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Unless you're adding fruit, spices, or gelatin finings, secondaries are not helpful. In fact there have been some studies that show extra time on the yeast cake to be a bit better (more efficient) than taking it off the cake.

I think the caveat is the cost of buying beer to replicate. Sure, it looks cheaper at the get go, but factor in the increase in desire to try new things, and researching other brews to do that, on top of equipment, and time, and the occasional infected batch or accident, brewing books, brewing...

Well, I would wait a minimum of 4 weeks to bottle, give the yeast time to do their work. Patience is a must in brewing. That said, yes, you technically could bottle in a week, but it will still be a green beer for a while. Usually it is better to give it the extra few weeks in primary (which is...

Not to revive an old thread, but I have a similar question/clarification. I have a beer that will be in primary for at least 3 or 4 weeks (nothing high grav or anything, just needs the time to clear). If I use something like myU-Fizz Carbonation Kit and force carb a liter or so, and bottle those...

Whoops, i put in 1.071 from the first thread, my bad. Did you adjust for temperature? If so it just might have been a smaller volume or extra fermentables that caused the additional ABV. Whatever the case, a week is too early to go into the bright tank most of the time, and that would be why...

Did you adjust hydro readings for temp? It may not be as high as you think it is. At 8.3% you'd probably have a "hot alcohol" flavor to it, which I personally wouldn't say tastes alright. http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ Also, I only calculate a 7.7% ABV with...

Thank you all for the info.

So I recently Purchased the AHS Pumpkin Ale kit. My question is this: How much Pumpkin would lead to a strong pumpkin flavor? Canned pumpkin has hit the shelves here and I would like to get my hands on some for the brew in a few weeks. The only issue is that I am moving to France for work for...

Just my $.02, I usually go with Austin Home Brew because I like how they work. However, I usually order over $100 at a time, which isn't hard since I'm limited to Extract. For many of their kits, you can choose LME or DME or Partial Mash or All Grain. Different Yeasts, whether or not you want...

70 ambient is a little high. Ambient temperature tells you nothing about fermenting temperature. You're probably going to get some esters/phenols with that temp, as active fermentation can easily raise the temp inside by 5-10. From what I hear getting fermentation temp under control is the next...

Not as long as your sanitization is solid. And as for proofing your yeast, it probably isn't necessary, except maybe with old yeast. Again, just wait a couple days, buy a hydrometer, and take a reading.

The LHBS had a special on them when I bought some, but they might have just been moving the product. The liquid was actually like $4, I was a bit drunk typing that, but dry yeast was .79. I'm sure I was a bit too optimistic that everyone can find specials on yeast. Whatever the case $1.50 - $7...

How long has it been? It can take 72 hours to show signs of activity. Did you take a hydrometer reading, and how long ago did you pitch? What kind of yeast was it? How did you "rehydrate"/proof. If it makes you feel better you can repitch, but it probably isn't necessary until you have all the...

I worked IT throughout high school and college. I've built most of my computers, a few servers, and I'm active in the FOSS movement (free open source software). However, I'm the self taught kind. I enjoy theory, and quantum theory is something I study often. However, In college I majored in...

I don't know much about all grain, but my guess is that you got more boil off than expected. Humidity could be down, ambient temp is cooler, both of which contribute to more boil and therefore higher OG. My guess is that it will still be a bit higher. My intuition says about 1.022 or so...

Have you taken a hydrometer reading? The sticky at the top of the beginners forum correctly states that it can take up to 72 hours for there to be signs of fermentation. The only real way, and by only I mean only way to tell if fermentation is happening is with a hydrometer. So wait a few more...

Thats what I'm saying. The yeasties are your friends, and they're not as delicate as many seem to think. Sure, a few may die because of the potassium metabisulfite, but I doubt it. Potassium metabisulfite boils out. If it doesn't, and the yeasties die, a packet to re-pitch with is like $.79 for...

You should be fine as long as it wasn't a bunch, some brewers use a bit for their tap water to get rid of chloramine and to disenfect well water. The boil should deal with it. RDWHAHB. If, for some reason I am wrong, you should be able to re-pitch in like 3 days after taking hydrometer readings.

The stuff in the Austin kits is Dextrose, aka corn sugar. I'm sure powdered sugar wouldn't hurt, but I've heard dextrose touted as the best. You can buy corn sugar at some grocery stores, but if not any old sugar will work, including DME.

Where I used to live in Maine, I had almost the opposite experience. It was a small town(granted, a college town) that had 3 restaurants with bars. One was more like a cheap bar with some fried foods that college kids went to, but the other two clearly targeted the adults. One had at least 10/12...