BeerTools Discussion Forum

You are correct on the amount of priming sugar to add to a five gallon batch. Just make sure that you have confirmed that the sugars in your wert during the fermentation process have all been consumed prior to bottling. This is accomplished by take gravity reading with a hydrometer. If the readings ...

Yes I grow my own hops. I have 5 varieties growing in the back yard and as you said, it's time consuming. There are trellis' that you can build that will allow you to lower the bine to pick but you have to be creative. Different varieties have to be grown separately and you forgot to mention insect ...

The reason we look for a shot lag time between the time we pitch the yeast and we see fermentation is that we don't want the bad stuff to establish a strong hold before our yeast has a chance. Some people try to cheat by pitching on the warm side. It works but plan for off flavors. The old adage of ...

We want to simplify things at times but short cuts on brew day can result in less than desired results. What I am referring to is proper yeast preparation prior to brew day. Let's face it, you wouldn't be brewing if you weren

I too had a recipe that called for brown sugar. In all the excitement of brewing my first 10 gallon batch, I forgot the brown sugar. My brother brewer who I was splitting the batch with is not fond of adding sugars to any beer and was pleased that we forgot. Because it is brown sugar you will lose s...

Bill, The mini kegs I was refering to was the 1.25 gal tin kegs. They are tough to clean and don't react too well to preasure. I have been told that they really were not designed for the homebrewer as the preasures generated by natural carbonation are too high. I can validate that statement as well ...

Before I get started here I just want you to know that I am not going to be much help. I too have had problems popping that inner packet. I ended up laying it on the kitchen counter and playing the feel and find game to locate it. Once I found it I used the heal of my hand and struck with brut force...

It seems like the longest and boringest part of making your own beer is preping the bottles. I meticulously wash each bottle with soap and water and a bottling brush, rinse, soak in bleach water and then blast with a jet blaster and hang on a bottle tree. I know that my bottles are good but it seems...

Here is what I would do if I found that I had done something silly like that. The fear right now is that your bottles are going to explode however this won't occur within the first 24 hours so you have time to defuse the bombs. Start sampling the bottles at bottling day plus 3. If the carbonation is...

It has been two weeks in the primary (50 degrees) and two weeks in the secondary at approx 45 degrees (chest freezer) plan to bottle next weekend. Is there anything differences than bottling ale? What temp to I bottle condition? Do I add more yeast with the priming sugar in the bottling bucket becau...

I too am on my FIRST true lager. I have read that it takes twice as many yeast cells to make a lager as it does ale so I made a yeast starter almost two days before brew day. I was concerned when I didn't see much activity in the starter but less than 24hrs after pitching I was in business. I am fer...

My brother and I came close to the same conclusion. However we are going to
1. Replace the hoses and bottle filler as they are quite old.
2. Stir the beer slowly to mix in the priming sugars.

-James-

My brother made a batch of Hobgoblin Clone. We never stir in the priming sugars - just boil and dump into the bottom of the bottling bucket. The thought was that the swirling action from transferring from the secondary was all that was needed to mix it in. End state he ended up with bottles of super...

I am looking for a cheaper alternative. I brewed Pendle Witches Brew from the book Beer Captured. I did find it in a grocery store but paid over 5 bucks for a small jar. The recipe called for 8 oz. which has a dramatic effect on my cost per bottle. Has anyone had any experience brewing with this stu...

Has anyone ever had any success with these things? I can blame my last batch on too much priming sugar. The can actually bulged. It