I think it might have been the best beer I ever had. I have to find a way to let them age next time and not drink them all right away, but it's just so hard.;)

Thanks. Stupid question. Can adding pellets to the secondary be regarded as dry hopping or do I need to add whole hops? All I have is pellets.

My LHBS was closed for vacation, so I grabbed a Brewer's Best American Pale Ale locally. O.G. is 1.051-1.055. I would like to hop it up a bit more. The kit came with 2 oz. Cascade and 1.5 oz. Willamette. I also have 1 oz. of Chinook on hand. I prefer a citrusy APA like Sierra Nevada but I want a...

I found the raisins bobbing around and floating this morning. There is foam at the top and airlock activity. The Us-05 must have woke up again. I may make 12% after all.

Thanks, folks. Beore I read your posts, I ended up boiled 2 cups of brown sugar and threw in 2 cups of diced golden raisins at the end of the boil and racked the beer over them into the secondary. It raised the gravity from 1.022 to 1.026. I tasted a thief-full and it was very sweet and the...

In the first week the gravity went from 1.102 to 1.022. There was no change after the second week. I still want to achieve 12% from this batch. Could I rack to the secondary and add some brown sugar and raisins? Would the US-05 be able to start up again? Would I need to pitch some Super high...

Thanks everyone for the help. I replaced the blow off with an air lock and now I'm seeing a bubble every 3 seconds, so I feel better now. I had made a blow off out of an air lock by grinding the cage off the bottom and sticking it in the grommet of the primary bucket, then attaching 1/2" tubing...

I know the hydrometer tells the tale. I haven't checked the gravity yet, but the airlock activity stopped after only 3 days. My O.G. was 1.102, so I thought I would see much more/longer activity. I was thinking I might wait a week and rack on to some raisins in the secondary and pitch the super...

I'm making my first yeast starter for this. I rehydrated 2 packs of US 05 and boiled 1 cup of DME in 4 cups of water, pitched the yeast and topped up to 1 liter in 2 separate containers. I got Centennial hops instead of Columbus. I plan to go: 2 0z. Cnetennial @ 60 min. 1 0z. each Chinook and...

Bumping this up. I'm heading out to my LHBS today and I'm looking for some last minute advice.

I had a strawberry wheat and a pilsner ale project since I started this thread, but now I'm ready to get back to the barley wine. Here is what I had in mind: 6 lbs. 2-row 1 lb. Caramel 120 9.9 lbs. Light LME 1 lb. Brown Sugar 2 oz. Columbus @ 60 min. 2 oz. Chinook @ 30 min. 2 oz...

I want to make a barley wine with a goal of 12% ABV. I was wondering if Safale US-05 could tolerate that or if anyone has a good yeast recommendation. I'm also undecided on my hops schedule if anyone has some help for me there, too. Thanks.

Bottled today. It weighed in at 5.6%. I used about 1 oz. of butterscotch flavoring from spicebarn. I wanted more than just a hint of smell/taste and I got what I wished for. I sampled the last little bit at the bottom of the bucket and I must say I like it. Can't wait for it to carbonate.

Change in plans. I need to have this thing ready to drink for a party on June 9, so I'm brewing tonight. My favorite LHBS was closed today, so I went to a different store that only carries the basics. There will be no grain in this one. It will be: 4 lbs. Light DME 3.3 lbs. Light LME...