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If you do, keep it someplace safe so if the bottles actually are infected, and start exploding, nobody gets hurt. You're probably going to be forced to dump this beer anyway. I don't see any reason not to try pasteurizing a sample of it and see what happens. What's the worst that could...

never tried it but I hear it doesn't flocculate. But that's not the real reason I wouldn't recommend it. Biggest worry I'd have is, does bread yeast attenuate more or less than what you used? I don't know. If it does, you will have no way of knowing how much usable sugar is in your wort. The...

You lucky! A friend of my dad's brought a bottle of something home from a party and wanted to get into it that night. But, alas! he didn't have a corkscrew. So he figured he'd slowly heat the bottle up in a pan full of water and the pressure would expel the cork. He tested the theory with an old...

you might have to switch the posts though. On mine, the gas locks onto the "out" post but the tap won't lock onto the "in" post. Or are the posts right, just on the wrong sides of the keg? If that's it, you're golden. Actually I heard of someone doing this on purpose to force more contact...

Good point about losing the alcohol if you boil it. So, don't do that. However, I still think pasteurizing is worth a try. Mainly because you can do it with just a quart of the stuff, so worst-case scenario is you lose a couple pints! If you skim the mildew (fuzzy, right? Not kraeusen?) and...

Hmmm. Try drawing off a quart, boil it and see what it tastes like. Or, better yet, pasteurize it -- take it up to 160 degrees, hold it there for 10 minutes and cool. It may change the flavor, but it might be OK. If it sucks, you've lost two pints rather than the whole batch. If it works, you'll...

Hey, wait a minute. Is this the Belgian that you're asking about?

Yeah, I have to say, boiling finished beer is probably not going to help you out. I'd get the mold off and taste the beer. If it tastes like crap now, there's no point in wasting any more time on it. Use it for tomato fertilizer. But if it tastes like it might be OK, you could do like Big Kahuna...

OK, so you've tried pretty decent examples of Belgian tripple (ew), strong Scotch ale (not for everyone; kind of tastes like carmelized shaggy dog at first), Bavarian bock and something called "#9" in which, it's a fair bet, the "9" refers to alcohol content. Plus, you got them at a renaissance...

That will have the opposite effect -- shorter beer lines mean more foam, not less. My thought is, this is a domestic light beer he's pouring -- it's probably already got two and a half volumes of CO2 in it. The last thing he needs to do, IMHO, is force more gas into that stuff. I would suggest...

sure! The keg is like a giant bottle. As long as there's about 25 psi in it before you leave, you'll be fine. Try to keep it from getting too warm as this will cause the pressure in the headspace to go through the roof, although these kegs will take something like 125 psi without a problem. And...

Ja, I just dealt with this. Forgot to replace the little O rings on the dip tubes. I think that's where my CO2 was going! Should be easy enough to take the gas off and release the pressure with either the gas-in poppet or the relief valve if you got one.

Nah, you can get into kegging for under $250. Regulator, $75; tubing, ball-lock gas supplies and two picnic taps, about $30; crappy used fridge off Craigslist, $50; two Cornies, $50. There's the CO2 bottle, of course, but you get that back later when you "trade it in" for the last time. OK...

Yes! Those single-handle jobs are Spartans. The handles attach with a big phillips screw on each end. So, if you have to, you could take the handles off *without* a Sawzall!

Yes! Those single-handle jobs are Spartans. The handles attach with a big phillips screw on each end. So, if you have to, you could take the handles off *without* a Sawzall!

I've had this happen too, with a couple batches. I don't have much for temp control in the spring and sometimes the fermentation gets hung, and when I was first starting out I was a little too eager ... lost a few bottles when the mercury hit 100 degrees this summer. What I ended up doing was...

Is this a Spartan keg, or one of those high-rubber-collar type jobs? The Spartan has just a single black plastic handle on one side and the other side is bare metal. I have both types and found that if the Spartans went to the back of the frig, they tucked under a ledge and let me get more kegs...

I try to keep three "standards" on tap in the Kegerator at all times: IPA, stout and ordinary bitter. But in the winter I brew lagers and dopplebocks with which to toast the spring equinox, in the spring I like to do the occasional nut-brown, etc. So I end up doing about half and half of both...

PVC is just fine for water. CPVC is for hot water. PVC is very seldom used for DWV (drain/waste/vent) except in exposed locations where appearance is important (under-sink P traps, etc.) because it's expensive -- or, at any rate, more expensive than black ABS plastic. So the idea should work...

I tried that for a while and have finally ended up using a Sharpie marker to make various symbols on the caps. Usually a I, II, X or P (pilsner). It's worth a go if you can't find a source for distinctive colored caps. But if you DO find a source, let us know, eh? I'd like to find some new...