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I would try doing a very simple bitter to reduce variables. 100% base malt (Maris Otter or Golden Promise, or the like), just EKG hops (60 and 10 additions), and a yeast strain like 1968, or S-04 if that’s easier to source. I think it really helps to simplify things when tracking down an issue.

Yes, I think the Vault program is really cool, even if I’m not thrilled about the 1037 yeast! It’s like GoFundMe for yeasts.

What was your OG? 1.053 is an extremely high FG. I would also say very few ale yeasts are efficient (although they’re probably at least somewhat active) at 60°. And, just to check, did you measure FG with a refractometer?

If you have a large (5 or 10 ml) syringe, the easiest would be to measure out your sugar for the whole batch, boil in a fixed volume of water, then divide the volume by the number of bottles and dose each one.

I always think they look super appealing. Even before I was much of a hophead, hazy beers seemed very visually tempting.

I would imagine part of this is that it would be very difficult to ensure a consistent ratio of strains in end product. And as packets get older, one strain might become more dominant.

You just want dank flavors, or you want a cannabis beer? CTZ is the “weediest” hop I know of.

This has shaped up to be a really excellent beer. I’ll be using it as a template for future SMaSHes!

I brought my 1037 best bitter to my brew club without really providing much information, and it was described as a “Belgian table beer” and “bitter brewed in a farmhouse.” Kmarkstevens, I doubt a D-rest would have lessened the phenolic flavor. I think that’s just how this yeast expresses. Mine...

I typically cool wort to around 180°F before starting the whirlpool. I know other brewers will do even lower temps. At flameout, you’ll still be getting quite a lot of bitterness from 50g of hops (depending on the alpha acids in the hops and how quickly you get it down to 70°C). I would not...

Tried it again — this is basically a saison. I’m bringing it to my club meeting tomorrow — will be interesting to hear what others think.

I figured 14 oz would do the job. The beer is actually quite good, I think — the sacch trois really saved the day by contributing its own fruitiness.

I just kegged a SMaSH brewer with all Golden Promise and Mandarina Bavaria, fermented with sacch trois. I did this in a juicy NEAPA style: no boil hops, but 8 oz in the whirlpool and 6 oz as a biotransformation dry hop addition. It’s pretty good — finished dry, with a nice enough flavor — but...

When I’ve let PBW dry on something, it has that kind of crystalline structure. Maybe something dripped on the stopper?

I fermented at 63°, and brought it up to 70° for a couple days after it was close to projected FG. I just took another pour, and it’s drinkable, but still not my favorite. We’ll see how it does.

Just kegged my WLP037 best bitter. I’m not convinced I love this yeast — a little more saison-y funk than I was hoping for. It will need some time to drop clear and carb up, so maybe that phenol taste will retreat a little. The hop schedule is nice, though, very fruity and interesting (equal...

Most ale yeasts will do best in the 64-68°F range. Above that you’ll start to get more fruity esters, often with kind of an overripe fruit aroma (especially as you get higher up in the 70s). Below that you’ll have a slower, and possibly incomplete fermentation. A cold crash is fine, but you do...

It’s worth a shot. I haven’t had great luck with adding hop teas after fermentation, but at least it’s just a blonde, so you don’t need a ton of bittering. The other approach would be to brew a small batch of very hoppy beer and blend... maybe more work than you want to put in, though.

It sounds like you bought a kit with pre-hopper malt extract, since it doesn’t ask you to boil. Normally you would boil hops in the wort to achieve the bitterness and flavor you want. For this kit I would follow the instructions, but for your next kit you should seek out something that comes...

I store hops in the freezer part. (But mine is a kegerator, so pretty consistent temps.)