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1500 questions
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9 answers

Airlock Alternatives

Imagine that brew-day rolls around and you find yourself without an airlock for your carboy or bucket. What other things can you use in it's stead? Further imagine that you do not have the materials for a blow-off tube. Touch on infection risk and…
Dean Brundage
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What would cause yeast to fail to flocculate?

I am using WLP002 - English Ale Yeast - in my current batch, a Young's double chocolate clone. According to the manufacturer's product page, this yeast is highly flocculant. The beer remained in the primary for 15 days. After this time, the…
JackSmith
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8 answers

I just had my Big Mouth Bubbler carboy shatter, now I'm terrified

I've been using these big mouth bubbler's as my secondary fermentation now for a few months: I was originally using them as primary as well, but being one that makes pretty high gravity beers, I was scared of the pressure build up inside even with…
Kevin DiTraglia
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6 answers

Shorter Brew Day

For all grain brewers, what part of the brew session lends itself best to shortening the total brew session. Time is tight for me these days and shortening up the brew session a bit will certainly keep my wife and family happy. A happy family…
brewchez
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4 answers

Will force-carbonated beer remain carbonated if poured into a bottle and capped?

If I pour kegged beer into bottles and immediately cap them to take with me for the evening, will it remain well-carbonated?
JackSmith
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11
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4 answers

How do I save yeast to be reused?

I'm fairly new to beer (6 batches), I was using gelatin to clear my primary, but it has been noted that I then loose the ability to reuse the yeast. I have been using American Ale II liquid yeast and at ~$7 a pop, if I can save it and reuse it…
Quentin
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11
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1 answer

How to Dry Hop when Forgoing Secondary Fermentation?

I've decided to stop doing secondary-fermentations on the recommendation of users on this stackexchange. A Dead Ringer IPA from Northern Brewer suggests 1-2 weeks primary, and 2-4 weeks secondary, with the last oz of Centennial being dry hopped in…
Matthew Moisen
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11
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2 answers

Smack Pack and Pitching Time

So I completed my first batch of homebrew this morning, but I forgot one potentially (okay, not potentially, definitely) important aspect of the whole process: the yeast. I didn't forget it, per se, but I forgot that I was supposed to smack the…
WhatsBillDoing
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2 answers

"White wheat" vs "wheat malt" vs "flaked wheat"?

I was looking for flaked wheat at my LHBS and they were out. My recipe called for roughly equal amounts of wheat malt and flaked wheat. The LHBS guy told me to use white wheat malt as a substitute. He said it might not be exactly the same but would…
Hank
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10
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4 answers

Is it safe to use swing-tops?

I just started brewing my first batch (yay!) and want to set up for bottling while I wait. My question is simple: Can I start using Swing-Tops like Grolsch to bottle my beer? I've heard varying reports about skunking my beer with the green glass,…
BrewNoob
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4 answers

How to make malt vinegar

How should I proceed to make a good malt vinegar. In particular I would like some recipe to know what grains (or extract) I need to use, to have a really good vinegar, not just something that is sour, since it can be bought for less than a dollar at…
Paolo
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10
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1 answer

How do I stop Cider becoming too acidic?

Although the taste of my cider is often excellent sometimes it can be too acidic and hard to drink large quantities. How would one: Test the acidity Control the acidity Also, what pH should it be?
Richard Stelling
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10
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3 answers

What type of reference beer should I use for flavor doctoring?

I've been looking for resources on how to really taste some of the commonly referred to tastes out there. For instance, people say that phenols taste like band-aids. But I really have no clue what that means. There are off flavor taste kits…
chrislarson
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1 answer

What is the purpose of boiling wort?

Theoretical question here. What happens when wort is boiled? Why do we do it? Why is the process not done at cooler temperatures? My limited understanding, with some assistance from this post and this post, is: Pasteurization Maillard reactions,…
Galapagos Jim
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10
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3 answers

Holding a glass carboy by its neck

Is it safe to carry a filled glass carboy by its neck, using one of these carboy handles? The weight of the glass + beer, combined with the brittleness of glass, makes me nervous (compared to a PET carboy, which is a more elastic material). Is it…
Hank
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