newbie

sup guys, I am a novice to home brewing kombucha, and this is my first “pellicile” growth I’ve had. I started my first starter liquid batch about a month ago using Brew Dr. raw/unpasteurized kombucha, using about the whole bottle in 4 cups of sweet black tea. I never really grew a whole...

Alright so i decided i was gonna get into mead making. Ive been doing alot of research in alot of different places and sometimes i cant make sense of it all as some information seems conflicting. For example i dont really understand if i should put honey in stages or not? Im gonna try to start...

Hello! I am getting ready to embark on my homebrew journey. We purchased 7 acres in February 2023, which included 2 apple trees, peaches, cherries, walnuts, chestnuts, and 1 Fuyu and 1 Hachiya persimmon tree, all well established and producing ample amounts of fruit. My persimmons had a bumper...

1st batch ever sucked. Here are my final notes. Figured I'd start a new post since there may be more helpful advice for chlorinated water. Sure wish I would have known to check for chlorine treatment in water before starting, but I guess learning the hard way is better than not at all. I do...

Hi, I'm very new to brewing and I have started with mead. The recipes and advice I followed didn't mention anything about measuring the starting gravity? I am trying to make a gorse mead, started it about 6 weeks ago. It was only in the primary for 4 days as that was what was suggested. I...

Greetings from New Jersey. My name is Mike aka Blind Mike, and I am low vision legally blind, and at 51 years old am finally embarking on a decades long dream of making wine and mead at home. I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting journey, and I am looking forward to sharing my...

Hey everyone! I’m new to this forum and am starting my first Weißbier! Originally from Ireland and love German beer as I’ve visited a few times. Does it look okay so far? Only a hour or so into fermentation

I have added a bit less honey than I should have, and opted to fill the remaining the sugar gap with raisins. I had 3L of volume before adding the raisins with 850g of honey. I added 250g of raisins (whole) thinking that it could substitute for the lack of sugars, but now i am worrying that the...

I’m still cutting my teeth on ales, but hope to take a crack at a lager at some point in the near future. What recommendations do you all have for an economical lagering environment? I was considering purchasing a mini-fridge to do 1 gallon batches in, but wanted to see what others may have used.

I thought I’d chalk this up to my excitement of starting a new hobby, but I'm curious: how frequently do the rest of you brew? I’m doing smaller batches, but I’m currently averaging about one a week. Curious if my frequency is typical or, shall we say, obsessive 🙂

New brewer here. At the risk of sounding like I’m asking a dumb question, any recommendations (or cautions) on small batch (1-3 gallon) fermenters? I’ve got carboys and a Fermonster, but I’m wondering if there are other vessels you all have had success with in the past. I like to have multiple...

Hello from Smyrna, home of the Braves. I’ve been a part of the home brew community for years… making empties. Recently I took a class at Schoolhouse Brewing. It was fantastic. In class we used a grainfather system… so perhaps I’m spoiled. I don’t want to go through the progression of buying...

We need a sticky in this forum for the newbie questions. I'll kick it off by asking two questions I can answer, and ask a few of my own. Could we get a mod to pin this one please and get the folks to help fill in the blanks and add to this list? Thanks all! Q: What if I want to use honey...

Hi, this is my first post and first hard apple cider attempt. 5 days ago I added my yeast to the apple cider (fresh pressed, added Camden tablet and waited 48h before adding the yeast). I left the carboy in my wine cellar at 55F and after 5 days see no activity. I assume it's the temperature...

Hi all! sorry this is my first time posting. I purchased a Scoby from a local brewing company a week ago and received it today. It has an ice pack with it that’s now obviously melted. It’s been unrefrigerated for a week - am I wasting time if I try to use it or will it be ok?

Ok. So I already started 15 gallons of apple cider in several carboys and have begun racking to secondary. But I’m trying to figure out in what order I make amendments etc. Please let me know what’s what. 1. Finish primary fermentation (I already tested SG levels and it’s all below 1.010) 2...

I have posted this, or pieces of this advice throughout the forum, here it is in one go. Congratulations, you have discovered one of the oldest (if not the oldest) fermented beverages! You liked it so much you want to make more. There are 100s of resources online showing how to make mead...

Good day beer people. I have come up with the following 'recipe' for a 1 gallon experimental batch: Grains (amounts for 1 gallon batch): Corn - Yellow, Flaked Briess (4.8 oz/gallon) Pilsen Malt 2-Row Briess (3.2oz/gallon) Vienna Malt Weyermann (1.6oz/gallon) Caramel Malt - 20L Briess...

First wine kit on our own. Had a merlot kit. Followed instructions as best as I know. Used a 6.5 gal glass carboy for primary fermentation. Checked on it after the first 24 hours. About a half gallon was on the floor. Bottom busted off the carboy. No signs of release from the airlock. Any...

Hello, I brewed my first all-grain batch, a bavarian hefeweizen and it turned out VERY pale and flavorless. It had none of the flavor that a hefeweizen should have nor any of the color. I did notice that it was already quite clear during Vorlauf so I am not sure if something when wrong during...