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I have been doing this on a few batches; not sure how effective it is. Basically it is a paint stirred that is chucked into a drill. It creates a lot of foam and mixes everything really well. I run it towards the top and it seems to whip a lot of air into the wort. Of course, it is sanitized...

Only brewed a few batches, but still confused about the "trub." My extract beer kits say, "don't strain the wort while pouring it into the fermenter." John Palmer says it's OK to strain, or whirl up the wort and decant it off the "trub." There seems to be a LOT of stuff in the wort. Decanting...

Wine maker, but new to beer. Uncertain if my fermentation is OK. Making 2 extract recipes: a stout and a pale ale. They are being fermented in common type 6 gal buckets with lids. Each has a blow-off tube. The pale ale showed very quick activity, then stopped bubbling entirely. The stout never...

Extract IPA 3 weeks in primary, then racked to keg. It was cloudy/hazy, so I decided to filter it using a round plate filter between 2 kegs. I had only "polish" level pads (the mid-level), so I used those. I filter white wine this way using about 3-5psi and it runs through smoothly in about 40...

I'm a newbie brewer on my 3rd batch...an extract American IPA kit. It's being fermented entirely in the primary for 3 weeks total; it'll be done next week. I have corny kegs and a plate filter that I use in wine-making to filter my whites and fruit wines. I'm thinking of using it on the IPA...

I made a temporary keg cooler to serve beer around the holidays. It is set up for 7-10 days. It consists of a rectangular insulated cooler with detachable lid for the bottom section and 1.5" rigid insulation (glued together) for the top. It fits 2 corny kegs. The issue is effeciently cooling...

Got an IPA kit from my local brew shop and plan to serve it at a big Thanksgiving gathering. Now, I'm reading that an IPA can lose it's hoppy nose/taste over time and that it might be better to make it just a few weeks in advance. That's fine with me, but will the LME get stale in 3 months? I've...

I understand the theory and practice here, but have a question. If corn sugar is used for carbonation and the beer is bottled, will the taste/alcohol be different than if the same beer is force carbonated in a corny keg and NO corn sugar is added. It just seems that it would have a somewhat...

I'm a novice brewer (only one batch so far). I want to brew 2 batches (an IRA and a Stout) for a family gathering at Thanksgiving. I have some corny kegs that I use for wine-making, so I would like to store and dispense the beer from these. So I have all the equipment, except a refrigerator to...

I have a CO2 regulator that measures psi from the tank, but "flow" to the out line in Liters/minute and cubic feet per hour. I think it is really for welding. But I have it now and don't want to spend more for one that shows psi. I looked online and there is no direct way to convert between...

I'm a winemaker making my first attempt at beer brewing. My Irish Red Ale extract kit was started yesterday and is merrily bubbling in the carboy. I left about 2" of headspace from the shoulder of the 5gal carboy; so quite a bit of space overall. I wasn't sure how much foam would develop so I...

I've been making wine for a few years and want to try brewing a beer for the holidays. I have an extract kit of Irish Red Ale. Also I have a few corny kegs and CO2 that was used in wine-making (filtering, purging and such). I want to ferment the Irish Red, filter it into a keg, and carbonate it...

Making a Welch's Niagara wine based on Yooper's recipe and using K1-V1116 yeast. I filled the carboy to the shoulder based on previous experience with another yeast. However, the K1-1116 is foaming a lot and it's only the first day. I've got about 3" before it gets to the neck. Once it gets to...

I'm doing a Welch's recipe based on Yooper's and using Welch's frozen Niagara concentrate and K1-V1116 yeast. I've had conflicting advice over keeping the fermentation area cool or warm. A friend who makes white wine from grapes insists that I should keep my carboy in a cool water bath and maybe...

The Apfelwein thread has gotten really long, and I'm just looking for some informal responses. I have 5gal of Ed Wort's recipe sitting in a carboy. To my taste, it's a little bland. I tried a sample with cinnamon and another with a spritz of 7up, and liked both better, but don't know what...

Followed Ed's recipe exactly, but may have made 2 errors in the process. Stirred early on and got a volcano, so some must was ejected. Stirred again late to degas, and this seemed endless, so I set it aside, in the cool garage. It has been giving off little gas bubbles for 2 months. Not enough...

Clearly, patience is necessary as some wines will not develop for a year or more. However, I'm sure most will taste and perhaps do some tests when they rack their wine or after it sits for some months. What does one look for in gauging the progress of their wine? Negative things to be...

I was given a used variable speed diaphragm pump (0-3 gal/min). Once I cleaned the grape skins out of the screen filter, it worked very well. It looks like it would be useful for racking, degassing, filtering and possibly bottling. There seem to be a couple of ways of hooking these up, and I'm...

Can I use the original 1 gallon (plastic) containers that the TreeTop apple juice came in to bottle my apfelwein when it's done? It might be several months before it all gets consumed.

I'm Ron from Northern Cal -- the East Bay area. I've been a member for a while and greatly enjoy the forum. I have a question but couldn't find an ideal place to ask. When I try to search a particular thread, I get this: Even though I follow these directions, I still get the same result. I...