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I made my yeast starters yesterday and they are spinning. Usually by the next morning (now), the starters have noticeably thickened. But this time they hasn't. I've already started brewing, so I'm preparing for a possibly big problem - i.e. the yeast is dead. Good old WLP 001, but it's...

I'm making my first lager, and need to know when to put it into a secondary fermentor. Before the diacetyl rest? After? Why? I brew 10 gal at a time. I have 2 glass carboys, and lots of Corny kegs. For ales, I rack from carboys to Cornies after 10 days, which frees up the carboys for the...

I need ideas for an IPA recipe that will best display the differences between (a) WLP001 California Ale yeast, and (b) WLP008 East Coast Ale yeast. Remember in high school they taught us "only change one variable at a time"? I brew 10 gallon batches that get split into two 5 gallon carboys -...

And then they changed to the stupid little envelopes... Tonight, I got started on a Tap Handle kick. I was browsing through some homebrew sites, and noticed that they're selling fancy tap handles for like $40 each. Let's see, I have 4 plain black tap handles on my kegerator fridge. Wait -...

Hi folks, I want to kick my dry-hopping up a notch. I've been putting hops in a lingerie bag, and letting them sit in a secondary fermenter, or a serving keg, for 5 days. This works, but not great, because the hops just steep. I'll bet the Sierra Nevada "torpedo" method would work much...

I'm restarting my brewery after a three-year hiatus. I bought a year's supply of leaf hops (it's harvest time), and enough grain for my first two batches. So I'm wondering - is three-year-old grain still good? I have a fair supply of specialty grains (crystal, carapils, black patent, etc.)...

How long can you store kegged beer at room temperature? My kegerator holds 4 cornys, but during the spring and fall, I want to brew a lot, so I'll have enough beer to last through the hot summer and cold winter months. How long can I keep full kegs at room temperature?

I'm going to Italy on vacation soon, and I'm wondering if I will find any good beer over there. Will everything be like Peroni and Moretti, or will I find a range of styles? Or will I have to spend 10 days drinking fortified grape juice?

I've been using an STC-1000 temperature controller on my ferm chamber for a couple of months. It works great, but I found an odd problem that might affect people who live in areas that get those annoying 1-second power outages - like me. When the STC-1000 is running, the power goes out and...

How much does mash thickness affect the outcome? BeerSmith seems not to calculate this. Perhaps other brewing software does? For one recipe, BeerSmith calculates the ABV for different mash temps 148 degrees - Light Body - ABV 5.7 152 degrees - Medium Body - ABV 5.3 156 degrees -...

Has anyone had any problems with the STC-1000 temperature controller? I'm still deciding whether to go with Ranco 2-stage controller (commercial quality), and the STC-1000 (DIY quality?) for my fermentation chamber. I haven't seen any posts about quality problems (DOA, malfunctioning...

I have a refrigerator in my garage which I've outfitted with a Johnson Controls A19AAT overriding thermostat control. This works great for precisely controlling fermenter temperatures in the summer. But now it's winter, and I need to heat my refrigerator when the ambient temperature in the...

Having trouble coming up with a name for your latest brew? Here are some obsolete job titles that you might consider. Can you suggest a beer style for each one? Gandy Dancer – Railroad trains slowly push the tracks out of alignment on curves, and teams of gandy dancers with long iron...

I was planning to make a Gennesse-style Cream Ale, but as I was pitching the yeast into the starter, I noticed I had purchased White Labs WLP060 (American Ale Yeast Blend) instead of WLP080 (Cream Ale Yeast Blend). The grain is ground, the starter is swirling on the stir plate, I have two...

I recently purchased a Blichmann Beer Gun, and the one thing I don't have to hook it up is a spare stainless steel flare/barb fitting. I know you're not supposed to use copper in beer lines, because the carbonic acid in carbonated beer will leach copper from copper tubing. I made up a...

Many people have posted how happy they are using Corny kegs for secondary (or even primary) fermenters. I plan to try using them for secondary fermenters, but I brew a lot of dry-hopped IPAs using hop flowers, and I'm wondering if the liquid-out dip tube will get clogged with flowers when I'm...

I hate throwing stuff in the trash. An acquaintance gave me a bunch of whole leaf hops - still sealed in the original oxygen-barrier bags. He was cleaning out his refrigerator (kinda like a lawyer does during discovery). The good side is that they're all two years old, but at least they've...

I need to buy 4 more Corny kegs. Here's a quick sample of offerings I found: More Beer - $49.95 free-shipping - 'Kegs are sold "as is".' - I assume that means you can't return them Adventures in Homebrewing $40 plus shipping - "If you are unhappy with your used 5 Gallon Cornelius Kegs...