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I was wondering if anyone else had experienced the same problem that I am having now. I brewed a batch of brown ale using Windsor yeast. A couple of weeks after bottling, I noticed a couple of bottles had broken in the Rubbermaid. A week later, when I tested the ale, I had gushers. I had...

After three years of extract brewing, I finally made the jump to all grain in January. It's a longer brew day, but I found it to be more enjoyable. I tasted the first one yesterday, an American Amber, and it was great. It's a cool feeling to know that the ale was brewed from scratch. Many...

Just got back from Ireland where they are celebrating Arthur Guinness's birthday today. Raise a glass to Mr. Guinness if you get a chance.:mug:

So, I decided to do some yard saling this past weekend. Towards the end of Saturday, I'm looking through this guy's garage and I see an old Great Bear 5 gal glass carboy in a wooden carrier with Great Bear advertising. I asked him if it was for sale, and he said he'd take 5 bucks for it. It...

My wife's family is having a reunion on June 9, and they asked me to brew for the event. The beers are all brewed and bottle conditioned, and everything is great, except for the fact that I have 15 twelve packs, and not enough refrigerator space to chill them down all at once. I'd like to give...

Has anyone brewed the Caribou Slobber extract kit, and used the amount of priming sugar recommended by the TastyBrew calculator instead of the 5oz recommended by NB? It seems that the calculator suggests 2.5 oz for an English Brown Ale, quite a difference.:mug:

For those of you that use converted refrigerators, etc to maintain fermentation temps for ales, how long do you keep the temp down, before you let it increase. Assume a 3-4 week primary with no secondary. Thanks.:mug:

After capping my bottles, I found that if I put a lot of pressure on them to turn, they will. They don't turn easily, it takes some force. Is this normal? Happy Thanksgiving.:mug:

OK, so here I was on a beautiful Autumn Sunday in New York. What better to do than brew a batch of beer. I brewed an American Amber extract kit from NB, Everything went great during the brewing process, and my immersion cooler kicked butt because the tap water is now cold enough to do the...

Hello all, Spent a couple of weeks in Hawaii earlier this month. Real nice place. They have a local brewery on the big island called the Kona Brewing Co. They brew about a dozen varieties, and you can buy a sampler at the brewery and check six of them out at a time. The beer was pretty...

Has anyone brewed Northern Brewer's Chinook IPA? How did you like it?:mug:

Just finished building a typical copper immersion wort chiller. I tested it and it works fine, but I was wondering if the flow rate was important. When I hook it up to the water tap, the flow is fast. When I use the 158gpm pond pump, the flow is steady, but not as fast. I was going to use...

After reading all the posts regarding chloramine and chlorine possibly ruining beer, I went to my LHBS to purchase campden tablets. I was advised by the owner that I could be creating a worse problem by using the tablets because although the chloramine and chlorine would be neutralized, there...

Hello All, Has anyone brewed Brewers Best Smoked Porter, and if so how did you like it? After four weeks in primary and five weeks in the bottle, mine tastes kind of bland, not much malt character. They're fully carbed, but lacking in flavor and body. As a general rule, do porters take...

I am currently fermenting ales in my basement with an ambient temperature in the low 70's. I have been using a swamp cooler with the wet t-shirt and frozen water bottles. The water temperature fluctuates between 53F - 62F, depending on when the bottles are swapped out. Is there any point...

Hello all, I have been brewing Brewers Best kits for some time now, and have been within a reasonable range of their predicted OG. The last 2 kits I brewed were from Northern Brewer, and I came in high on both of them. I followed the instructions to the letter, and I even checked with a...

Does anyone know if the vinyl tubing sold by HD, Lowes, etc can cause off flavors from using it to siphon?:mug:

Could use some advice on Brewers Best kits. I am about to brew my sixth BB kit, I've only broken open the first one so far, an IPA and it was great. The instructions say to ferment and condition the beer in a warm, dark area, with a stable temperature in the 64F - 72F range. My basement...

Brewed a batch of RIS from a Brewers Best kit late Sunday. Airlock activity started within 4 hours. I went to work on Monday, and during the day, I read all the posts about violent fermentations and the need for a blowoff hose. I had visions of an exploding fermentation bucket all over my...

I just brewed an Extra IPA from a Brewers Best kit, and the OG came in at 1084, ( the instructions called for 1075 - 1079). Does a beer this size require more time conditioning in the bottle? I usually keep my brews in the primary for four weeks, then bottle. Also, any ideas on why the OG...