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Couple of changes that I made, started using a swamp cooler, used a recipe from LHBS, and about a week longer in bottles (4) than my previous beers.

My first test IPA, first beer I've made that is good enough to let other people taste.

The recipe is supposed to be a Stone IPA clone, I did end up dry hopping it, and after opening the first bottle tonight I can say it failed as a Stone IPA clone but did not fail as an IPA. It was my first batch that at least hit the category of what I was going for. Definitely my best batch to...

So after 3 less than good batches, I opened my first bottle from my 4th batch tonight. While it's not the greatest IPA in the world it's the best beer I've made to date and the first one I would say is presentable.

So I can safely say a full vanilla bean may have been too much for a 5 gallon specialty grain extract batch.

Sam Adams just start making one year round. Had one a few weeks ago. http://www.samueladams.com/enjoy-our-beer/beer-detail.aspx?id=378fafc0-7598-49bc-8fc3-415d09a9a109

Contact your representative. http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/excise-taxes/talking-points-resources

In the next week or two I'll be starting my 4th batch. It's going to be an IPA specialty grain/extract batch. The recipe doesn't call for dry hopping in secondary. I do like hoppy beers. Should I dry hop this? Grain: 3/4lbs American 2 Row 3/4lbs US Pale Malt 1/4lbs Crystal 10L 1/4lbs...

The flavor of hops can lessen over time, so if your IPA is now lacking due to less of a hoppy flavor, the issue could be time has lessened the impact of the hops. I would imagine since that one of the key points of IPA's are the hops, the hop flavor fading could be why it doesn't taste as good

Is the difference in the process from bottling to kegging that much harder? I've been putting of kegging til I can make a decent beer to bring out in public to a mass of people instead of those I know who like craft beer.

I didn't stop to take a look at it but from the website they have a couple of different models, some have a temp range from 54 to 64, others have a minimum temp of 68. The one at the store looked like it could fit my 6 gallon (guesstimating) bucket, but I'm not sure what dimensions I would need...

Was wandering around Home Depot today and saw a wine chiller cabinet for like $199 Would something like this work to put a fermenting bucket in if one was to pull out all the shelves?

yeah you could pretty much use any recipe you want. I've heard of people being more successful using a clone of Left Handed Brewery's Milk Stout than Guinness clones.

Thanks for the feedback. The instructions I had only called for two weeks. Should I move the beer I already have in the fridge back to the closet?

So I opened the first bottle (and second and third) and after two weeks it is still flat. From tasting the beer it does have off flavors, but I want to correct the carbonation issue now. The only thing I can think of is that when I bottled I dissolved the sugar in two cups of water instead of...

While I am not an expert home brewer, from my understanding the sediment at the bottom of the bottle is normal. I don't know if it is fact sugar residue from the bottling process or yeast that is still there from primary but I've been told it's to be expected

Water bath, followed by ice bath, followed by brittaed tap water

After tasting my 3rd batch and knowing that the room temperature was about four degrees higher than what the temp called for, fermenting at too high of a temp seems like a reasonable explanation for the sour taste it had (as well as my first batch) If that is the issue is there anything I can do...

Most of the AZ beers I drink tend come in cans, but I'm willing to bet I have a fair amount of CA, CO, and OR caps somewhere in my appartment.

I cut up the beans and am soaking them in Jameson. I will be adding it to the secondary later today.