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Is it necessary to boil ginger before using in a brew? I am asking from the standpoint of extracting flavor, not from a sanitation standpoint. If it is not necessary to boil for flavor, what other options are available for sanitation, if I was going to do a no boil brew using ginger? (I've...

I am getting ready to pitch a higher-alcohol yeast to the secondary for my barleywine. Should I use a 6-1/2 gallon carboy for a 5 gallon batch? I know when I used a champagne yeast in the secondary on another batch it foamed up quite a bit and I was concerned with an overflow. I am thinking...

Just wanted to thanks everyone - last night I enjoyed a carbonated hard ginger ale., and it was good!

i like the hanging from a string idea, but I had another question. When using a smaller dial thermometer, you are only reading the temperature of the top of the wort. When doing a full boil 5 gallons and using a wort chiller, I've noticed that the bottom cools much quicker than the top of the...

I am an extract brewer with thoughts of soon going to mini-mash or all grain. I am currently using a small dial thermometer which I am cocerned of losing it in my wort (especially when I am sanitizing during the last 20 of the boil) I am thinking of upgrading but don't want to spend a fortune...

OK so I am thinking of using the DRY english ale yeast after the regular one fizzles out. Should I just plan on adding it when I rack to a secondary? and how should I go about adding- I assume I still want significant quantities (not just a pitchable tube) - should I make a starter or go ahead...

I find the stones break right off... the last one broke off before I even got a chance to use it. One of these times they're going to break off right in my beer.......

After losing another (cheap) air stone to sanitation fluid, I've decided to boil my air stones for sanitation. I am hoping they last longer this way.

For my latest batch I am using this yeast. It seems to be bubbling sporadically... that is it will bubble for extended periods and then just plain stop for extended periods. Is this normal for this yeast? I am used to batches starting out good and then slowing over a period of a week or so. This...

I used 5 oz corn sugar

just an update: after a week upstairs - very slightly carbonated. Took a hydrometer reading pretty darn close to 1.00 so is it just taking it's time or what? decided to leave the bottles in the closet another week see what happens.

I am planning on using a 6.5 gallon bucket with blowoff tube. the recipe I am using is adapted from John Palmer's how to brew: here is the link: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter19-3.html it's towards the bottom of the page.

I am planning my next batch- my first barleywine/ I am hoping to reuse the yeast from my porter (Currently in the primary) which is an English Ale yeast. I've never done this before, so I wanted to get some suggestions. My thoughts were the easiest thing to do would be to bottle the porter and...

I was planning on using a partial mash setup as described in "morebeer" catalog (morebeer.com I believe) whereas using 24 x 24 bags with my bottling bucket for mashing. (I have a 6.5 gallon bottling bucket with built-in spigot) If I was going to use this setup for an all-grain batch, what would...

Most books I've read suggest starting with a mini-mash on a 5 gallon batch, but the thought occured to me, would it be possible to do an all-grain 1 gallon batch using mini-mash procedures?/

will try moving the bottles upstairs... my basement temperatures seem sufficient for most yeast, but come to think of it, I think I had to move this one upstairs to get some activity out of it in the primary, so this may be the problem

I believe I've just had my first unsuccessful batch, after maybe 18 batches now. It was a fairly straightforward recipe, so I am trying to figure out what went wrong. In fact, I've had a success with an almost indentical yarrow based brew. The recipe was adapted from "sacred and herbal healing...

it is an aquarium stone. I wasn't aware they made stones specifically for brewing. Are they a lot more expensive? I just bought 4 air stones for a buck something. Even if I treat them as disposable, it's still pretty cheap. Are there any advantages to stainless steel stones other than durability?

I've been using an air stone for aeration for a few batches now with great success (much faster fermentations!) However, after my last time aerating, as I was rinsing off my tubing and stone, the stone seems to have broke off. I figured I must have had a cheap stone so I went to the store and...

The cream of tartar was called for in the recipe- I believe it was to give the beer some head.