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Nottingham is excellent in Kentucky Common. KC is basically a dark cream ale, or an ale version of a Dunkel lager, blurring the line between ales and lagers. To my mind, a lagery ale yeast is the perfect choice and Nottingham matches the description. I've used it a few times. S-04 is...

Nottingham is excellent in Kentucky Common. KC is basically a dark cream ale, or an ale version of a Dunkel lager, blurring the line between ales and lagers. To my mind, a lagery ale yeast is the perfect choice and Nottingham matches the description. I've used it a few times. S-04 is...

For me, the least important thing is water chemistry. When I got back into brewing a couple years ago and made the jump to all-grain, I did a ton of research and got really worried about water chemistry, and even bought some test kits. I ended up never using them, and I never do anything to my...

Just check to make sure water can drain through the pillowcase first. I tried to use a pillowcase to strain a moonshine mash years ago, and that mf'er was waterproof. I was standing there holding a 40 pound sack of fermented mash, and not a drop would come out.

My cider method is unorthodox--fermented in the gallon jug the juice comes in, then decanted to a gallon wine jug and refrigerated before the primary fermentation is completely done (and consumed immediately). I have added a cinnamon stick to the jug when I put it in the fridge, and it was...

NOTHING I'm a luddite. Okay, maybe a temp controlled fermentation fridge. It's okay I guess. I wish smart phones would go away, though.

I have tried twice to turn this type of cider into vinegar on purpose, unsuccessfully, so I would be jealous if yours did.

The foaming at the beginning of the boil is the thing, after that I turn the gas down as low as I can get away with to maintain a boil. My pre-boil volume is more than 5 gallons, and the kettle is short and wide rather than tall and narrow, so the headroom isn't as much as it sounds. It will...

I have an 8-3/4 gallon kettle and do 5 gallon batches, I tried BIAB with it once and it was definitely not big enough. It was a cream ale, so it wasn't a ton of grain either. I'm sure I could have gotten it to work better, but I made an igloo cooler mash tun after that first BIAB attempt. I...

I've made several good red wines from store bought juice. I have my first white one in the fermenter now. I used: 9 quarts of Great Value white grape juice 6 quarts of apple juice 4 quarts pear juice 4 quarts white cranberry peach 2 quarts white grape peach 5 cups of sugar 3 tsp acid blend 1...

Yep, I prefer my own. My honest opinion is that most craft beer sucks. Some of it is absolutely fantastic, but most of it is not well made, just well marketed.

I'll throw in another vote for the Fermonster. I got a 7.5 gallon (I think) one with the spigot on it last year, and it's great. No more fiddling around trying to clean a glass carboy with a brush through a tiny hole, and no more siphoning. The only thing with plastic is you have to be...

I like a corny cream ale. Going to experiment with it in some lagers this spring. When brewers started putting corn and rice in beer, it was more expensive than barley. It was done for the intended result of making a pale, light, refreshing beer, which was wildly successful.

Kveik produces it's characteristic flavors best under stress (Voss does anyway), so a slow start might produce some flavors but not necessarily "off."

What is the source of the cider? Maybe it has preservatives in it. Ascorbic acid is fine, but anything that says sorbate, benzoate, or sulfite is bad news. Sometimes it's hard to tell when cider is fermenting. If your airlock isn't working right, you might not notice. Compared to beer...

Mine was a Brewer's Best cream ale extract kit in 2010. When I poured the first bottle and drank it, it felt like I did magic. I've made much better beer since then, but probably never enjoyed a glass of beer as much as that one.

Try explaining it like this: Your homebrew is bottle-conditioned, an ancient and esoteric practice used for rare and expensive beers, which enhances the quality of your artisanal product. There is yeast in the bottom of the bottle because it is an all-natural, un-filtered, un-pasteurized...

I have used Nottingham for cream ale with excellent results. It's very clean-fermenting and not estery at all in my experience.

That's what I do, and I never get gushers. I don't even have a bottle tree, I just put them on milk crates. And on bottling day, I typically just sanitize them without rinsing first. Maybe I'm just lucky and don't have gusher bacteria in my house.

I make cider with store-bought juice all the time. My usual method is to add a little brown sugar (1/2 to 1 cup), a handful of raisins, a teaspoon of yeast nutrient, and roughly 1/5 of a packet of Nottingham straight to a gallon jug of juice, leave the lid cracked, and then decant and...