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I'd like to make a banana beer that's somewhat like a sweet brown ale. I have a local brewpub by me that makes a dynamite apple beer where they use apple in the mash and boil. I don't see why I can't do the same for banana (put the bananas in a muslin bag for the boil). Boiling is how you're...

I want to brew one for Christmas, but I'm worried the Vintner's Harvest purée will dry out the beer. The added Gravity looks unpredictable, too. What is your experience with using these purées?

I brewed a mild with 8oz. cocoa powder and only got 60% efficiency compared to my usual 76%. This may also be due to the homebrew shop crushing my grains when I specifically asked them not to, but my pre-boil was 1.025, and the OG was 1.032. A seven point increase doesn't seem feasible, as I've...

Brewed my first barleywine but ended up with an extra half-gallon (a little less than 4gal total). I'm torn between racking to a 3gal carboy for secondary and losing the extra beer, or just bottling once fermentation is done. What do you guys recommend?

I have some kind of cherry tree and it's blooming with fruit right now. But I'm not sure what kind it is. It produces tiny, sourish fruit that's mostly pit. I'm wondering if these are edible and would need to be pitted for fermentation. Thanks!

I'll be making a small starter and adding local raw honey. If the yeast and microbes turn out palatable, I'll use it. But should I step up the starter a few times, or just pitch the original amount? Because I read some people will pitch just bottles dregs of wild beer into primary without making...

It's time to make another 3gal batch (the largest batches I can do — have to balance brewing and cider, among other things) and I just don't know what kind of mead to make. I'm using local (unspecified) honey. I already made cyser, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry, blueberry and dandelion, and...

I brewed one last month and tried a bottle at 10 days in the bottle (early, I know.) But it has an unpleasant Hefeweizen character and isn't clear despite using whirlfloc. The gravity also dropped to 1.006 — way too low for what WLP002 advertised. It looked good and smells good when I opened the...

There's an ancient Sumerian beer recipe in one of Papazian's books, yet I can't find ANYONE who has brewed it. It's made from pale malt, bappir (twice-baked malt bread), honey and dates. It's super cheap to make, but I'd like to hear if anyone on here has tried this before brewing.

I've made 8 batches of mead, and I've waited at least two months after racking to bottle (I'll re-rack after 60 days and then wait more if it's not clear yet). However, this last batch, a banana melomel, cleared completely in three weeks. I was wondering if I can just bottle it now instead of...

I washed yeast for the first time over a week ago and ended up with about 120ml of thick, compact slurry that's I've kept refrigerated. I've read probably every thread on the subject as to how many cells there are to this slurry, and the info is still sketchy at best -- ("The slurry can have 1...

I washed yeast for the first time, but I don't have three layers. I'm wondering if what I have is all yeast. I used US-05 and strained all pellet hops with a mesh strainer on brew day.

I like the idea of it, but I'm just wondering how to utilize it. Would it be possible to put it in the mash? Carrot juice in the kettle? I imagine it'd be similar to making a yucca brew by just mashing it with the grain.

I've come across multiple threads where they say to refrigerate carbed bottles for a few days before serving. Is this a "rule"? Why would this be?

I brewed a monster 11% IPA (small batch) and I bottled two days ago. I'm definitely letting it sit for a full month, but was wondering how long I really should let this condition for. Any advice is appreciated.

I cracked open my sixth batch at two weeks in the bottle and still my beers, save for one, are just not good. This most recent one was an American Red Ale that I made up and I was wondering if the recipe had anything to do with it. My beers usually have this strange off-flavor that doesn't fit...

I have a 3gal. batch of cyser in secondary that is approaching the two-month mark. It's been clear enough to read through since the first month, so I'd like to bottle ASAP ("re-rack" date). It has the usual lees, but I've bottled after two months for two other (1gal.) batches and I have no...

Early spring I plan to make a batch of acerglyn with birch tea made from sap in place of water. Has anyone on here done something similar before, and what honey would you guys recommend? I also might experiment with a spruce mead.

Hello, gang. I made a cyser last week with an OG of 1.092, and today it's fallen to 1.013. I used D-47 yeast. Could I transfer to carboy, or too soon? Thanks!

I'm planning a 3gal. batch of spiced baked apple mead for my new carboy, but I have no experience in using spices. I think I'll just use cinnamon sticks, and maybe nutmeg. But how many sticks and for how long in secondary? Thank you.