I have a club challenge using various fruits,spices,etc. I drew apricot and apple. Would a wheat ale be a good starting point for this? Think I might do mostly wheat, some barley, Noble hops, Hefe yeast and use apply juice concentrate and apricot jam since fresh fruit probably not available. Any...

Hey there: I agree BIAB is the best. I put a stainless steel veg. steamer in bottom of pot to prevent the bag from scorching. After mash I place bag of grain in another kettle with 2 gallons hot water to extract more. I like the pulley idea. Best wishes, Nick

Sounds like a plan. Alternately,you could reverse the order, adjusting for the higher bitterness of Simcoe, depending which you prefer at the end. That's what's great about brewing-you can be your own man.

Good points. Thanks, Nick

Hi all- I'm brewing my first Hefeweizen and plan to keg. Can I assume that since the beer is naturally cloudy and fizzy I won't need to do a secondary, and probably don't even need to let the primary go all the way to completion prior to kegging ?

Welcome! I like to keep a logbook-this site is good for that. Then change one thing the next time to see it's effect on the final product. Enjoy!

The recent topic about beer bottle color brings this question to mind: Does anyone make 7 oz beers that are in returnable, i.e. able to recap, green or brown bottles? Some of the big brewers sell lite brews in clear or twist-offs,which are of no use. It's nice to use a small bottle now and then...

I recently was in a hurry to get a batch to a charity function and had to skip the secondary, going directly to keg. Used a pkt of gelatin. After a few days the gelatin had settled and cleared the beer fairly well. It was a little tricky getting the first couple beers out as the gelatin was...

Hey all-thanks for the opinions and sharing of experience. I think I'll do a pre-boil of any water I might add and also not be afraid of some trub in the fermenter. P.S.: my wife is from Mingo Jct. We lived there awhile-good people.

Due to my equipment limitations with my grinder and kettle size of 6.5 gallon I find it hard to get 5 gallons to the fermentor. I get about 75% efficency with my BIAB method but have a large amount of trub. If I stepped up the grain and hop amounts slightly could I top off the fermentor with...

Greetings from Ohio, USA. Hope things are going well. I just got back into the hobby and am trying the BIAB mashing method. My brother was in Gothenburg recently, and is now in Germany. I am retired recently from pharmacy. Good luck with your beer. Nick

Greetings from Ohio. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Hope you enjoy your new hobby and your beer! Keep it simple and you will do well. I just started with the BIAB method of mashing and am revising my method each batch I make, also trying to keep it simple. Take care, Nick