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Adding 5.2 stabilizer to your mash makes the water very hard and can have adverse effects on the flavor of some beer styles. (even though they say it doesn't). If you're making a big malty beer like a Stout or a Bock or anything that uses darker grains, than go ahead and use this if you like...

I've been told that crash cooling the beer will kill a higher percentage of the yeast than if you cool 5 degrees per day. I keep the beer (ale) on the cool side of the recommended temperature during the most vigorous part of the fermentation and then allow it to warm to 70 degrees after a few...

If you brew beer long enough like I have, you eventually get an infection from dry hopping. I now sanitize all hops in 180 degree water before adding to the secondary.

I knew an old timer once who said that Falstaff use to taste like Heineken before prohibition. But I drank it a lot in the 70's and by then it was obvious that by then they were competing with the brewery across the street, Anheiser Busch. The old Falstaff brewery still stands and if you go...

At the beginning of this year,I started including a decoction at mash out for all of my beers, in order to get some more melanoidins for malt flavor. At the end of mashing for 1 hour, take 50 % of the grist and bring it to a boil for 20 minutes. Add back to the mash tun and the temp should be...

I know there are on-line calculators, but I have a customized Excell spreadsheet that calculates everything(OG,IBU's,Brix trasnslation, ABV,ABW etc.) for me and I just want to make sure it is correct. I've gotten very use to using it and it's easier than going out to the internet and re-typing...

Thanks for the reply. I'll stick with what I've been doing for now and see how it goes.

Lately I've changed my IBU calculations to include Gravity Factor (Beer Bigness) and utilization. I got my information from John Palmer's How to Brew web page chapter 5.5 ( http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-5.html ) . In his test case a beer with an OG of 1.080 has a total of 31...

Here are all the things I can think of to improve fermentation. 1. Use the correct yeast pitch rates. About 200 billion yeast cells for a 5 gal batch of ale. This usually means using a yeast starter. 2. Oxygen. Use the air stone with pure oxygen before pitching the yeast to aerate the wort...

Here are all the things I can think of to improve fermentation. 1. Use the correct yeast pitch rates. About 200 billion yeast cells for a 5 gal batch of ale. This usually means using a yeast starter. 2. Oxygen. Use the air stone with pure oxygen before pitching the yeast. 3. Use Wyeast...

How ever you dry them, remember to keep them away from sun light as soon as you pick them. Otherwise they can become sun-struck (skunky) within 15 minutes or so.

How about this, Put it in the vegetable garden and tell the wife it's a new type of climbing rose.

Your total yield may be down a bit due to lack of sun, but I hear that hops like the morning sun, so give it a try. Grass likes direct sun too so how well does the grass grow there? If the grass grows well there, then it should be worth an attempt.

Another thing too is that hops grow in a clockwise pattern looking down at them. This causes them to wrap around poles and other things that can support their weight.

I say grow them everywhere to the point that you can't see your house any more. Tell the wife that it will make things cooler in the summer. Actually, site #3 looks the best but there are other things that might come into play like soil condition, drainage, air flow(too closed in and...

Well, I know that composted manure has nitrogen in it, so maybe some more of that in June when the side arms start to grow. I've heard that it's better than using chemical fertilizer or at least safer for someone like me who doesn't know exactly what they're doing when it comes to farming. I...

I think I have good drainage. The mound is raised and on a bed of lava rock about three feet below. Aside from the composted manure in the spring, should I fertilize more?

I have Mt. Hood growing in the backyard on a trellis system and I've noticed that some of the hop cones never get bigger than a marble size before they begin to dry up and turn brown, while other cones become nice and plump. With the hop shortage and all, I really want to try for a good harvest...

Thanks for the insight people. I was hoping this might be the case since I also had tried different things. The new growth is usually healthy so I'll just look at that as an indicator of the plants health. I was hoping that it wasn't because of the sometimes brutally hot summer months here in...

I would get some grain alcohol and wipe off the valve before and after opening. Make sure to give the alcohol time to evaporate after wiping down, before opening the valve to save off the yeast.