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Sanitation & Dry Hopping

Is there any risk of wort infection by not sanitizing hops before dry hopping?
Tetragrammaton
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Why do you aerate wort at first and try to keep oxygen out later?

Why should you aerate the wort before pitching yeast but then try to avoid allowing oxygen into it later in the process? What is going on with the yeast that makes oxygen good at first but bad later?
Joe Phillips
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6 answers

Dry yeast vs wet yeast

I've always thought it to be common knowledge that wet yeast is better than dry yeast for home-brewing. This was confirmed by Sam Calagione at his Authors at Google talk where he suggested that using wet yeast is the single best way for the…
WayneTheTrain
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Fruit beer: should I allow it to ferment out completely?

I have a wheat beer in secondary that has been on 5 lbs of strawberries for 6 days. The flavor is phenomenal right now, just perfect. The strawberries continue to ferment actively, and I want to make sure I don't miss a window where the flavor…
markskar
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1 answer

Do Oxygen Absorbing Caps Make Any Difference

So, I was looking to refill my supply of bottle caps and ran across "Oxygen Absorbing" bottle caps. The implication is that their absorbency will reduce oxidation in the bottled beer. If you're already "capping on foam", etc. do these make any…
J Wynia
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5 answers

Is a long boil with extract necessary?

I'm making a late hopped extract beer later tonight. (Jamil's Evil Twin as posted http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm) He suggests at 90 minute boil with the first hop addition coming 20 minutes before the end of boil. Since I'm doing the…
Bill Goetz
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7 answers

Calculating Alcohol by Volume

I've got a formula for calculating ABV (alcohol by volume) from several different sources on the Internet: ((76.08*(OG-FG)/(1.775-OG))*(FG/0.794)) It works just great, but it's not the easiest one to remember. Are there any other formulas out…
Rich Armstrong
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3 answers

When should I add a vanilla bean?

My wife just kicked a bottle of vanilla extract. She bakes a lot and buys the good stuff that comes with a bean in it. I think i want to add the bean to my double-chocolate stout that's in the secondary. Right now I have the carboy in the fridge…
JackSmith
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15
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1 answer

When is it necessary to pitch fresh yeast for bottle conditioning?

I've read that you can leave an ale to secondary for months and enough yeast will remain in suspension that you won't need to pitch additional yeast when bottling. But are there times when you do need to pitch more yeast before bottling to ensure…
JackSmith
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3 answers

What's the best method to catch a strain of wild yeast for homebrewing?

I'm interested in learning about brewing using wild yeast, but I wonder what is the best method to catch a strain that would produce good results in homebrewing. And of course how to ensure that it wins over all the other wild microorganisms. No…
user61
15
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3 answers

Using honey in beer

This thread is not actually one single question, but a number of different ones. When calculating sugars used in the wort, how much sugar does honey contain? Is it closer to dry malt extracts, raw cane sugar, dextrose? When is it better to use it?…
Tetragrammaton
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What is the conversion rate between dry malt extract (DME) and liquid malt extract (LME)?

Say I have a recipe that calls for 5 lbs of LME. How much DME would that be?
JMerritt
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15
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3 answers

Can a refractometer be used for testing final gravity?

Can you use a refractometer to test final gravity?
Richard
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14
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6 answers

Airlock: vodka, water, or

I've just started making my first brew, and am using vodka in the airlock, but am hoping for some more detailed info about what is best practice, or if there is not really any difference between using water, vodka, or other things I haven't thought…
Kevin Versfeld
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1 answer

How does Irish moss work?

How does it clarify my beer?
tbeseda
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