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Making a ~5.5% pils kinda beer and I want it to have a nice hoppy kick but still keep the bitterness (and perception of bitterness) balanced similar to how a german/czech pils would be. Here's what I have on hand (have to choose from these): Plenty of: Amarillo Simcoe Centennial Mosaic...

I made a vienna lager-ish beer with a big dose of Hallertau Blanc at the end of the boil. The hops smelled good in the package - kinda a mix of herbal with a little faint tropical - but when I added to the boil it seriously smelled like old trash. Like a bunch of veggie rinds in a compost...

I'm entering a competition at a local brewery for an English IPA and wanted to go a little off the beaten path so my beer doesn't taste like every other Maris Otter/EKG beer. My malt bill is pretty set, so I'm basically looking for some feedback on hops. Here's what I got so far: OG 1.068...

I've heard some talk of crashing a lager too quickly will make the yeast express a bunch of esters as they go into dormancy. Any thoughts/experiences on this? How quick is too quick? I'm stoked about a (doppel?) maibock I just brewed that went from 1.080 to 1.016. It's ready to package now...

I really wanted to like Beersmith but I just can't get past a few problems. The biggest is that I don't agree with the brewhouse efficiency numbers. I've been using an excel spreadsheet for my recipe for years, and I figure my efficiency for most batches is 70-75% depending on gravity. With...

Was doing some random calculations and I realized that mashing at 1.5qts/lb is just about π (pi) l/kg. I'd like to thank my mom, jesus, and all of you for this great accomplishment. I would like alcohol as a reward, preferably great sour beer. Thank you.

Made a pretty hoppy maibock yesterday on some new equipment and planned for poor efficiency just in case. Well, as a typical greedy homebrewer I just rolled with the higher extract and now I have a 1.080 maibock when I was planning for 1.070. I had plenty of yeast to make up for the extra...

I made a kinda experimental lager recently with 100% Franco-Belges Vienna malt and a big dose of Santium to finish. I guess it's something of a hoppy marzen. I had never used either of these ingredients and it's only my second legit lager so I'm dealing with a lot of unfamiliar flavors. The...

I brewed two weeks ago. Normally I recirculate through my chiller for the last 15min to sanitize. I forgot to open the valve on the output of the pump during this stage. So basically the kettle valve was open, and maybe there was some hot wort exchange between the kettle and the pump but...

I'm moving to a new house that has a great brew room, except it only has one circuit supplying power to it. The power box is across the house and would require extreme (read: expensive) work to get more lines over. So I'm considering attempting to run everything on the one circuit if the...

I'm planning out a conical purchase and am having some trouble figuring out the best plan for CO2. I know I want the ability to add CO2 for transferring, for pushing trub and my flocculant yeast out, and for taking samples without taking in air. It seems like the pressure gauges sold by the...

Are march pumps powerful enough to get a thorough rinse? I would like to build something that would pump liquid through both posts as well as a freestanding pole to blast up the middle, but that seems like a lot of volume to move. If you have a keg washer, do you ever physically scrub the...

I've been noticing that my beers made with pilsener malt (usually using the Franco-Belges brand) seem to require more aging time than say, a beer made with Maris Otter or even American two-row. It's probably worth mentioning that I've noticed this in the course of mostly making light colored...

I own a bakery and for a long time I’ve wanted to use my sourdough culture in beer making. This experiment was a long time in the making, but about a year ago there was an article in Zymurgy about the Kentucky Common style. This finally gave me the push and the extra dose of information I...

I can't believe it's taken me 6 years of brewing to think of this. The facts: -I fly sparge -At the end of mashing, there's about 1-2gal of liquid above the set grain bed -I runoff at a rate of about 1qt per minute, or slightly slower -I don't start adding sparge water until the liquid...

I'm about to purchase a Beergun, and in the process I'm going to be adding some CO2 quick disconnects into my system. Besides using the gun as it's intended, I'm wondering if it can also be used as a CO2 wand. I want to be able to purge things like carboys, transfer lines, hop packs, etc. I...

I've made several basil beers at this point so I thought I'd share some methodology for future brewers doing some research. Most of the basil beers I've made have been going for a Basil IPA kind of thing. Typically I've leaned towards an imperial red ale, but I've made them slightly paler as...

I brewed a lightly sourmashed brown ale recently and it's about ready to keg. I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to harvest the yeast from this batch. I took 30% of the mash and soured it for 24 hours using a sourdough culture from my bakery. I combined the runnings with the rest of...

Haven't made a kitchen sink beer in a long time but I have something like 7 half-packs of hops and some random grains. I'm looking for malt-bill feedback mostly. Here's what I have on hand: -plenty of Maris otter and 2row -1# honey malt -1# crystal 90 -a few oz of english c160 -1# smoked...

I brewed a wit and a strong saison from the same grist. 1.050 and 1.065 respectively. Both are one week into fermentation and only half attenuated. I make appropriate starters for both, used O2, pitched at 64*, and fermented a few days at 65-68. When I saw signs of slowing down, I raised...