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Did a Northern Brewer Bavarian Hefeweizen today, this is only my 2nd batch overall. A few general questions: My original specific gravity is 1.054, which is slightly higher than expected (1.040-1.045). What are some possible causes for my specific gravity to be slightly elevated? Are...

Do you shake before or after pitching yeast?

Making a Northern Brewer Hefeweizen. Their directions say to aerate the wort while the directions from my LHBS make no mention of aerating the wort. What the deal? Thanx!

I see on Northern Brewer's website the option to upgrade from dry to liquid yeast. Are there certain styles that benefit from doing this or is this simply a matter of preference? Same question about cooper's carbonation drops vs priming sugar. My first batch I used the priming sugar that...

Used a Northern Brewer brown ale kit. I did use priming sugar, maybe it wasn't mixed evenly. What is a gusher infection? Can you explain this: "Or the whole batch could have been overcarbed, but because the rest spent minimal time in the fridge, they did by have a chance to absorb all the...

I did (1) week in primary then moved into secondary for (2) more weeks. This is my first batch and I now know that it wasn't necessary to move my Brown Ale into secondary. Anyway, after those three weeks I bottled and let it sit for 3 weeks. All I know is that these last two beers had been in...

Beer has been in bottle for (4) weeks. I put six in fridge 4-5 days ago and have been drinking them without a problem. Today when I opened them up the last two in the fridge they are seriously overcarbonated. One of them is just pouring out foam non-stop in the sink. The thing is, I have...

What do you use to clean a carboy? Is the oxyclean that I use to remove labels ok?

I have read on this forum that people chill their beer for up to a week before drinking? What is the rational behind this?

Today marks 3 weeks of my first brew (Northern Brewer Brown Ale) in the bottle. I just threw some in the fridge for chilling, but my question is this: Is there a point when the rest of them should go in the fridge? My thought is to let at least half of them continue to condition for a few...

So can the peel/coriander go into primary or should they be strained out?

Going to brew a Northern Brewer Bavarian Hefe this weekend. I am thinking about adding orange and coriander seed. So, a few questions: 1. When does the orange (rind only?) go in? (I know not to put the white pith in). I read somewhere about putting it in the the last 10 min of boil. Can...

Awesome and glad to know to this. So my next question is this, is the fact that I racked from bucket to carboy after 7 days bad? What does racking from one container to another do to the fermentation process?

Thanx for all the input. My reading was obviously off because I had already primed. So it is ok to ferment in a plastic bucket for weeks on end? Shouldn't be worried about oxygen seeping in?

Tasted a bottle and it was pretty sweet, but I assume that is from priming sugar, right?

Yeah there was plenty of airlock activity for 24-48 hours, yeast was pitched. Do I have to use blow off tube with carboy instead of airlock?

Brewed my first batch (Brown Ale) and think I may have made at least one dumb mistake. But first, a few things I need clarified. My friend, who has been brewing for several years and now does all-grain, said that you shouldn't leave it in a plastic bucket for too long because it is...

There is about 1 inch of headspace. I compared it to some beer I have and it is a little bit less than commercial beer headspace. Underfilled = Flat beer Overfilled = Beer bomb Is this correct?

Just bottled my first batch yesterday, crossing my fingers it turns out ok. I used a wand and it was all very easy. I filled the bottles ALL the way to the top, to the point where it would almost spill out if I wasn't careful. This is how it's done right? What happens when you underfill vs...

First brew ever, Nut Brown Ale. Was in primary fermentation in plastic bucket for 1 week followed by 3 weeks in 5 g glass carboy. Last week it tasted fine and it still smells fine today, but I am noticing small dot like things floating on top, and the amount of them has been increasing with...