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jet dry... aha. the beer has tasted different too. tangy. just not quite right.

that's a good question. i'm not sure. i have been doing this for about a year and a half and while my latest batch has been stored during the winter, the one before it would have been kind of summer/fall. one thing i've done recently is move to washing my bottles in the dishwasher. could...

i am on my sixth batch of beer. i'm not quite a novice, but i'm certainly still learning. i have had a recurring problem in my last two batches. both times the beers failed to carbonate. i usually buy ready made kits from the local brewery supply store. brewer's best, etc. and the first...

one thing that has happened to me when i transferred to a secondary is a complete lack of carbonation in my beer once it's bottled. if you don't get it into the secondary at the right time, you'll end up with very little yeast left to carbonate the beer. so there are some risks with using...

sweet idea. what do you do with the bags? throw them out? or do you clean them in the dishwasher/washing machine? it is a nice idea, but i'm nervous about having ONE MORE THING TO CLEAN!

well, i was using dried ale yeast from nottingham, which has always seemed to be a pretty robust yeast. my guess is that it will probably take a bit longer to carbonate than usual, but that the job will get done eventually. if all fails, i will use this as an excuse to get myself a cornie...

well, you guys spooked me into warming up my beer last night. it's probably the right thing to do, but i've also been doing some research on the style of beer i am attempting to emulate -- german altbier. everything i find about altbier says that it should be cold conditioned after...

no matter what your hydrometer says, you KNOW how much sugar you put into the wort. trust your own perception of the situation, not the reading of your instruments.

i've had it in cold storage for about three days now. i'm going to ride it out at this temperature for about a week, then slowly bring it back to room temperature. once that is acheived, i will prime and bottle. i was going to condition it for a longer period of time, but now that people are...

is there any benefit to lagering an ale? i've got an ale that i decided to put into a chiller after a one week fermentation in the primary and a second week of very slow fermentation in the secondary. now it's in the secondary in my fermentation chiller at about 38 F. i was planning on...

wonderbrau is done carbonating at this point and i tasted one last night. it isn't bad at all. i think it's too hoppy, but that's my fault, no the yeast's fault. as far as off flavors from the bread yeast, i don't detect any yet. as the beer matures, i'll see what happens. but so far so good.

i used half a cup of corn sugar for priming. the fermentation happened at a high temperature. this brew was done during a hot time of our summer and before i had the right equipment and knowledge for proper wort cooling. the aroma is not completely unpleasant, but it's just not what i'm...

i'm deep into my second case of a batch that started out very nicely but is now presenting some off flavors. the most prevelent of these flavors, beyond a little yeastiness, is a distinct smell of apple juice. the recipe was a brewer's best extract kit, "continental pilsner", saaz hops...

my suggestion: many gardening stores sell peletized fox urine. spread this stuff around the base of your garden and you won't have any problems. it stays around for a whole season if you spread it moderately thick.

d'oh. i guess i'll need to plan ahead for next year. perhaps i'll go back to my first idea of a budvar clone. can i have that done before the holidays?

one tip i'd like to add -- if you're going to be using a thin gauge pot on top of your turkey fryer, be careful. some of the more powerful models can actually get so hot that they will melt your pot and melt the prongs that you set your pot on. also, one trick i use is to place a large cast...

yes, the pre drink rinse is absolutely necessary. in the beginning, i didn't do it all the time, and i ended up throwing those bottles out because cleaning them wasn't worth the effort. no matter how hard i scrubbed... does anyone add anything to the dishwaser during the sterilization cycle...

thanks for the feedback -- these are great guidelines. i think i've changed my mind and i'm going to order northern brewer's octoberfest extract kit. that should be done lagering by mid novermber, and be the perfect beer to serve at thanksgiving dinner! i'm planning on using the wyeast smack...

i'm still a rookie myself, but i've had a handful of problems that you're experiencing, so here are my thoughts: just let the hops float around in the boil. when you move the beer from the kettle to the fermenter, put them through a metal strainer. that will get probably 95% of the hops out...

i've had poor results bottling directly from the spigot on my priming bucket. the beer tends to foam the spigot leaks a bit. plus, you can't get that last inch or two of beer that sits below the spigot inside the bucket. i've moved to bottling from the priming bucket with a racking cane...