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Hey guys....Finally got around to making my first cider after making beer for years. I used WL 007 after reading an article in Zymurgy. Any issues pitching on top of either a full or partial cider yeast cake? How about rinsing the yeast instead like we do for beer?

So a friend gave me a bottle of commercially produced hop water from http://www.h2ops.com/. It was really good and a great alternative to beer when you need a hop fix. No alcohol so I can drink them at work! Of course now I want to "brew" my own. Anybody ever experimented with making "hop...

I know...I know. Found out I won 3rd place in my category in a medium sized BJCP that is very well run. I should be happy but instead am more than a little pissed. Apparently I had the second highest score (34.5) in a flight of 16 beers...yet I get 3rd?!! They intentionally didn't award a...

Hey guys, Trying out the Danstar Saison yeast for the first time. Should I treat this like other saison yeasts? I usually start mine at 68 for 48 hours then ramp up 2 degrees per day until I get in the low 80's with the Dupont strain. Any experiences with this dried yeast?

Hey guys, Can't believe I am even writing this but I am having a hard time convincing myself to go to the NHC in San Diego. I have never been to a NHC and I only live 3.5 hours from San Diego so it would seem like a slam dunk. Between the cost of the conference, hotel room, meals, and time...

So I have noticed a certain name popping up in the list of winners in a lot of local BJCP comps. I recognized it as a pro brewer....he is actually listed as a " co-brewer". Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand I am sure the beer is made on "homebrew" equipment. Plus what really makes a...

My buddy was willing to trade......my homebrew for his Pliny!! Sweet!!

I don't think so but apparently some in the craft beer industry do........ http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/3059182-181/california-brewers-assess-political-business?page=2

So I made a Dubbel a few months ago and it finished a little too dry for my tastes. I was expecting 1.012-1.014 and it finished at 1.009. It tastes too thin and dry for the style. So I was thinking about experimenting with adding some lactose into the keg. My thoughts are that it would...

Now I know some guys are using them successfully but I wonder if they will surpass Corny kegs? I have 11 cornies right now and would like to get some more kegs but the price of used cornies is almost as much as new Sanke kegs!! And new cornies are even more than new Sanke's. So it got me...

So I am well aware of the conventional wisdom that you "never" boil your wort with the lid covering your kettle. The theory is that it will trap the precursors to DMS in your wort. Commercial breweries boil with a covered kettle except for the exhaust flue. It seems like most of these exhaust...

I use a SteriPen for sanitizing drinking water in the backcountry. It is basically a UV light that is dipped into your water bottle for a specified period of time....60 seconds will purify 1L of water to something like 99.85% bacteria free. It intended to take the place of treating your water...

Now I know this happens all the time....and that's one of the reasons I think I am done with comps. There is too much variability in scores/remarks for them to be useful for me. I recently sent in a Dubbel to three separate comps. The average score in each comp was a 38, a 32, and a 22...

Hey guys...I would like to get your opinion on my local water Ph- 7.4 Sulfate- 568 Calcium- 162 Mag- 52 Sodium-134 Alkalinity- 269 Usually I blend it with RO water to either a 33% or 66% dilution unless I am making a pale lager. In that case I go 95% RO. Just trying to get a better...

In the latest issue of Zymurgy Charlie Papazian made mention of the early days of "homebrewing" and apparently there was some debate on whether to continue to call it "homebrewing" vs. just brewing. It got me thinking why do we need to continue to differentiate "homebrewing" vs "brewing"? For...

I thought I saw/read somewhere that there was a vendor selling the STC-1000 controller all wired and ready to go?? I can't find the link anywhere... I have built one already and figured I can save myself a little bit of time by just buying one premade.

So I still have a good amount of WL 800 slurry from a BoPils I recently made. I know it is a pretty style specific yeast but am looking to brew something else with it...just made a Schwarzbier (Black Pils :D) Thinking of doing a CA Common grain/hop bill but use the WL 800 yeast knowing that it...

Well I have a very un-scientific way of determining this. I figure if the hobby is still growing HBT should be hammered soon with new members who received a homebrewing kit for Christmas. More importantly the "most people ever on HBT" record will be broken in the next few weeks since this is the...

Was visiting a nanobrewery over the weekend and they were using a propane fired tankless water heater similar to...

WOW! I was switching over kegs and blended my Coconut Nut Brown and Oatmeal Stout as an experiment. Talk about synergy! Each beer is pretty good but when blended it became a completely different beer that is better than either beer on its' own.....somewhere along the lines of a Coconut...