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I have been brewing beer for over 12 years, and this is how I always do it. I never had a problem with overcarbonation. My Trappist ales have always tasted great. Obviously, there is always an increase of contaminating your brew with too many gravity checks and rackings, although I have never...

I usually let the gravity to drop to 1/4 of the OG. Then rack it to secondary to clear.

Personally, I wouldn't add more water as it would dilute your fine brew. When priming, you may want to go a little less with the priming sugars...maybe a tablespoon less at least so it won't overcarbonate. Yes, throw out the trub.

Works for me. It's very similar to mine. I bottled this batch last Black Friday. I tasted a bottle 2 weeks ago. I'ts not ready yet. I'll probably sample again in 8 weeks.

What was your OG? Did you airate the wort? If you took an OG reading, you can check it again to see how far it has dropped. If it has stopped fermenting because of lack of airation, you MAY consider doing some serious airation to get your ferment started again. Without O2, the yeast will peter...

Gotta agree with ohararp. Also, at what temp was your yeast when you pitched it? What temp was your wort? If there is more than a 10 degree temp difference, it can severely increase the lag time. Airation is important as well, IMO; especially on a higher gravity beer. I bottled my Chimay Red in...

Christmas Barley Wine 11 lbs wheat dme (at least) 1 lb light dme 48 oz Vermont maple syrup (medium amber) 24 oz piloncillo 4 oz carapils malt 8 oz 60L crystal malt 8 oz 40L crystal malt 4 oz caramel wheat malt 2 oz chocolate wheat malt 1 oz centennial leaf hops 1 oz cascade leaf hops...

I think that the wine yeast was used as a yeast nutrient. The boiling wort will kill the yeast, yielding a nice additional food supply for the pitched yeast after the wort is cooled.

I made many batch of cherry wheat when I lived in Colorado. I tried many varieties of cherries, and the ones that worked out the best for me were sour pie cherries. I found a grocery store that sold them in 8lb frozen ice cream tubs. They ran out, and could get now more, so I brew it no more. I...

Very good information indeed!

Very good information indeed!

I have a batch of barleywine that I am having trouble getting it to ferment a little lower. The OG was 1.100. I used mostly wheat dme, some barley malt. 24 oz of piloncillo (unrefined sugar cane sugar), 20 oz of maple syrup and some assorted grains. I made a 2 qt starter using 3 C of wheat malt...

I did make the other batch boiling down 3 gallons of fresh cider to two gallons. Surprisingly, it was clear after several weeks of clearing. This batch was better than the previous. I was disappointed to find out that the local grocery discontinued the cider as I guess it was out of season. I'll...

I did this same batch in October of '08 except I added 1 qt of Vermont grade A amber maple syrup. This batch cleared very nicely. I stopped the ferment at 1.012 to let it be sweeter...it was. This was by far my best hard cider. It goes down a little too easy as it is sweet with a definite apple...

5 gallons Louisburg apple cider 5 lbs tupelo honey 5 cans Seneca apple juice concentrate White Labs sweet mead yeast Mix 4 gallons of cider, the honey, and the concentrate into 5 gallon carboy. Shake or stir well until honey is dissolved. Pitch yeast. OG 1.094. Two weeks later I racked to...

Yes, very active primary fermentation indeed. Blowoff tubes are always a good thing, especially with wheat beers. This is an advantage of using a 61/2 gal carboy as one can watch the fermentation pick up and then put on the blowoff tube if necessary. I brewed a high gravity brew once, and the...

I have 2 5 gal carboys, 2 6 1/2 gal carboys, and a 6 1/2 gal bucket for fruit beers. The variety helps in having several fermenting at the same time.

My general rule is when the gravity drops to 1/4 of OG, then it's bottling time.

If you really want to use fruit in a beer, try either sour pie cherries or rasberries. Historically, I have brewed wheat beer with fruit; not an IPA. The rasberries have a much more pungent flavor with the rasberry tartness...not a lot of hops are needed. I have used many types of cherries, and...

You didn't say what type of beer you are brewing. List your ingredients may help us figure out why lack of head (doh!).