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And I'm really glad she did! :ban::ban: Like most new brewers, I started complaining about cleaning/filling bottles while drinking my second batch. After 2 years and dozens of batches SWMBO must have tired of my griping because last week she told me to buy a kegging system. It seemed like...

Well it clearly isn't yeast in there, or even yeast-like. I've been wondering what to do with the stuff, might just throw it out after all, but I don't really need the fermenter space yet. Life has really gotten in the way of my brewing over the past few weeks. Maybe I'll even add some yeast...

Okay, I'm convinced. Been using StarSan for a while, but letting carboys and bottles sit inverted for hours or even overnight while the foam drained, or rinsing them lightly. I switched to StarSan because of some infection issues but have still had a few bad batches with the StarSan. Now I...

Your problem may be that the yeast doesn't have sufficient nutrients, not that the sugar is unfermentable. Barley provides lots of additional minerals that simple sugars don't contain. Try adding some yeast nutrient if you don't see activity soon.

I'm starting to think you're right... Some thin stringy stuff has started floating to the surface, implying something other than a wild yeast is in there and working. Also I realized that, once fermentation is complete, I will not want my siphoning equipment to touch this stuff so I'd have to...

On Sunday I brewed an American Pale Ale, vaguely resembling EdWort's Haus Pale Ale. My intention was to repitch some yeast I'd had sitting around for a few weeks but the starter "beer" smelled sour and tart so I tossed it. Not having a backup dry yeast package I decided to use the cake from...

You definitely want the beer warm and flat... for the first and only time.

I bet you'd have foaming trouble when you opened the beer due to CO2 nucleation on the cone. You might have trouble bottle conditioning too. But I've never tried it, so you should give it a shot!

Where would you put the "a" in "does"? This is gonna be a fun thread...

Just lit the strike water on an APA based loosely on EdWort's Haus Pale with some Columbus hops. I thought about brewing last night but didn't want to be up as late as TomInMaine was!

+1 for skipping the kits. Find a recipe you like, convert to extract if necessary (this is where software becomes very useful) and buy the ingredients individually. Try using extra-light DME exclusively and getting all color and flavor from steeped specialty grains. That way you'll know...

1911A1 - You're right on track to full-blown obsession within a few short months. Welcome! Exactly right on the keg carbonation, but you still have a few options. Letting the beer sit under pressure for a few days to a week will carbonate it, or you can crank up the pressure and shake the...

Sounds like you poured off most of your yeast. If you see any kreusen in the starter it's best to pitch the whole jar. The yeast are actually much more active and will take off very quickly if the starter is actively fermenting. Next time you should check the SG of your starter before...

If you can't get wheat and barley extracts separately you'll also need to know the proportion of wheat to barley in your extract. Since the recipe is about 60% wheat/40% barley you should be able to get a reasonable extract replacement pretty easily. If you want to be exact, calculate the...

My last brew was: 9lbs 2-row mashed at 150 1oz Columbus @ 10min 1oz Columbus @ flameout Tastes great so far, clean and dry with plenty of hop character. Tomorrow I'm doing the same mash with the 10min addition moved to 60min and adjusted to provide the same IBUs.

I've had High Life with fresh picked Cascade cones... quite an improvement!

With a beer the size of that barleywine, you'll definitely need to let the temp rise at the end of the fermentation in order for it to finish completely. You could also try feeding the beer every day or so with corn sugar, honey or any other 100% fermentable in order to get the total gravity.

Check out American Brewmaster in Raleigh - Mark is great and all of the employees know their stuff. Oh, and welcome to the NC homebrew scene! Craft brew is really heating up in The Triangle, with (at least) 3 new microbreweries open in the last 6 months. Seeing all of the homebrewers in the...

Agreed, your starter may have lagged a bit for some reason. You should at least see a thin krausen ring around the sides of your starter vessel, and a large thick cake of yeast at the bottom. One sure way to see if the starter has begun fermenting is to swirl it some and get the yeast roused...

It's also important that your beer remain at a constant temp during fermentation, and since the yeast generate heat it requires some sort of cooling process. Better to ferment at a slightly higher but consistent temp than starting low and swinging 6-8 degrees during fermentation.