Search results

Oh, I know. I still recall my first brew, may years ago. I had no real idea of what I was doing, but I rolled the dice and unveiled my first batch at our Super Bowl party without ever even having tasted it. It was better than any beer I had had before then. That's when I first got hooked.

I've been away from brewing for, I don't know, five, six, eight years? I stopped because at the time there were so many great beers around that I felt like I didn't need to brew my own any more. I mainly but not exclusively made what would now be called session IPAs - around 5-6% alcohol. I won...

Nothing eats mine and we have every suburban animal there is. Raccoons, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and more. One thing, though - I have pretty ideal conditions but still lost two of the four rhizomes I planted, so you could lose one or two just because. Good news is, I still get more than...

I have not been successful at freezing fresh hops. They will probably have a very funky aroma when you open them. Good luck! And if you have a source for fresh hops, they are probably just about ready to harvest, depending on where you are. I would say go get new ones. No more than one...

I've used ginger, cinnamon, coriander and a few others. My usual rule is that you add them at flame out. The water will still be plenty hot to kill off any contaminants. Extended boils can eliminate the aroma and flavors. Others may do differently but this works for me.

Unless you are striving for some level of recipe purity for it's own sake or for a competition, you'll be fine. Your beer should be delicious, though it might be a bit off from "standard" flavor profiles.

99.99% sure he was just having a little joke. Many or most experienced brewers have their own processes and will free-lance recipes, even when using a kit. I'm sure your beer will be fine.

As for the wand, take it apart (they can be pulled apart). It will have sludge trapped it. Clean it out, reassemble and sanitize it.

Wow, this is like an old friend that you haven't seen in a few years dropping in. : )

From five years ago? My guess is that it's forgotten.

On the other hand, you could just let it sit for about three months. I forgot the priming sugar once, and that's what I did. It came out fine but it's not fast.

Never mind. I did a bunch of reading all over the 'net and I've decided that I'll stick with brewer's yeast. I would be curious to try some beer made with bread yeast but it can be someone else's experiment.

I don't know either but after a decade and a half of brewing, I've decided I'm going to do a batch with bread yeast of some kind. I'll post outcomes.

I use it sometimes, and I just sprinkle it on top of the wort after it's cooled to under about 78F. Never had a problem with the fermenting getting up and running.

Three weeks is about as short a time in a fermenter as I would ever go, and only if I was in a big hurry. Let it go another week or two and don't worry about it.

I'm with those who simply dump it all in. Leave it in the fermenter for three or four weeks and it will all settle down and compact itself at the bottom; carefully siphon it out and all is well.

And last thing, don't feel compelled to open it and check on it. There is little good that can come of that habit and lots that's not so good. Your job as a brewer is to set conditions that will allow the yeast to do its thing. Taking the top off the fermenter can interfere with that process.

Finally, don't imagine for a moment that you can't make a very competitive beer using extracts. I'm an extract brewer; my sole competition entry was for a Philly Beer Week home brew IPA contest a few years ago; third place out of about 20 entries.

One time, I sanitized bottles a few days before. That batch picked up a (mild) infection. I don't think the bottles were the problem, but I've never done it since. I always sanitize on bottling day and leave it at that. Learning, then locking in your basic processes is one of the most...

Just remember, the best beer in any batch is almost always the last one.* While I like to leave my pale ales (which is about all I brew these days, though with lots of variants) in the bottle for a month, I'll start sneaking them earlier. A test bottle a week after bottling (or less), then...