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Hello all, BLUF: Am looking for a traditional and basic mead recipe. We’ve been keeping bees for a few years now and we’re expecting this coming season to be a productive one. I’m trying to figure out what to do with the excess honey we don’t jar and sell, and figured I might give mead a...

Hello all, We have a field that has tons of blackberries. Anyone have a good recipe for blackberry wine? I’ve made hard apple cider and brew beer, but this will be my first attempt at a berry wine. I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos on it, but the recipes are imprecise and questionable...

Hello all, I recently received the results for my well water test from Ward Labs. Can anyone tell me how to interpret them for adjustment prior to brewing? Reading through some older posts, it looks like there might be some website or program we can use where we input the Ward Labs data and...

Hello all. I just started kegging last weekend. I kegged 10 gallons of ale in 2 corny kegs, using 20 psi. I’m really pleased with the product and kind of disappointed I didn’t start kegging sooner. That said, I have some questions about carbonation/psi I’m hoping someone out there can...

Hello all, Am making an American amber ale from the Brewing Classic Styles recipe book. The recipe calls for fermentation at 67F/19C, but can anyone tell me if there are temperature step increases/decreases for ale fermentation like there are for lagers? Or is it a simple 67F until...

Hello all. I just brewed my first batch using a Grainfather conical fermenter and glycol chiller. The manual suggested draining yeast every 2-3 days. Today was day 2, I tried to drain yeast and it was stuck. I don’t have a CO2 tank, and ended up using a long stainless steel rod I disinfected...

Thanks to all in advance for their recommendations! I’ve been brewing beer and cider for several years using glass big mouth bubblers and a temperature-controlled chest freezer. I’m thinking about upgrading fermentation vessels, and have seen stainless steel conical fermenters that are...

Apologies if this has been addressed previously—I searched through posts but couldn’t find something on point. The time has come for me to invest in a device that fills bottles with precisely the same volume of liquid each time. Any recommendations? Up to now I’ve just been eyeballing it...

Hello all, I recently got about 6 gallons of cider and pitched Red Star Premier Cuvée. Primary fermentation has begun—I had to raise the temperature considerable to about 61 degrees F, though. Looked through the New Cider Maker’s Handbook by Mr. Jolicouer, and didn’t see anything specific as...

Hello all, I’m on furlough and would like to capitalize on my time by taking a beer making class. I’m having some trouble finding a place near DC, though, and am hoping someone in the community can let me know the names of reputable places in the area. Thanks in advance!

I’ve made some batches that I thought would be beautiful, but that fizzled out during bottling when I discovered there wasn’t a lot of carbonation. Thinking about what I could’ve done better, I’ve been adding bottling sugar without a yeast addition. Does anyone have experience adding yeast...

I currently have a Johnson controls temperature controller, but am looking for something more programmable and user friendly that allows me to program a slow increase or decrease in temperature over a span of several days. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Searched for this, but didn’t find anything exactly on point. I’ve noticed residue inside my tubing, even after a good soak. Looks like bits of grain. Anyone know of some sort of pipe cleaner or other device I can use to ensure the inside of my tubing is clean? Thanks.

I’ve been bottle conditioning for a while now; haven’t moved to kegging yet. So far, I’ve been eyeballing the volume of liquid in the bottles. Can anyone recommend a device that will allow me to put the same amount of liquid in each bottle without just eyeballing it? Thanks!

I plan to retire from the military soon and am looking to do some more brewing. Can anyone recommend a brewmaster course? Anything you can recommend for the US and Europe would be in the ballpark—got to use that GI Bill! Thanks.

I’ve been making cider for a few years now, moving on to beer. I’ve tried a few different bottling options, but wanted to see what others have tried. First I tried EZ cap bottles. I found that some of them leak and the result was a flat/still product. Pretty nasty, when you’re expecting some...

Have been brewing cider for several years now, and have pretty much come to the conclusion that I can’t make a naturally sweet, naturally carbonated cider without keeving (which I have not tried). In a last-ditch attempt to achieve this, has anyone tried a yeast that doesn’t ferment to dryness...

I’m new at brewing beer, but have been doing cider for several years using the Big Mouth Bubbler and 3 piece airlock setup. My first all grain beer fermentation was definitely “vigorous,” and the beer fermented through the airlock and actually pushed the top off the carboy. (Lesson learned and...

Years ago I lived in Dresden, Germany, where my favorite beer was Hasseröder. Can anyone recommend a home brew recipe that will give the same or similar results? Thanks!