For primary fermentation, if using 5 gallon carboys, you almost always want to use a blow-off hose. For larger carboys, such as 6 and 6.5 gallon, you can probably get by with using the airlock for most beers. When doing secondary, a blow-off hose shouldn’t be necessary, no matter the fermenter size. Below is a
After having been brewing for a couple years, my stainless steel pot no longer had that nice shine it first had when I bought it. It was time to do a ‘deep’ clean and re-passivate the stainless steel. Doing searches on the web showed results that talk about using nitric acid to passive the stainless.
One of the big rookie mistakes I made the first time I brewed beer was when I forgot to properly mix the bottling sugar in the bottling bucket after I had filled it with beer from the fermenter. Luckily, none of the swing top bottles I used exploded from being over carbonated. What I ended
Unfortunately, it is never a friend, however, it isn’t always a foe either. After a few brew sessions kettles and fermenters may start to carry a whitish or brownish coat. This is calcium oxalate, commonly called Beerstone. The main impact of beerstone on kettles is mainly cosmetic in that it makes the metal surface look
Hop Preservation / Storage When you grow hops you will need a way to store them to save those precious aromas and flavors until brew day. Another possibility is that you just purchased hops in bulk and want to split them into more manageable sizes. If the hops are fresh, they will need to be