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Walker, you're playing semantic games, and I don't think you really know what you're talking about. I know a lot of experienced brewers and no one would agree with your grey area argument... No, it's a mash...a half-assed mash. You are trying to generate sugars by mashing. It's a mash. We're...

OK, well, there's a LOT more difference between a steep and a mash than what you state, Walker. A LOT. A mash is a complex chemical reaction where various starches convert to various sugars depending on temperatures, pH and other factors. A sparge is a lot more than just rinsing off a bag of...

If the kegs look reasonable (and I bet they're fine if he was using them), I'd grab em. You can get reconditioning kits with all o-rings very cheap. Other than bad dents in the lid, there aren't too many problems with kegs. You can rebuild everything that wears out very cheaply. CO2 tank I...

To any newbies reading the above, Walker is kidding... ...I hope. ;)

You should really do a search. This has been discussed many times this month alone. Corn sugar does not give a sweeter taste. The sugars ferment...that's the point of putting them in there. In general, your priming sugar doesn't contribute much flavor at all because there is so little of it. I...

My process is just like yours. Boil exactly "some" water. Add enough extract to make it "kinda amber". I usually make a little over half a gallon. Cheers :D

Nah, no need to shoot. I was unclear on whether he was trying to mash or not. For some reason it read to me like he was trying a partial mash. Probably because of the forum. Maybe I need to be shot ;) Cheers :D

You'll be fine. Ideally you rack it after about a week, but in reality, it's not going to cause much problem. I have left mine in the primary for weeks before out of laziness or business or whatever. The beer may not be as clear or as clean tasting, but it's really no big deal. Minor difference...

Hey Kevin! We do seem to be largely male around here, but the occasional female does wander through. Glad you found us! There's a lot of good info here. Search through the old threads and you'll find a lot of good beginner stuff all the way through to more complex brewing. Have fun! :D

If you are directly applying heat, you really don't want the grain on the bottom. I never apply heat to my mash tun. You should be able to achieve the desired temperatures using infusions. Really, though, what you're doing is steeping. Don't count on getting much in the way of yield if you're...

Better method is to attach gas to the keg at ~12PSI and leave it in the fridge under that pressure for a week or so. The shaking under 30 lbs is good if you are in a big hurry. But you can easily overcarbonate. You can have better luck if you shake it under 12 PSI because it won't overcarbonate...

This is not true. Brett yeast can ferment a wide variety of sugars not fermentable by Sacc yeasts. It is definitely not "germs" that make a characteristic lambic flavor. It's a very complex blend of yeast and bacteria, many of which operate only at certain pH and take a VERY long time. There...

It's Pediococcus, not Lactobacillus in lambics. So, you probably needed some more cultures to approximate the real flavor. But your BIG problem is that you didn't allow NEARLY enough time. Brett yeast strains take a loooooong time. They'll keep fermenting in the bottle for a long time to come...

I use beer gas for my nitrogen tap. It produces a much creamier head than with CO2. You could use it for pushing through normal taps, but it's handy to have straight CO2 for conditioning. The nice thing with beer gas is that the beer doesn't continue to absorb a lot of gas and get...

It'll take a long time and it won't contribute much if any noticeable character IMO. I'd go with corn sugar. Get the spiced flavor from the spices you add. Personally, I'd leave honey out of a Wit altogether. Is this a grain or extract brew?

You rebottled them??? Like they were in sealed bottles, but you opened and rebottled them??? That aside...Samichlaus ( I assume that's the beer you mean), is definitely a great one. I just hope I misunderstood you about the "rebottling" ;)

New brewers may WANT to brew something like Hoegaarden, but they really never do. Brewing an authentic Wit is one of the more difficult brewing challenges. New brewers also like to put fruit, chilli peppers, coffee, chocolate and everything else in their beer because the styles they come up...

I have a grain gobbler from morebeer.com. It's pretty good. I have minor gripes. It does malted grain great, but has trouble with unmalted...but then, most mills do. The rollers and mechanics of it are nicely put together, but I really want to build a more suitable framework for it...nice wood...

You're fine with the airlock out. People tend to forget that you aren't ever fermenting in lab conditions. You're never sterile. You're just trying to outcompete other organisms with desirable ones. You're doing that very successfully ;) Just replace it when the ferment dies down...shouldn't...

You can only force carbonate beer if it is cold. The solubility of CO2 increases as you chill the beer. So, it will only work in the fridge and not (very well) at room temperature.