I have brewed three beers recently that were described as sweet. In each case, they had fermented well and had used a 148 saccharification rest or combo 148 and 156. The three beers were very different: an imperial stout, belgian golden strong and a blonde ale. Thoughts about what direction I...

I am thinking about taking a break from brewing beer and instead making some cheese in my beer refrigerator. Do you think it is safe to go back to beer if I clean the refrigerator well after aging cheese in there for several months?

I would like to tame the esters and phenols I am getting from my Belgian Golden Strong beers. I am successfully attenuating but I think it is at the cost of really driving the esters, plus I am getting acetaldehyde. What are people’s thoughts about how I can improve? By way of background, I am...

I have a porter recipe I like but want to up the toffee notes in it. I have read that reducing some of the wort by half (maybe a couple pints) will do that. For an experiment, I reduce some of the final beer. Bleah! I forgot that method would also double the bitterness. But that failed...

I've been doing salt additions for a couple years now and the calculated ph is always .2ish higher than the actual. I got a good Milwaukee tester with the calibration solutions. I have used RO water, tap water and Crystal Geyser bottled water. Any thoughts?

I just got a tilt and am learning new things about my setup: there is a significant difference between the temp at the top of the fermenter vs the bottom. In a 3 gallon carboy in the frig, I use an inkbird with a thermowell controlling a heat wrap giving me 70 degrees towards the bottom of the...

There are a zillion stout recipes out there, but I'm trying to brew one with particular characteristics. Do you know of a recipe that is: - dark to the point of a Russian Imperial Stout - not dry - tending toward malty instead of hoppy - tan, lasting foam - smooth, but not a milk stout. No after...

I just did some yeast washing for the first time with WY3522, and am getting ready to make another batch of Belgian Golden Strong. I've read that I should do a starter with the contents of one of my mason jars (ooohh, nice creamy yeast inside) but how do I know how many cells are there without...

I just brewed a milk stout and have had success with hitting my target ph with BIAB. Unfortunately, I am doing batch sparge equal runnings right now as a way of learning a new skill and the ph is way low compared to the estimate in Brewersfriend. It started 5.0 low and then slow rose to 5.15...

I have assembled a recipe for a Hefeweizen and am trying to get good but balanced banana/clove aromas and flavors, haze (not Kristal), and good head retention. I'd love suggestions on simple salt/acid additions based on RO. Here's the recipe for 3.25 gallons in the fermenter: Start with 4.75...

I have an ongoing battle of mash temperature between by digital thermometers and my analog thermometers. My kettle has a thermometer about 3 inches up from the bottom and it might read 160 degrees, but my digital reads 151 even when I stir it REALLY well. So I get my other digital thermometer...

I am about to rebrew a dunkelweiss after royally f-ing up the last batch. I brewed a big batch of green apply nastiness and don't want to do that again. Please comment on the recipe and process. This is a BYO recipe. Method BIAB Dunkelweiss 3.75 gallons boil time 90 min OG 1.052, FG 1.014 ABV...

I am brewing a dunkelweiss for the first time using the fast ferment method. Everything looks pretty good but seemed fast. Started fermentation at 62, and at 2 days was ready to start raising, but fermentation had already peaked and was starting to subside. Tested gravity at 4 days and things...

I have one fridge that I would like to keep at 42 F but still want to ferment at 64 or so in there too. Too hot where I live to have fermentation in the house. Will the heat wrap work well enough, especially for a Belgian? Suggestions?

I just did an experiment with some leftover hops to try and educate my palate a bit. I was surprised by what I experienced and would like thoughts from you all. I made a quick tea from (one at a time) Mosaic, Simcoe, Centennial, and Nugget. I heated water to 185, put one and one half pellet in...

Just starting with kegging after buying a refrurb kit. All is working.... except the gas line leaks at the quick connect and I assume that is because it is loose. 1) The right post is in the right place (proved by the notch). 2) Gas goes in but leaks out very quickly. 3) The beer line quick...

I own an Inkbird 308 and would like to now purchase a thermowell to get better temp control. To use the thermowell, do you just put the probe inside the well, is it snug? (what a tremendously inappropriate set of questions). Also, any suggestions on brand of thermowell to purchase?

I've been brewing pretty regularly for the past 4 or 5 months and have learned lots of good techniques while still not brewing really good beer. Some due to brain farts but other times not sure why the mediocre results. So, I'm standardizing my process and would love some feed back. Clean -...

I made a very simple apple cider using champagne yeast. After fermentation was done, I racked the cider onto some apricot puree I had just made and cooled. It exploded in foam. Think Mentos and Pepsi. Cider everywhere. Once that was done, all was fine. I really liked the taste, but want to...

Been brewing more seriously since Jan '17. I learn more from mistakes than from what I do right; good thing since the beer ain't that great year. All-grain BIAB, extract and cider. I try to keep it fairly simple but am loving the science.