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Hello, this is the first recipe I've posted here. I brewed this one a few weeks ago. Tasted it this past weekend, it's great! Very "citrusy" with a nice dryness at the end. Fairly sweet, yet no caramel was added. Should make a very refreshing spring/summer ale. The Sam Adams White Ale was...

Hello, A week ago I brewed an amber beer. My apartment is pretty warm and I was having problems with banana flavors, etc, so I used a chiller thing to keep my temps down during this fermentation. I racked to secondary tonight and it tasted great, no phenols etc. I'm wondering...

I started using kegs a few months ago, and that's worked out fine, but I've noticed that when I force carbonate, the carbonation is super fine (the bubbles are super tiny, almost invisible unless you tilt the glass and see them for a moment). The other day, I opened a bottle of some beer I'd...

I brewed a porter the other day and it got off to a really quick start with fermentation (WL irish yeast). I went to bed, and woke up and it was kicking ass hard... the stick on thermometer said 80F but I'm sure it was even higher than that inside. I'd left it at room temp to let fermentation...

I've been having banana flavor problems, and originally thought it was my water, but after ruling that out, all I'm left with right now is temperature. I've thought about buying a fridge/freezer big enough to stick a fermenter in, but that seems like overkill just for lowering fermentation...

I started brewing this fall and I've pretty much decided that the majority of my batches have come out with a medicinal flavor. One didn't have it too much but I can't really place what I did differently. At first I thought it was the one-step, so I switched to Iodophor. Then I thought it...

If I do a week in the primary, then a week in the secondary, can I then go ahead and rack to the keg to cold condition in the fridge? Do I really need to give it 2 weeks in secondary, or can the first week of conditioning serve the same function as the second week in the secondary?

I brewed a Fat Tire clone approximately 5-6 days ago. Yesterday, fermentation had slowed to under 5 bubbles/minute. Today I racked to a secondary fermenter. When I opened the primary, there was the ring of krausen around the sides like I usually see, but there was also foam on the top. I...

What is the point of using unmalted wheat? It it generally used outside the Belgian style beers? Is it simply steeped as a specialty grain?

My apartment stays kinda warm, so I've been using the wet towel + fan method to bring down the temp of my primary fermenter. Without it, the thermometer on the outside of the bucket says like 74-77, with the towel, it says 67-68. Adding +3/5 to the inside, i guess that means its fermenting at...

Lately I've been using the wet towel + fan on my fermentation bucket to keep the temps down. I'd like to maybe go even lower though... I was wondering if there were any other popular options. One thing I thought of was getting one of those drink coolers like people use, but I guess getting a...

Is it okay to use those screen mesh hop balls that some HBS's sell? I've been using them but I'm worried about utilization. They dont get a lot of play inside those hop balls by the time they've expanded with fluid, it seems like. Dry, they take up about half the space in there.

Lately I've seen a few recipes that share the philosophy of adding all of your LME/DME at the END of the boil (thus, not boiling the extract). I guess the rationale is avoiding carmelization, scorching, etc... and since it's really already been boiled or whatever... what do you lose by...

My uncle gave me his kegging stuff today. He hasn't used it in a long time so couldn't tell me much about the condition of it all. I got the co2 tank filled, and I attached the regulator. Then I plugged it into one of my kegs and opened the tank. I figured out how to work the screw to...

Hey, I'm wanting to use some Munich malt in a recipe, but I'm an extract brewer thus far. I'm wondering, can I do a mini-mash for the munich malt, add that 1gallon to 2 gallons in the brewpot, then do a 30min steep on my steepable grains, then do the 60min boil? or do i have to integrate the...

If you refridgerate your beer, then remove it and let it go back to room temp, and then repeat (any number of times), does this hurt the flavor of the beer? Along that same line, I am currently fermenting a Kolsche, and some people have recommended cold conditioning it during the secondary...

If I can fit a 5 gallon corney keg in my home fridge on its side (not standing up), is that okay? Could I carbonate standing up while OUT of the fridge (at room temp), then put in fridge to store, then remove (stand it back upright) to dispense for drinking, then put back in on its side to...

I made a Kolsch, and I pitched the Whitelabs Kolsch yeast for it. It lagged pretty bad... took about 36 hours to start. Now it's bubbling though, but only about 1-2 bubbles per minute at this point. I know that Whitelabs says the ideal range for this yeast is lilke 65-69F or so. Right now...

Hey, anyone used the LD Carlson flavoring stuff... blueberry, etc? I made a honey wheat ale, and added their blueberry flavoring at bottling time... ehhh, seems like the flavoring made it taste like crap. i mean its good but theres this soapy artificial flavor that lingers, which smells...

Howdy, I've been bottling, but have come into possession of a CO2 tank and some corny kegs. I've been reading on the subject but have a few things I need clarification on. 1) Is it okay to put a keg in the fridge on its side? Or must it absolutely be standing up to store and/or operate? (My...