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Let me explain. My wife and I have two kids. Things are great and the kids are starting to play together, giving us a little bit of a break. I brew only about once a month or two, depending on how much we got going on. I'd like to brew more often. I have a small time set up and just started...

I bought a mid sized, homemade (converted) kegerator off craigslist for pretty cheap. It gets really cold, but the thermostat doesn't seem to be working and it runs almost constantly from what I can tell. I threw a thermometer in there, and it says it's 25 degrees. Will that affect how my beer...

I brewed a batch last weekend, my take on Arrogant Bastard. I do a no chill method and the hops used were magnum (bittering), chinook and a home grown mixture (long story) of what is supposed to be chinook/ cascade. I almost always use the no chill method and have yet to have an issue. I used a...

I recently fermented my first batch of cider. I used ale yeast and had the OG of 1.060 come down to 1.002 in a few weeks time. I tried to rack to secondary, but my mini siphon was being difficult and i couldn't rack, so I left it in primary and will try again next week. I tasted it and it was...

I have 4.5 gallons of Porter. I want to move 1 gallon to a secondary to add bourbon and oak. Because I can. And I like to experiment. I checked what should have been the FG and it was a mere 1.020 (the OG was 1.066). Not what I was expecting, this should be done by now. It tasted great, but I...

I'm making a 1 gallon batch of cider using trader joes apple juice. Just wanted to do a small batch to test things out and I have plenty of 05 slurry on hand. How much slurry should I use? I use slurry all the time for beer - would I use the same ratio as always (check OG and use a calculator)...

I do BIAB and my gravities are always a bit low. Did a DIPA tonight that came in at 1.071 instead of 1.077. Not a big deal, but I still feel like I'm wasting and doing something wrong. Currently, I remove the bag, hold it above the kettle for a bit, then move it to a bucket. Then pour a half...

I'm trying to nail down a hoppy red recipe - something different and impactful for my father-in-law who is retiring soon. It's going to be malty and loaded with chinook and centennial (ok, so maybe that hop combo is more for me :)). Anyway, I'm pretty well set on the recipe, except for the...

I'm doing a honey wheat soon, 4.5 gallons with an estimated OG of 1.054. I tried using yeast calculators online, but am confused when it comes to slurry. If I calculated right, it looks like I need about 8 ounces of slurry. I'm not sure about the density of the slurry and it's a few months...

Or in the garage... My family and I are in the (very) early stages of looking for a bigger house, something in the 4 bedroom range. And with that, I want my own brew space. I currently brew with a friend, at his house. We currently do 5 gallon, BIAB batches, so I'd likely continue to do BIAB...

I brewed two IPA recipes yesterday and for the first time since I started brewing about a year ago, it wasn't very fun. My brew partner and I got off to a slow start, then had some disagreements, then the small batch IPA gave us nothing but problems. (On the bright side, the Ballantine IIPA...

I know it's hard to tell from the pic, because it's in a 1 gallon jug. I pitched a Wyeast smack pack into a 1 liter starter. I was expecting more, but maybe there's a lot there and it just doesn't look like it because of the large jug? I plan to do another step because it's for a 1.073 IPA...

I drank the last beer from my first batch today - it was a robust porter, brewed about a year ago. It lost some carbonation, which I guess was expected, and I think I tasted oxidation for the first time (it wasn't too strong, but it was there). But, what I didn't expect is that it tasted...

So I think I'm finally going to buy an iPad or android or something. But honestly, a lot of my reasoning for the purchase is so I can buy and use BeerSmith or another software program. I don't have a good laptop or desktop so I won't be getting the full version of anything. I do have an iPhone...

So, I'm looking to make a Ballantine IPA, with the recipe based on articles I've read about its resurgence. The problem is, it looks like I need to dry hop it, as well as age it with oak. So should I dry hop, then bulk age with oak? Or would that cause my dry hopping flavor to dissipate before I...

I made a 5 gallon wheat beer a few weeks back, with an OG of 1.050. In an effort to not under pitch, which I have a habit of doing, I used 2 packs of US-05. The FG was 1.013, which I feel is great. (And it tastes great so far- I added raspberries to secondary). But I was left with only just over...

I've heard of friends sending beer cross country to one another and I have a buddy that just moved to New York. This seems like a great opportunity to sample some east coast stuff. Does anybody have any tips on how to do this? I.E., what to send the beer in to protect it, how much it generally...

Sadly, my SWMBO won't allow me to brew in the house due to the odor of the mash. She doesn't like it (crazy, right?) So I always have to brew at my buddies house instead. However, I'd be able to brew more often at my own house if it were possible ( I have 2 kids and a full time job, so it isn't...

Does this look like a good grain crush? All we have right now is a coffee grinder and we plan on buying in bulk. If it matters, we do BIAB. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew