I've just bottled my first batch and all bottles seemed fine, little bit cloudy but seemed okay. Last few bottles are extremely cloudy and almost look just like yeast. Is this still safe to use or do I discard it? Thanks in advance

tl;dr: Almost half of my pale beers have trouble carbonating in the bottle, being almost uncarbonated after 2 weeks I don't think I have ever had this issue with a dark ale or porter. Details I've been brewing for the better part of a year now, doing a weekly small batch brew. I've been brewing a mix of pale and darker ales/ porters. All of my beers use some protafloc for clarity All of my beers use some Clarity Ferm …

I just brewed my 3rd biab batch last Saturday and pitched 3 white lab liquid yeast(i was told to do that because the yeast were expired). I was left with 15l and filtered it using a cheese cloth as I pour it in mu fermentation bucket. My fermenter is the typical 30l plastic bucket. So I was left with 15l of headspace and controlled the temp between 20-22C. But I haven't seen any bubbling from the airlock but it smells …

My impression is that ales are typically best drunk within a couple weeks of brew day. It's my experience that letting them age in the bottles for 2-3 months yields the best beer, both improving body, head, and desirable flavours, and reducing estery flavours. Could there be something I'm doing wrong to make the beer mature too slowly?

I've been making a heather ale (so not of the usual process of making an beer wort). I got the Boadicea hops for aroma, but because I got them the day after making the wort (poor organisation on my part) I ended up just making a tea from about 30gms and then pouring in the whole tea and hops together before pitching the yeast, i.e. dry hopping. After a day the ale became cloudy and a foam formed on top …

I am very new to home brewing. I have finished making my first batch of DME beer. Although during bottle conditioning I could see enough CO2 bubbles getting generated, upon opening the bottles after about a week, it didn't generate the foamy head. However, if I agitate the bottle, I manage to get some foam. If I refridgerate the bottles after conditioning, the beer becomes completely flat. Am I doing anything wrong? How can I ensure a decent foamy head …

I'm a newbie brewer currently trying his luck with an irish red ale kit. I've followed the instructions (which weren't complicated since it's a kit), and I've let it brew for about 6 days now (instructions claim 4–6 days to completion in 18–20°C). First question: The inctructions say the ale should read constantly below 1.014° when it's done, but I measured it to a bit above 1.017° both yesterday and today. I checked the temperature today, and it was 17°C. …

I was wondering whether it would be possible to dehydrate a ginger bug or the yeast part of it. The end goal is to be able to store it in powder form for longer periods of time. I am aware it can be kept in the refrigerator but it would still require feeding. I've bought ginger bug commercially in powder form so I'm sure it can be done. Also, last but not least, is the sediment which forms at the …

I was gifted a 5 gallon Imperial IPA kit which did not come with yeast. It recommends either Safale US-05 Dry Yeast or Omega Yeast OYL009. Times being what they are, Omega is sold out and shipping Safale US-05 won't get it here for 14 days, and costs way more than the yeast itself. I have White Labs Edinburgh Scottish Ale yeast, Nottingham Dry Ale yeast, and I've got a some Duvel Belgian Golden Ale yeast harvested, as well as …

I've made tons of ginger beer (often just like this http://ieatfood.net/2009/12/18/real-ginger-ale/ ), I've tried various different recipes, and they all come out quite nicely. But I want a ginger beer that's SHARP. Everything I make has a nice ground gingery mouth feel, where as ginger beer I buy (like Fentimans, Bundaberg) tends to be a lot sharper for a better "Dark and Stormy" taste. It's not lemon. It's not pineapple. How do I make it sharp?

I’d like to brew a spiced Autumn Ale, but somehow also combine it with Apfelwein. Can this be done? Sort of, a bastardized version of Graf (Graaf / Graff) Recipe I have calls for adding “pure apple flavor” during priming, and I thought, hey, WTF, maybe use a Apfelwein, instead? Any other way come to anyone’s mind? Could this be done during fermentation? Could you add something already fermented with a considerable ABV to an ale still in fermentation?

Would it be incorrect to say a Lager is a lighter (in flavor) beer that takes a long time to make, while an Ale is a heavier more flavorful beer that can be made in less time than a lager? Ignoring the fact that each method uses a completely different family of yeast.

I'm about to brew an American Pale Ale or Pale Ale. I'm only considering a single hop on this time around. Any recommendation out of these options listed below? It’s what I have left. I'd love to go a little experimental. But I know some can lack a bit of complexity for single hop ale. Saaz Huell Melon Polaris Columbus/Tomahawk Azacca Centennial Hallertau Blanc Jester

I'm a noob brewer and being distracted added boiling water to my yeast. I added cold water immediately however I'm afraid I may have committed yeastocide. The only place I could think of around me with yeast was Wilko however they had ran out of ale/beer yeast and only had Gervin Universal Wine Yeast and GV13 cider yeast. I have ordered ale yeast online, however I'm afraid it will not arrive until at least tomorrow and I made my wort …

I often come across guides on detecting off-flavors. But I never seen a guide on how to how to identify flavor caused by poorly aged beer, though I’ve come across plenty of home brews past it’s prime. Is there a general rule on flavors appearing late? Certain off-flavors to be on the lookout for? It’s definately the case that home brews in most cases age worse than pasteurized store-bought beer, in my experience (especially for low gravity beers).

I am stil fairly new to homebrewing; on my third batch of real ale now, and I wanted to experiment with adding a few extra things to my brew: some elderflowers, and miscellaneous herbs. My idea was to boil a small handful of these leaves up in a pan, strain it, and pour it in. However, I would like some opinion on when the best time in the process would be to throw this stuff in? My guess is that …

I’ve done a few batches using Safale F2 in combination with dextrose for bottle conditioning. They all came out tasting sour after 2,5 weeks, like I image young sparkling wine would taste. Now it’s do 2-3 weeks additional lagering. Previous attempts with F2 and DME came out like sweet beer. The use of dextrose is new to me. I also did a tasting after only 1 week of bottle fermentation. I did pick a very faint sour taste back then. …

I’ve used Safale F-2 and sometimes CBC-1 for bottle conditioning with good results. Doing so, flavour impact has been minimal. It also drops its dead clear once bottle fermentation is mostly done. It also goes beyond 10% ABV so residual sugar is also minimal for high gravity beers. Alcohol doesn’t kill the yeast easily. Are there any other general purpose yeast strains suitable for bottle conditioning? Is there an easy way to measure F-2? I frequently do batches of 5L, …

I'm brewing a Belgian golden strong ale for the first time. According to the fermentation schedule, it should cold crash and lager at 32°F (0°C) for three weeks. Even though I've cold crashed before, my technique has been to momentarily replace the airlock with sanitized foil. Keeping the airlock while cooling will suck water into the tank. A similar approach is mentioned in Lager Diacetyl Rest and Lagering Without Air Escape. Is there a better way to do this using …

I'm pretty new to home brewing. I made a 1 gallon Belgian Ale kit which came out pretty good and then did a 5-gallon Strong Belgian Ale recipe I found on the internet which also came out pretty well. There were a few funny flavors in it but overall it was pretty decent considering my lack of experience. So I'm trying to make that same beer again but there were some mistakes made. I also need to verify some information …