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Before I got rid of my kegerator, I used to fill a keg with 180⁰+ water and drop in a nylon hop bag tied to a string. By closing the keg immediately, the water stayed hot long enough for isomerization, but the evaporated oils couldn't escape. I would also add a little low carb monkfruit...

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Every time I crack one open, I am amazed that a beer created 42 years ago still remains relevant. I kind of like to think of it as the Bohemian Rhapsody of beer.

I live in Florida, and since my chest freezer died, I only brew saisons and styles that work with a kviek. Frankly, not a biggie for me since even with the freezer, my lagers and kolsches were never as good as even inexpensive commercial versions. Only thing I enjoy drinking that I can't brew...

I sold my kegerator because I had trouble consistently getting the proper carbonation level. With bottle conditioning, I can easily dial that in. I brew 5 gallon batches, and can easily finish bottling on brew day during the boil. This also saves me on Star San since I can clean and sanitize my...

I have a Grainfather, so vorlaufing just kind of happens.

I recently finished brewing a low gravity Wit with the Javaro Lithuanian farmhouse yeast. It reached terminal gravity after 6 days at 80 degrees.I am now keg conditioning that beer. Since most recipes call for 2 weeks of fermentation with two weeks of conditioning, do you think I could start...

There's an old joke where someone is on an unfamiliar bus and asks a fellow passenger if he knows where he needs to get off. The other passenger says, "Easy. Just watch where I get off. Your stop is two stops before that." Whether it be dry hopping, adjunct additions, or whatever, we are...

I'm brewing only my second lager in a couple of days, and my first was a disaster. (I boiled with the lid on and had so much DMS, it tasted like a bowl of corn flakes.) So, since I ruined it even before it went into the fermenter, I have no idea if I fermented appropriately. I have a...

I generally get more satisfaction from brewing my own recipes, but will purchase kits on occasion when the price is right. The only kit I have purchased more than once, is the Don't Be Mean to People Saison from Northern Brewer. (And, by more than once I mean 4 times.) Sort of a milder version...

I guess it's time for track one of the HBT broken record. Fermentation temperature control... Fermentation temperature control... Fermentation temperature control... A used chest freezer and $40 temperature controller will be the best brewing money you've ever spent. The transformation in...

I also thought that holding off on adding the bulk of the extract to the end, would improve hop utilization.

Sabotage Saison from Midwest Supplies.I bought this kit to pad my order for a free Big Mouth Bubbler. Tasty.

100% what he said. (Except, I like clear beer when appropriate for the style. I would go with a freezer rather than fridge so you can cold crash.) Before I was able to control temps, my wife saw this as a silly hobby. She was nice about it, bud didn't get it. After she tried the beers that...

A friend recounted a story about his cousin who worked on a Ford assembly line. When asked what he did. He said he screwed these little white things into the engine, but didn't know what they were. Turns out they were spark plugs. I'm sure there are more than a few people who work in...

That myth comes from the fact that you wouldn't want to use your jack-o-lantern to make a pie. That is bred for looks and not flavor. The pumpkins used for canned pumpkin are truly pumpkin, they are just ugly as hell. They are merely a different variety.

Sam Callagione says that the craft beer industry is "98% A-hole free." Whoever wrote this article is in the 2%. Or maybe I'm just mad that I TOTALLY FELL FOR THIS. Good one. (Grrrrrrr)

Obviously, the reason gravity drops after fermentation is that ETOH has a lower gravity than sugars. So, all other things being equal, an 8% beer at 1.016 should have less sugar than a 4% beer at the same FG. Has anyone ever seen a calculator that will let me determine residual sugar based on...

The mind is a powerful thing. I remember a study where people were asked to identify which of two samples had a stronger strawberry flavor. Some said "A". Some said "B". Nobody noticed they were tasting identical cups of chocolate milk. Is the off flavor "corny"? Maybe it is, or maybe my...

Sometimes the best lessons can come from messing up a batch. I did a brown ale that's just not that tasty. Can't, however, put my finger on exactly what the off flavor is. However, I vaguely remember reading about a chemical that is produced when the wort reaches a certain temperature and...

We're from Naples, FL. We're in Grand Rapids today, 3-2-2017 and tomorrow. We brought a bomber of Cigar City Hunahpu 2014, one of Funky Buddha Last Buffalo in the Park, and one of Funky Buddha I'm So Excited I'm So Scared. We're entertaining trade offers for these. We get distribution in...