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My gluten-intolerant wife has asked for a ginger cider. I have two wine/champagne dry yeasts on hand: Red Star Premier Cuvee and Lalvin QA23 - should I consider either of those? My go to would be US-05, but I don't have any on hand and I don't want to pay to ship it right now (3+ hours from a...

For the past couple years, I've had a barrel Solera going in a 15 gal rye barrel - more or less a Flanders red type beer. It's always good, but I have more red beer than I like to drink. Time to switch things up. I might want to go to a Saison like recipe for the barrel - I can always seem to...

I've got a 15-gallon Solera barrel going, and I think a chance to brew coming up in the next couple days (gotta take 'em when I can). Normally, I ferment my red in primary with Imperial Gnome (that I have slanted) then rack into the barrel for aging/souring. I do not have my yeast going right...

I'm considering plating a couple of my mixed cultures, partly because I'm bored, partly because I want to see if I can isolate different stuff. I don't have a microscope, nor do I care to purchase one - neither do I like spending that kind of coin on this type of thing nor do I like staring...

Be it Wyeast 3724 or WLP 565 or some other lab's variant of the yeast from the world's best-known Saison producer, home brewers are always warned of a stall at 1.030 or so. I've brewed with 3724 a few times now and have not witnessed it. 9 days ago, I brewed a Saison, used a fresh smack pack for...

I'm fermenting a Kolsch in a keg with Wyeast 2565, which in my experience, refuses to drop out. I'd like to add gelatin along the way, but I seem to be along the oxygen-free route: as I mentioned, I'm fermenting in a keg am considering spunding toward the end of fermentation, and plan to...

I'm brewing my first weissbier this spring. I have a pack of Wyeast 3068 that was produced in February. I've seen some recommend smacking the pack and pitching direct with no mention of cell pitch count. What's the ideal count? I don't want something overly clovey, but neither do I want a banana...

The past couple English style batches I've done, I noticed my attenuation was lower than expected (Imperial Juice and Darkness - both around 65% AA). Im not a numbers guy, but I found it curious, since I'm usually at least in the middle of the upper end of the listed attenuation range for yeast...

I've got a fresh Imperial Darkness yeast cake and a hankerin' for a dry Stout, but no flaked barley (and no easy access to any). But I can get some pearled barley. That'll pretty much be the same, right? Aside from a pre- gelatinization boil or cereal mash?

Can one slant Brett strains and revive them after refrigeration successfully? A couple years ago, I started slanting my yeast inventory - it's proved to be fun, easy, and cost-effective (especially since my nearest HBS is 3 hours away). At the time, I threw some Omega Brett C that I had in a...

It's been a while, but last I remember, Wyeast had "packaged on" dates printed on the label (didn't they?). Now I see "best before dates" on a couple packs that came the other day (and they're dated July and August). Is that new? What's their new "expiration" policy - it used to be 3 months...

I just picked up a 30 L Speidel fermenter (7.9 gal) and think I'm really going to like it for my pale sour solera. I have a 15 gal oak rye barrel that I picked up a couple years ago and have a lot of fun with that, but space is a real issue - another barrel simply isn't going to fit in my...

For the couple years I've been kegging, I've used picnic taps that I keep on the inside of my fridge. That system ain't broke, but I want to fix it (I no longer care if I drill holes in my fridge door). I'm looking at faucets now, and had settled on SS Intertaps since 1. Marshall at Brulosophy...

How does one choose a lager yeast? I like to experiment with different yeast strains, and am really into lagers right now, but the differences in lager yeast seem so subtle from the descriptions, I'm not sure how to choose. I've been brewing with the S. arlingtonesis strain from Bootleg Biology...

Any opinions on Omega's Hefeweizen yeast? Reportedly the same strain as Wyeast 3068, but with more cells (again, reportedly) and actually somehow a little cheaper than Wyeast at Ritebrew. If the reviews are good, I'll try it. If not, I'll pony up the extra buck and get the Wyeast.

Not sure where this belongs, so here goes. A couple weeks ago, I brewed a dopplebock. Half I plan to "eis" (taking advantage of MN winter) and the other half I'd like to add cherries to - inspiration thanks to Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing and The Mad Fermentationist - Mike T. The question...

I'm planning a Munich Dunkel - my first attempt. Pretty straightforward grain bill - mostly Munich with some black malt (I have midnight wheat - no Carafa), but where I get hung up is what else to use to get a richer malt flavor. I see a bunch of recipes with melanoiden or Victory malt, but I...

I'm a fermentation enthusiast, but mostly beer where I can pitch yeast and return to it in a couple weeks: staggered nutrient additions smack of effort. I'm also not much of a mead drinker - pretty low on my list of preferred beverages. However, my long- distance sister loves mead, and I may...

Back in March before everything went sideways, I ordered some rhizomes from AIH. In early May, I emailed and asked about the order - was told then that as long as they were in the ground by the end of the month, they should be ok. I just got an email saying that they're on their way - a little...

I'm hankering for a good Brett Saison - haven't had one around for a while. My only Brett only culture I have on hand is Brett C, and that doesn't sound like what I want - too fruity, and I'd like more hay/earthy funk. I'm a 3- hour drive from the nearest HBS of which I am aware, so I normally...