I've been using a pretty conventional process on brew day consisting of the Gatorade mash tun, a couple of big kettles, and a propane burner. I've recently treated myself to the Brewzilla in hopes of shortening up my brew days. After one brew day, I'm pretty comfortable with the process but am...

I checked the gravity yesterday and it's only down to 1.030. Clearly, I've got a few more days to go. I'm fairly certain I was dealing with an extended lag time. The way things are looking, I'll end up leaving it to lager for an extra week or so because I'll be on vacation when it should be...

This may be the explanation. A few weeks ago I meant to brew, but life happened and I didn't get a chance. I had already put my yeast in a starter a day earlier, so I just crashed it and threw it in the fridge. It sat in the fridge for about 2.5 weeks before I finally got to use it. I pitched it...

I have 5 gal of German Helles currently fermenting. It has been in the low to mid 50's for about 2 weeks and I am still seeing active fermentation. There is also a full head of krausen. In the past, the krausen has dropped by now and I can warm up the fermentation a bit. I have had some temp...

Thanks for your reply's everyone. I figured it would be fine but I just wanted to confirm since it's something I haven't done yet. Hopefully the next brew will proceed without interruption. Darn life keeps getting in the way of my beer!

I was planning on brewing a batch of Munich Helles a couple of weeks ago but never got around to it. I put the yeast in a starter for about 24 hrs and then cold crashed it. It's been in the beer fridge for about two weeks now, still in with the starter. I feel like it should still be fine to use...

I checked again this afternoon and still no krausen but the airlock was bubbling every couple of seconds. The yeast have awoken and are back to work.

I went ahead and racked about 2.5 gallons into a secondary with 2oz (by weight) of the Apricot flavor. It smelled fantastic. After about 16 hrs I was a little surprised there was no new krausen at all. I figured that the sugars in the apricot would jump-start the yeast a bit. My intention is to...

My plan was to rack about 2.5 gallons of a 5 gallon batch into a 3 gallon fermenter with the apricot but now I'm not sure. I found a video of a guy putting into the keg after a full fermentation. His was a saison instead of a wheat ale but I don't know if that makes a difference. With all the...

Their claim is that the stuff is super concentrated. It was pretty expensive by the time it shipped so I don't what to waste any of it or ruin a batch of beer for that matter. Once I get the batch done I'll be sure to report back with the results.

What I ended up trying, and it worked, was to put some marbles in the insert first to stretch the bag and now the hops all stay submerged.

I have used the small bottle of Brewer's Best before, and even though it is natural flavoring, it tastes artificial to me. My wife likes it but it's just not what I'm looking for. However, I do intend to use a small amount to help round out the apricot flavor. I've heard that's what the pros do...

I've been on the hunt for an apricot product to make an Apricot Wheat beer. I've tried the liquid concentrate and am not the biggest fan and I'm not interested in the expensive cans of puree or whole fruit. A member of my local brew club recommended this brand so I thought I'd get some. I...

Thanks for the input folks. I think I'm going to go with about a pound per gallon on this first batch and see how it turns out. I was talking with some folks from my local brew club and someone mentioned Amoretti brand. My LHBS has a small container of the stuff made for brewing. The guy I...

So this is exactly why I'm out fishing for input on the fruit addition. We've got thunderwagon recommending 2 lbs/gal and Dogwood recommending less than half pound/gal.

What size cans do you use? Apricot meant for brewing/winemaking comes in really big cans, 2 or 3 lbs. Is there a pounds/gallon ratio that I should adhere to? After browsing through some recipes I'm not seeing much of a trend with the fruit treatment. The one thing I know is that I want to go...

I'm going to make my first fruit beer and I'm looking for any practical advice. I have a good American Wheat recipe that I've made a number of times. I have used apricot extract in a couple but the flavor just isn't what I'm shooting for. I feel like there's no way to get a subtle flavor from...

I've come across a heck of a deal on some Colombus Cryo hops and am wondering if there is any reason not to use them for bittering. I know they are prized for eliminating vegetal material for later additions but why not on early additions?

Glad I can help inspire! After bringing it up to about 53 yesterday, active fermentation started. I checked back this morning and it had dropped back down to 50. I guess I'll have to periodically add a little heat to keep it in the sweet range.

Do you know what's up with Surley anyways? I thought I heard some noise last summer about labor disputes and them closing the beer hall. Are they still in business making beer? There was a Brewfest last year in Duluth and I just kept going back to their booth for samples of Axeman and Rocket...