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After taking a long time off from homebrewing, my wife and I made a porter yesterday. However, we made a (few) stupid mistakes and I'm wondering if this batch can be saved. The biggest was that I forgot that tapwater is chlorinated (we live in Boston for what it's worth). We boiled all our...

I've done around ten batches of beer now over a 6 month period. I've noticed that the tubing in my kit has turned yellow from iodaphor and sometimes smells beery or stays wet even though I rinse it right away after use. I'm starting to get afraid of infection. So my question: how often, if ever...

I have a bunch of bags of different types of milled grains but they're getting oldish (like 2-3 months). My question is: what's the shelf life of milled grains? Do people use grains left over from previous batches, or is it best just to start fresh? Thanks.

Hey, I've done 7 brews now and need suggestions for a next batch. Here's what I've done so far: Brown Ale Hefeweizen Belgian Wit American Pale Ale Porter Stout Apfelwein As in sex, I want to keep things interesting and avoid getting stuck in a rut, so any suggestions for an...

Hi, My friend and I found this recipe for a "mocha stout". We're relatively new brewers and have never done a stout before, so you comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks! Mocha Stout Recipe Type: Extract Yeast: Wyeast Labs 1968 London ESB Ale Batch Size (Gallons): 5...

Out of curiosity, how many people have experienced "bottle bombs" (exploding bottles due to excessive pressure)? Do you have or have heard horror stories? When do the bottles tend to explode - soon or weeks after bottling?

My buddy and I are short on bottles so we raided our building's recycling bins and found lots of very nice brown bottles. The problem is they're screw tops (w/ the spirals rather than straight lips). Will these work? Quick responses are appreciated since we want to bottle this afternoon! THANKS!

Like everyone else, I'm currently brewing EdWort's Apfelwein. I noticed that after about a week into the brewing process, the bubbles have changed from tiny champagne bubbles to coarser bubbles that are twice to three times as large. No change in the rate of fermentation, though. Any thoughts?

I've seen on other posts that it's not good to squeeze grain bags into our wort because it releases tannins and other bad things. And yet I've also read recipes that tell us to rinse our specialty grains with hotter water (like sparging). What gives? Will this rinsing process just release...

This is probably a very naive question: say you're brewing a beer with an expected ABV of ~4% vs. a beer with ~8%. Assuming the same yeast is used for both, should the 8% beer take twice as long? Or does a beer with lots of fermentables ferment twice as fast? I'm asking this because I'm...

Grains/Extract: 6 oz. chocolate 6 oz. carafa dehusked 8 oz. melanoidin 8 oz. carahelles (30-40 L) 4 oz. toasted barley 8 oz. maltodextrin 6.6 lbs. Northwestern Gold LME 1 lb. light DME Hops: 1 oz. Galena 60 min. 1 oz. Cascade 30 min. 1 oz. Tettnang aroma Steep grains in...

My buddy and I are brewing a Porter this weekend. The recipe, like many for dark beers, requires light liquid malt extract with dark specialty grains to give it its characteristic black/brown color and roasty flavor. My question is this: At my LHBS I can get light liquid malt extract, but its...

This beer is brewed in honor of the American Philological Society, a learned society of scholars of Greco-Roman antiquity housed at the University of Pennsylvania. 6.6 lbs. Northwestern Gold LME (6-10 L) Specialty Grains: 8 oz. German/Weyermann CaraMunich I (30-45 L) 6 oz...

America's birthday is coming up, and what better way to celebrate than by brewing/drinking beer. So: - Who'll be brewing on the 4th, and what are you making? - Is your style/beer name especially patriotic?

This is really pathetic, I know, but... Does someone know an extract recipe for a Stoudt's American Pale Ale Clone? Even just amounts and types of hops would be helpful. My friend and I are new brewers and want to make this beer in honor of the president of our academic society, the...

My buddy and I set out for the homebrew store intending to make a Belgian witbier. We bought the right yeast and flavored the brew with orange peel and coriander. However, we were forced to use a darker wheat LME due to limited supply at the store and the beer has the color of a marzen. So...

My buddy and I threw a party to celebrate our first batch of homebrew, a nut brown ale that turned out very well. We all drank several bottles and noticed that the beer sometimes tasted different from bottle to bottle. None of the beer was spoiled, mind you. Just more pronounced hops or malt...

I just drank the first bottle of a Hefeweizen batch my buddy and I brewed (our second beer ever) and it was unbelievably delicious. The color is gorgeous and all the right flavors were there. The only problem is that we had a "weak" head. There was plenty of foam but it was thin and would...

My wife and I are going to be on vacation in Edinburgh during the next week and will want to sample the local product. Any recommendations for good Scottish beers or local bars/brews? Thanks!!!

I'm in the early stages of my career as a homebrewer and find that I'm giving lots of my beer away to friends (who are happy to receive free brew). So my question is: How much homebrew do you give away? Has this amount changed over time? Who do you give it to? Do you get anything in return???