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2.5 gallons should ferment without problems in a 5 gallon bucket for primary fermentation. Some people prefer it for beers with volatile fermentations like hefes because it leaves enough headspace for the krausen to rise without requiring a blowoff tube. It's important to note that 5 gallons...

+1! I was typing my response when this was posted but organization and good prep make brew day go so much more smoothly!

I think everyone has a few (or many) "f*** this I'm done" moments in this hobby. "Relax don't worry have home brew" are words to live by. I've done just about every stupid, messy, or frustrating thing possible. 3 weeks ago I went to bottle a mead that i'd been conditioning for 7 months. An...

^this. I've had 3 or 4 smack packs never inflate but become active within hours of pitching into a starter

If you're in Chicago I know Two Brother's brewery did a black IPA, call "Hop Juice Black." I haven't seen it commercially in awhile (check the website, said it was a 2009 only release), but perhaps check out the brewery. It's in the west suburbs-ish. About an hour by train, less than an hour or...

I'm in North Carolina right now drinking the American Black Ale from Duck Rabbit (never seen it outside of this state, but then again, I don't live in the south). Excellent if you can find it.

Does the brand name Milwaukee's Best count as misleading? Doesn't say anything about the character of the beer, but it certainly makes a strong argument about it's quality.

Lagering actually contributes quite a bit to big malty beers, but not in the sense that adding ingredients 'contributes.' At its core, lagering is cold conditioning. Storing the beer at cold temperatures for a prolonged period of time helps create the clean profiles we associate with the style...

What's your anticipated OG? Are planning on using a single pack of dry or liquid yeast? If you're under 1.085 you could probably get away with a single pack of rehydrated dry yeast for a 2 gal batch. If you're using liquid yeast I would recommend doing a small starter. I do mostly 2.5 gallon...

I don't have it in front of me, but in Papazian's the homebrewer's companion he cites soft water as essential to properly executing a Pilsner. Can't comment from experience, however.

After spending some time in the Czech Republic I feel that pilsners are perhaps the most underrated style of beer in America. If you can ever find Kozel, Bernard (i've seen the celebration lager in eastern Kansas), Svijany (by far my favorite, but I've never seen it in the states. the 11, 12 and...

Welcome back to town! I just moved to connecticut today and I already miss it. Rochester is an EXTREMELY homebrew friendly town. I'll take you questions by number: 1.) if I had seen this yesterday I'd have had an extra fermentor and some extra hosing and bungs (innuendo absolutely intended)...

Great idea on trying a bunch of small batches. I would not recommend carbonating in a growler. While I've not experienced it myself, my understanding is that growlers are not meant to withstand the same amounts of pressure as 12 and 16oz bottles, thus making them far more susceptible to...

Awesome, thanks! My LBHS carries FermaidK and DAP, so I should be able to pick some up this Friday. Is that too late have an effect? Also, would it be worth it to pitch more yeast with the nutrients?

Hi All, I've been brewing beer for awhile and last weekend I decided to try brewing my first mead. Fermentation took off like crazy, but this morning I woke up to a truly putrid rotten egg smell coming out of the carboy. I thought it might be "rhino farts" like one expects from some lager...

I guess because the layer of trub was the hue and consistency of hop material I assumed that it wasn't the yeast. But I don't have reason to believe that the yeast aren't part of that mass. I hadn't thought of it that way! I guess I'm just used to seeing clear, differentiated layers. Thanks!

I used 1.75 ounces of hops for a miniature batch in a small carboy, so I think the amount of gunk is exaggerated by the small carboy. I was going for the mega-hoppy flavor of the pilsners I tried when I was in Prague. I wasn't expecting THAT much gunk but it makes sense. I guess I'm just...

I put about 1.5 gallons of pilsner in a 3 gallon carboy 2 weeks ago. I kept it at 46˚ for the first phase of fermentation, and I'm in the middle of the second day of d-rest at 66˚. The fermentation is still going nuts (trub and hop particles flying all over, healthy and rising...