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Good evening. I recently made a two gallon batch of a mixed berry mead with an habanero to add a bit of a kick. After 1 week in primary, the bit of a kick is more like a stomp to the face, lol. I know better than to bottle and hope it mellows, it will probably get hotter. So, I intend to make...

Good afternoon/evening. I recently started two melomel batches, using over 10 pounds of fruit in one, and a couple of pounds in the other, much smaller batch. I have a family emergency that just arose, and this weekend will have to leave to manage the issue. Up until this weekend when I leave, I...

Good evening. I am planning to make a mixed berry melomel this weekend. This will be my very first mead. What I did was simply decided I wanted to make a mead, looked up a recipe, and bought the ingredients. I don't know much about honey, but the recipe calls for wildflower honey, so that is...

Good afternoon, I ended up here after doing a google search about reusing yeast. As you can well imagine, one of the search results led me to a thread from this specific forum and in that thread everyone was saying that if the timing is right you can just dump fresh wort right onto the old yeast...

Hi guys. I'm about to brew a stout using the US-04 yeast. While I really like this yeast, even when fermenting in a swamp cooler with the water kept at 64 degrees, the fermentation is vigorous. I run blowoff tubes to gallon jugs, half full of water and with iodine, and I still end up with...

Hello, I sure hope this question has not been asked 100 times already. If it has, please accept my apologies ahead of time. I want to start kegging beer, but I live in an apartment and having one of those full-size kegerators just isn't an option for me. I was thinking about getting a...

I am making a bourbon barrel stout that is supposed to be around 10.5% ABV. I made a silly mistake when preparing this, too much water, and now instead of a 5 gallon batch, I'm looking at something more like 5.5 gallons. I've been brewing for about 4 years, and so this is just my most recent...

I've been brewing for for a few years now, but recently I brewed an Imperial IPA that came out to about 9.5% ABV. I've brewed plenty of beers between 7-8%, and one prior to this one at almost 8.5%, but this is definitely the biggest beer I've brewed to date. I waited 10 days after bottling to...

I had been using a yeast with an "ideal" temp range of 59-72 degrees (total range is 59-77 degrees), and I thought 72 would be okay, it's the best I can do living in a third floor apartment. I've been told I need to get temps into the 60's though, which should improve my beer flavor. I had...

I made a yeast starter the other day. Due to my large wide pot being in use, I had to use a sauce pan. I totally over-estimated the boil-off, and instead of a two quart starter, ended up with a three quart starter. I haven't given it a good shake in a few hours now, so some white is settling on...

I ordered an imperial bourbon barrel stout kit from Williams Brewing. It came with powdered french oak in a foil pack. The instructions say to add it to secondary, but there is nothing about taking any sanitizing steps. Do I just pour the package directly into the secondary? They also say to...

I ordered some wyeast online, and when the package arrived in the "insulated" box everything was kinda warm and one of my liquid yeast packs started expanding... enough so that I could stand the package up on my counter. I can feel the nutrient pack, and it doesn't appear to be compromised. Can...

I'm sure I know what the answer will be, but man, would it be nice if I am wrong. I am bottling 3 different beers tonight. Do I need to sanitize the bucket all three times? I have a feeling the answer is going to be a resounding yes... but I'd love to be able to cut out some work here if...

I am planning a chocolate milk stout, as the title implies, but I was wondering what would be an appropriate amount of cocoa and lactose to add to my 5-galllon batch. The cocoa is going to be powdered cocoa for baking. I'd like to be able to taste the chocolate, I was thinking I'd need more...

I have a can of Munton's Connoisseur's IPA Bitter and quite a bit of leftover DME from a time before I started partial mashing/ordering kits online, but which I'd like to use because... hey, I paid for it. I figured I'd lay out my plan for it and then voice my concerns before requesting your...

I misunderstood the instructions on the package. I thought there was an inner pack that I was supposed to smack, so opened it to pull the pack out to smack, and was shocked to see I just opened the dang thing and exposed the yeast to air. So, here's where things stand... the nutrient pack has...

I am preparing to brew a whiskey barrel stout that will be 9-10% ABV. I know how to make a good starter, I'm using a quality yeast, but I've been told I am going to need an oxygen aeration system due to the high ABV of the finished product. Do I really need this? I've brewed IPA's, strong ales...

My apologies if the general discussion forum is the wrong place, I didn't see any forums that appeared a better fit. That said, I am sorely in need of your expertise. I started an IPA on Saturday and it wasn't until I had poured the wort into the bucket that I realized I had failed to add 3...

Hi guys, I am making a honey-raspberry ale right now. It's nothing to boast about, I just used one of those beginners kits (Mountmellick Export Ale), added a couple pounds of light spray malt, and about a pound of honey (because I don't want a strong honey flavor). I was told to use frozen...

Hi, I'm brewing an IPA. I used Coopers, a little over two pounds of malt, about a pound and a half of corn sugar, and just used the yeast that came with the Coopers. I started my beer several weeks ago, and by several I mean about 3.5 months ago. About 5 or 6 weeks ago I racked my wort from...