Attention: Check out the new BKB Home Brewing Blog
BKB Home Brewing Blog Posts
Building a kegerator
Tired of cleaning out your bottles? Maybe it is time to start kegging your beer! Like anything else there are certain advantages and disadvantages to almost every process that can be done more than one way. Let’s face it, our goal as homebrewers is to have a full glass of the highest quality homebrew you [...]
Implementing a HERMS easily
So you have made the jump to all grain brewing. Your mash tun has the kinks worked out of it, your sparge methods are pretty sound, and your efficiency is consistant. There is no need to change a thing with your process right? Well that is a matter of opinion. For most everyone in the AG [...]
No boil starters
So there is no argument, most everyone will agree that a proper yeast count will yield a healthy fermentation, which will lead to proper attenuation as well as yeast performing in a comfortable lower stress environment. This equates to the most accurate flavor profile of your beer. Some may say that underpitching stresses the yeast [...]
Brewing equipment made simple, kinda, The Mash Tun
The mash tun is a piece of equipment used by the “all grain” brewer. Put simply, it is a vessel, in which the milled, malted grain is placed with hot water to release the sugars necessary for fermentation. The mash tun is one of the easiest, yet most confusing pieces of equipment to the [...]
Blowing Off Bacteria
Face it, making beer can make you paranoid. Everything has to be spotless and sanitary. The boil has to be watched carefully to ensure that the new brew isn’t scorched or doesn’t boil over. Hops have to be added at just the right time. Temperatures have to be monitored so that the delicate new [...]
The natural progression of equipment
After reading many posts over several months on various forums, there seems to be one thing evident with this hobby/obsession that I share as many others may. I thought I could dive in with the basic start up kit and make some OK beer to satisfy my craving for a hobby that produces an end product [...]
Recipe Review - Hell Gate Porter
Home Brewer’s Ultimate Recipe Book Hell Gate Porter I don’t know how other people decide what they are going to brew, but often I will begin a recipe because I like the name of the beer; especially if the ingredients are unique or interesting to me. The name “Hell Gate Porter” catches they eye because it [...]
Perfect Peach Experiment
I brewed this up last month and at first tasting it is very very good. This isn’t your typical peach flavored wheat, as it doesnt employ apricot or peach flavorings from your LHBS, or from real peaches. Instead, its a sort of herbal beer that I flavored using perfect peach tea bags from [...]
Brewing equipment made simple, The Wort Chiller
The wort chiller, is simply that, a piece of equipment to cool your wort down from boiling temperatures low enough to pitch your yeast. They come in many different configurations, and can cost a bundle. The simple way to cool your wort is an ice bath, just put your brew pot into the [...]
Force carbonating your homebrew
This is a recurring topic that seems to be asked about frequently. This should take a lot of the questions out of the process and help with some shortcuts as well if desired. The advantage to kegging is the consistant carbonation level that can be maintained as well as the lag time between green beer [...]
Featured Home Brewing Discussions
2008 SUMMER COMMUNITY BREW
If no one objects we can get some ideas going for the next community brew. I'd like someone to post the styles that have already been done and then we can try a different style. Lets get the ball rolling. Suggestions????
Brewing Calculations
I ran across a new website with some brewing calculations.....
Whats in Your Beer Garden?
This year i am growing cilantro (for my coriander ipa), yarrow and two kinds of hops. I was wondering if anyone else is growing anything interesting to brew with, to give me some new ideas.
The Brewing Network and Basic Brewing Radio
I've been listening to podcasts from The Brewing Network and Basic Brewing Radio for the last few weeks. I want to highly, highly recommend them to any of the brewers on the forum.
Lime Cervesa
I love the flavor of lime. For me, there is also nothing better than adding a lime wedge to a frosty brew on a hot summer day. So, I was thinking of doing a Mexican style ale soon and adding some lime flavoring.
Orange Peel
Any one know if the dried orange peel that you get to use in a wit is a specific type of orange? Can I just take the peel from an orange and dry it in my dehydrator?
Start with Cold Water or Hot?
For extract brewers (maybe with a specialty grain thrown in), I' m curious whether most people out there put hot or cold water in the brewpot to start.
Brew Logs
We've got this new homebrew group started & one of the ideas at the first meeting was to have a standard brew log. Does anyone have one in Word or Excel? I want to end up with one that will accomodate all levels of homebrewing
The BKB Blogs
Attention everybody! We have just launched the BKB blogs. The blogs will be a place for some of our more regular members to be able to offer suggestions, tips, and thoughts on things that don't fit into a discussion.
A Tun Toss Up?
So I want to do it...am doing it. I will get a mash tun, next batch will be AG....
Dried Fruit Weizen
The lovely lady REALLY liked the Pyramid Apricot Weizen at some friends place the other night, and I have been encouraged to clone same said concoction.
Crystals In Wine?
.My father-in-law made wine, and years later he gave me a bottle. It was a white wine and it had crystals in it which I assumed was from the sugar.
Maple Pale Ale
It's maple season here in Maine. Maine Maple Sunday is this weekend, where all the syrup producers open the farms to the public for tastings and events. So in honor of that I decided to try brewing with maple sap.
Airlock the Secondary?
Syphoned from primary to secondary today for first time ever and I am wondering if I airlock the secondary?
Hopback vs Dry Hopping
I've read that hopbacks are used solely to add aroma but the BYO recipe page says that Troeg's gets the full hop flavor in the beer via a hopback. So which is it?
Growing Hops 2008
Just read through all the older "Growing Hops" strands and figured it was getting to be that time of year for ordering and planting.
Thoughts On Honey Malt
Well.... it's called HONEY malt so of course I want to try it....
Batch Sparging Help
I fully understand the concept behind the continuous sparge. However, I'm not in for sitting over my tun sprinkling water for 1 hour. I've read that batch sparging is quicker, easier, etc.
Aluminum Brew Pot?
I just recently bought my starter kit and was talking to the owner of the brew store about brewing. He told me a turkey fryer is a great brewing set up. When I asked him about brewing in aluminum he said that all the negitive talk about using it was false.
2008 BKB Spring Brew Brainstorm
K, here we go again. I would like to see someone else take control of the tread this time and keep it going and process recipe changes as needed etc...