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Anything with an OG above 1.030 has the seeds of greatness in it. Whether they grow or not depends as much on chance, love and perseverance. If you've got an O.G. of 1.060 off an all-grain mash, it could go any way - to good, evil or lazy indifference. I'd let it go its way and watch for what I...

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I think this post is right onto it. If you've reached a competence in wine/cider-making that satisfies you, the critical difference remaining is the breed/quality of raw material you are working with. I've made several pear wines, rather than strict perries, and the variance between pear breeds...

That's so many hop varieties I wouldn't know which was contributing what. If you've done all the contrast tests, and have a good feel for where each fits, then all power to you. I certainly haven't - about 10 years from now, just maybe. But I have dry hopped Pacifica and Waimea, and I can't...

Anything you dare try, is not a cheat. Let's know how that works out.

I work with Nature. I brew lagers in winter, ales in summer, stouts in autumn and meads a year before I plan to enjoy them. May not be the perfect brew, but it's the lowest cost.

I've fired off yeast starter packs that don't even swell. I figure that amongst that dead mess, there will be some yeast cells dying for a chance at life. The question is always "will they beat off the competition?". My answer is always to give them that chance, but never let failure cost you...

I use a strong mixture of common household bleach mixed with lots of water. 15 minutes is enough, an hour is plenty. Flush it with water and campden tablet. Bleach is the mortal enemy of all molds and fungi, yeast and all the rest. It can't be beat, either for effectiveness or price. It's...

Sometimes I leave blocks of cheese too long in the fridge. There's lots of activity, but it sure ain't yeast. If you can't detect any alcohol - and alcohol is the yeast signature - then quite likely what you're seeing isn't the work of yeast.

I brew small lots - 2 gallons at a time, that I then split into two separate 1 gallon carboys to ferment, so that I can see the difference between two yeast strains, or two dry hops, or two conditioning regimes. Even so, I brew at least once a week. So I guess I'm getting through 2 gallons a...

I think the question will come down to: how do you know what you are seeing is yeast? I've set aside some wort after a mash and gone to bed before the boil because it was too late in the night to stay up any longer. When I got up, the unboiled wort was well alive - with something. When I...

Wyeast 2565 Kolsch. I've only used about a dozen different yeasts, and this is easily the frothiest. I don't use blow-off tubes though. I just ferment in a large vessel, and then rack into a smaller one once the activity falls off.

Not a good idea. I had a brew not start on me, and being a wine-maker as well, had some wine yeast on hand. I used it. It was the strangest tasting beer I ever brewed. wasn't really even beer. It did improve on ageing, but I would never do it again,

Brewing a 2-gallon wort that I'll split in half into 2 one gallon carboys and set to different yeasts and dry hop. -1.2KG Weyermann Pilsner 2-row -100 gm Medium Crystal -100 gm Gladfield Toffee -5 gm Roasted Barley -5 litre water, strike temp 70C -conversion rest @67C (60 mins) Sparge: -wash...

There was a small brewery in my home town. It monopolised the bar scene and the beer was quite awful. A friend of mine's father worked there, and one day he took us on a tour of the brewery, and finished it off with a tasting at the little bar they had on site. This beer was splendid. It was...

I define "better" as the beer I would choose, given a choice. I say I consistently brew better beer than commercial beer, because I consistently prefer it over their offerings. Obviously that might change if I were to be exposed to even greater variety than what is available locally, but...

Honestly can't say than I can. I've never heard of it. When I started brewing, I aimed to get to the point where I would prefer my own to any of the commercial brews out there. For the first two years, I kept stopping in on local bars to taste their offerings. Being a Kiwi, that meant...

I just won't buy other people's beer. If I can't brew better, that's me not trying hard enough. Sure, sure Adam Smith and all that. Who cares.

I planted a Smoothcone a couple of years now, and last season (2 months ago) was a great yield. I have a freezer full of them. I've been mixing and matching in a lot of different recipes, and have not had a lot of success with them. I used it in one brew as bittering hop, mid-boil, flame-out...