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I put starter wort on the dregs of a bottle of Barbe Black a couple of weeks ago, and the gravity hasn't dropped a bit. Should I assume that the beer is pasteurized?

I love Bramling Cross in an old ale.

I've gotten several 1 gallon jugs to split wort and try multiple yeast varieties without having to brew a huge amount of beer. If I use a full pack of yeast I know I'm ridiculously overpitching, but will that seriously affect my results? Is there any particular effect of overpitching that I...

I also purchased the ITC-2000 not knowing that it only heats. What I am wondering is, why does the display on the front still say Cool as well as Heat? Can the unit be set to do either, but only one at a time?

I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout with it, and it was kind of scary. (Sorry, long reply) The Mr Malty yeast calculator said I needed 7 Liters of starter on a stir plate from 2 vials of yeast. (11 gallon batch, gravity of 1.090) I have a 2 Liter Erlenmeyer, so I did 2 Liters with one vial...

I have also just recently started using gelatin finings. Since I brew 11 gallon batches (10 into the kegs) I find it convenient to use half a packet of Knox in each 5 gallon Corny. I have gotten brilliantly clear Special Bitter and Kölsch. One thing I noticed with the Kölsch but not with the...

I currently have an imperial stout fermenting on 007. Used a stir plate starter, and fermentation practically exploded. Krausen filled the headspace of my fermenter, which almost never happens. Unfortunately, I've got solventy flavor issues. It was really bad a week ago, and I'm hoping it will...

Looks like Hafnia protea. Drops with flocculating yeast, grows during lag phase. Common if you save yeast. I found out the hard way. Off flavor like cooked turnips.

I used the o-ring that was on the thesis tube I moved. I guess the next step is to swap posts.

I have been kegging for years, and this one has me stumped. I have 4 kegs on a CO2 manifold, so I know they are all at the same pressure. Three of them are running exactly as expected, nicely carbonated, moderate foam. The 4th keg runs a tiny bit of clear beer (presumably what was in the...

What I was doing is opening the valve close to all the way and running oxygen for 2 minutes. The headspace was filled with oxygen, so there was certainly the capacity to have way too much. The yeast I had a problem with was the WLP001. My plan is to aerate in the kettle after chilling, and only...

I started using a welding oxygen tank with a sintered stone, and have been getting solventy off flavors. I believe I have been adding too much oxygen. I'm going to buy a flow meter, and I'm looking for pointers on how much oxygen should be added in the fermenter- flow rate and time. I can do...

The 0.5 ppm I mentioned was in the unheated water. When the level was so low I figured I'd ask how much was acceptable. I heated a glass of water, let it cool, and tested it again. The level was 0.0 Even if the test strips aren't sensitive enough, I'm assuming that means that I have chlorine...

I read that you can tell if your water has chlorine or chloramine by testing the cold tap water with swimming pool test strips, then boiling and chilling, then testing again. I tested my cold tap water and got almost no ( 0.5 ppm?) Chlorine. Is the pool test strip too insensitive, or do I just...

Palmer has said that copper can catalyze staling reactions post fermentation. That would not add copper to the beer itself. I am planning to switch to a stainless thermowell, so as they say, I guess I'll find out.

I recently made a thermowell from copper tubing. I've used it in about 3 batches, and I've had a problem with a sharp, solvent-like bitterness. I had thought I had an infection problem in some of my kegs. Most recently, an ordinary bitter than was wonderful and nutty out of the fermenter is...

I have a similar problem. An IPA that was splendid was solvent flavored by the time the keg was finished, now an Altbier, same thing. I suspect an infection in the keg, because it didn't taste that way when it was kegged, nor for a couple of weeks after kegging. Does anyone know what organism...

Hafnia protea (or protea hafnia, for some reason I can't keep the names straight) is possible. I've also had beers go bad at the end of fermentation. Parsnip flavor, white scum. The bacteria rides along with saved yeast, but I've isolated a couple of plastic buckets as my culprit.

I had a store-bought immersion chiller, which was inadequate when I went to 11 gallon batches. I got 50' of copper tube and wrapped it around my old 20 qt kettle and made a second chiller. I connected them both to a hose splitter, so the water goes through both coils. If I swirl the wort with...

(Warning, long post) I'm fermenting a Witbier with Whitelabs WLP400. I've used this yeast before multiple times, but I have never seen a fermentation like this one. It's an 11 gallon batch- 10 gallons of post-boil wort, plus a gallon starter. I have it in a 15 gallon plastic drum, 13 inches...