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1500 questions
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4 answers

How to best grind grain at home?

I buy most of my grain un-ground in bulk, because I don’t have a car my local HBS is way across town. Before brewing, I’ve been grinding grain using a food processor (with blades) until each kernel is, on average, in three or four pieces. This…
Zac B
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How does lemon juice ferment into hard lemonade?

I'm interested in making a hard lemonade after my cider is done, but I'm having a tough time figuring out how the recipes I've found actually work, and what's the best way to ferment lemon juice. What I'm looking at doing is grabbing some good…
MStodd
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4 answers

What is the best way to store hops?

I recently got a really good deal on some bulk pellet hops (several pounds). What is the best way to store them? I've heard that they should be vacuum sealed and put in the freezer. Will they be OK for 6-9 months if I store them in a zip-lock bag…
RobM
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Will Dry Hopping Add Bitterness?

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that dry hopping is for aroma only, and effects on flavor are assumed to be a matter of perception. (i.e. smell affects taste) However, while attempting to "fix" a beer that came out far too sweet, I have been…
Dustin Rasener
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Mead made from Agave nectar?

The health food store near me has a sale on dark Agave nectar such that 1 kg costs less than their average 1 kg of honey (usually it costs slightly more than honey). I noticed on the nutritional info on the label that it's got roughly the same sugar…
FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
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13
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2 answers

DIY Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC / Peltier) Fermentation Chamber

From a thermodynamics perspective, I realize that a TEC-based fermentation chamber is not the most efficient type of cooler due to very inefficient heat transfer, but, alas, I want to build one as I have most of the parts lying around. I haven't…
Bill Craun
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9 answers

Why is my IPA not hoppy enough?

I am about to start my second attempt at making an IPA. My first did not turn out anything like an IPA. It was much darker than I expected (I may have burnt it a little) and did not really have the strong hop aroma that is typical in an IPA. It was…
D J
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4 answers

Effects of pectin

I often see recipes (usually for fruit mead or beer) warning against boiling fruit for fear that it will release pectin. I know that this is important for making jam, and bad for home brewing. What I don't quite know is why it's a bad thing. Does…
FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
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4 answers

How to add adjuncts (hops, fruit, spices, etc) to the fermenter without contaminating the beer?

What is the best way to sterilize things like dry hops, spices or fruit before putting them in the fermenter? Some stuff you can obviously boil. But boiling hops, say, would defeat the purpose of dry-hopping it seems. Yet adding straight dry hops to…
thaddeusmt
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Will scaling a recipe from 5 gallons to 1 gallon introduce significant differences?

Will scaling a recipe down to 1 gallon (i.e.: dividing the amount of each ingredient by 5) produce a pretty close approximation of the results of a full 5 gallon batch? Are there any additional considerations in brewing such a small batch? I'd like…
Nicholas Trandem
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13
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How do I make a Yeast Starter?

I know I should be using a Yeast Starter so that I can make sure I have enough, healthy yeast, but I've never managed to go around to it. How would I start a yeast starter? How long before brewday should I start?
sgwill
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8 answers

How do I cut my extract brewing cost?

I'm trying to reduce my cost-per-beer, without investing in an all-grain setup. I know I'm pretty limited with what I can tweak (can't get around needing sugar, yeast, and hops), but here in Montana it runs about $40 for each batch (even using…
thaddeusmt
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2 answers

Is a taste-test at bottling time indicative of the end result?

If I were to do a taste-test of the beer at racking/bottling time, how indicative of the end result would it be?
brentmc79
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4 answers

How would you ship your brew?

I've been thinking about shipping my beer to a fellow homebrewer on the opposite coast. I know the post office doesn't exactly condone this, but if you were to mail a bottle or two, how would you do it? Are any particular boxes better than others,…
PMV
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What is the point of mashing out?

I know it stops the enzymes from breaking down any more sugar, but is there any other point to it? Will I notice any difference in the final product if I just got straight to sparging? Also, if my mash passes the iodine test, wouldn't that say…
PMV
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