Search results

I would go ahead and dump the dregs in and not worry about making a starter or sanitizing the neck of the bottle (unless you put you mouth on it!). If you were to sanitize I would use a torch to heat sterilize it. If you have an acetylene torch I'd say sanitize the mouth to be safe.

It just looks like you have yeast to me which isn't a bad thing. No bacterial contamination. Without staining the cells it's difficult to assess the viability (autolysis) of the yeast. You would need to do some sort of metabolic test to discern sacch from brett. The plastic smell most likely...

Carbon is the most important element in brewing. Satisfied?

I think a month is reasonable. I wouldn't go too much longer than that. You can still reuse yeast older than a month but I would advise building another starter to revitalize the yeast before pitching into another brew.

I keep them in the original containers they came in and store them at room temp. The only thing I've noticed is that after a few month the salts will start to clump as they pull moisture out of the air.

At first thought it makes sense but that's not necessarily how artificial selection works. The yeast left in the bottle aren't any more tolerant of alcohol than they were to start with. They were just the last yeast to settle out of suspension. Increasing alcohol tolerance has to occur from...

Will this be your first homebrew? I know it's boring but I say just follow the instructions that come with the kit if it's your first time. If it's something you enjoy you can try something more exciting the next time.

I don't think Lactobacillus will give you much alcohol if any. My advice would be to look into filtering your beer. That way you can brew whatever you want and filtering will remove the yeast.

If you have Vienna I'd say go for it. It will still give you plenty of malt flavor.

I don't know what the hell special pale malt is either :D I would just use something more flavorful than regular 2-row. Maris Otter or Golden Promise would be good. As far as hop additions I would add enough hops at the beginning of the boil to get to your target IBU. Then I'd add 2-4 oz at...

Most of the time I try to prepare ahead of time and brew a specific beer for a competition but there have been times where I've had a beer lying around that turned out great and entered it last minute. There's no wrong way to do it!

Maybe it's the recipe for the regular Southern Tier 2x. Why are you looking up a recipe if you already know the ingredients? Just add yeast.

I would boil the whole volume and split evenly between the 2 gallon carboys. I think the effect on IBUs/flavor/color would be negligible.

The best time is whenever you have a spot ready for them. Most people plant rhizomes in the spring because that's when farmers prune the crown and have rhizomes available to sell. Since you have fully rooted plants (I'm assuming from Great Lakes) you can put them in the ground immediately. You...

Vacuum sealing them and keeping them in the freezer is a great way to store your hops. You will have to dry them first. They will easily keep for a year if they are dried, vacuum sealed and frozen. Also, I think for a first year plant you may only get enough hops for 1-2 batches of beer. You...

Since Australia and NZ are in the southern hemisphere the harvest time is typically end of February into March. 2017 hops have already been harvested but I have no idea when they will be available to us. http://www.nzhops.co.nz/2017-harvest-info

Keep them. Hops grow on the sidearms. They're a lighter color green because it's new growth. If the sidearms start to tangle you may need to trim them but other than that just let them grow. Hopefully you'll see some flowers soon!

Since the kits are left at room temp the hop oils will degrade faster which can contribute to the lack of flavor and aroma. I would suggest buying a couple ounces of fresh hops next time you buy a kit to combat this.

They look great! Do they feel dry and papery? How do they smell? From the pictures they still look pretty green. I would wait until you start to see the hop flowers start to brown on the tips.

Just make a starter with the tube of WLP060. It's already a blend so I don't think you'll notice a difference in taste if you add WLP001. Based on the description of WLP060 it sounds like it already contains WLP001 as well as 2 other strains.