The harsh reality is that one of the reasons for LHBS failures is the explosion of local craft breweries, as well as the explosion of craft beer available in stores. This has led to a decrease in the amount of homebrewers, which is driving LHBS out of business. The big guys are hurting also. I expec...

And if you're not going to use it right away (milled grain), make sure it's stored in an airtight bag/container.

Great advice.

Also note that this isn't really a Dopplebock.

Absolutely correct. I don't like the idea of providing Intuit, or any other company, my line item detail of my tax return. Yes, I do E-File my Federal Tax return through Intuit, but no data is stored on their servers, it's sent directly to the IRS. I also use Quicken (pre-subscription 2016 version),...

My cost per batch when I was doing 5 gallon LME batches was between the low $20s and high $20s. Now that I'm doing BIAB, I'm only making 2.5 gallon batches, but my cost per 5 gallon batch is more in the high teens. I was putting in everything and calculating each batch, but when I had to make a bunc...

Many people do their own taxes, and often buy TurboTax to do so. This post is to do two things: 1) Explain what version you need to buy. 2) Show a very competitive price and how to ensure you get it price matched (if your credit card allows it). TurboTax is available via download/CD or via online. I...

An expert I know refers people to the guidelines at the Brewer's Association and the Draft Beer Quality Manual (free download). http://www.draughtquality.org/wp-content/uploads/Draught-Beer-Quality-for-Retailers.pdf It specifies cleaning every 2 weeks, full disassembly of faucets, and line replaceme...

This isn't for anyone on this forum. It's for pod-people, that want to do no work and get beer in a few weeks.

Thank you all for the advice. I have learned that this brewing, and commenting about brewing, is very specific. It seems my first few posts were fairly general in terms of info. I plan on filling the 5 gal with water and monitor the spigot overnight. I do have some food-grade silicon if I need any....

Never go to the Sears site for anything... A bunch of 3rd party sellers ripping people off.

How do you plan on controlling temps with a bottling bucket?

Then you will need an airlock for that lid.

Lid, spigot, airlock are all required. You can't ferment in a bottling bucket, which it appears you ordered. So either order a fermenting bucket, or get an airlock and install it (likely order a different sku). As to jalapenos, there are multiple factors: 1) The hotness of the pepper. 2) What brew y...

You should not flip the bottles at all. Yeast finds the sugar to carbonate and condition the beer. Flipping is unnecessary, and can hurt the quality of your brew.

:bbwelc: Tip - follow 3-4. 3 weeks fermenting, ideally with the wort temperature at 65. 4 weeks in bottles, carbonating and conditioning, temp 70 or higher. Then put in the frig for 3 days only what you're ready to drink. Temp control can be done in a cooler with cycling frozen water bottles. If you...

Thread guidance: create one (and only one) post and continuously edit it throughout the year, adding your ongoing brewing adventures. Generally people add the date, style of beer, size of batch, and any other stats or info you would like to keep, along with a running total at the end of the thread. ...