BeerTools Discussion Forum

I have no direct experience with painting bottle labels, but as an artist I have much experience with both paint and glass. If you want to use a paint directly on the bottles that will stand up to hand washing and refridgeration, there are special enamels available at your craft store or stained gla...

I never noticed any variance in head retention, but it is not something to which I pay attention so I conducted an experiment. I had a couple bottles of the last two batches on hand, so I poured one of each to see. The head on the first was typical of my other ales, but the head on the second was ba...

I have only been brewing for 3 1/2 years, but three of my 38 batches have been hopless. Two of my co-workers are alergic to hops (both grew up in homes surounded by hop fields) but like beer, so I offered to make some herbal ale on their behalf. The first one was grassy tasting and too bitter, but t...

I live in the middle of wine country, and the local Grange Hall is for sale cheap. There are tasting tours every summer weekend; the girls could drop their husbands off...

I am certainly no expert on growing hops, but my neighbor is, to the tune of several thousand commercial acres. I can get all the hops I want gratis, but I think most of us grow our own for the same reasons we brew our own. My neighbor suggested planting varieties that have been proven hearty locall...

Yesterday I brewed a Strong Scotch ale, and transfered a California Common that I brewed last weekend from the primary to the secondary. After brewing for three years (extract), these are the first brews for which I used a yeast starter, and it seemed to do its work a little faster than in previous ...

I like using whole hops, but I have a special situation. I live in hop country, and several of my neighbors let me fill my gunnysack with hops right out of the kiln. Varieties are limited, so I use pellet and plug hops from the store as well. I'm not sophisticated enough as a beer drinker to taste t...