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Single Malt Scotch, in particular: Lagavulin 15+ (30 being my favorite) Laphroaig 12+ Glendronach Cask Macallan (all) Tequila (straight): Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Jose Cuervo 1800 Antiguo <---Aejos Jimador Antiguo Especial Herradura Antiguo Jose Cuervo Tradicional...

Jase - Secondary fermentation is a bit of a misnomer. Its more of a conditioning period (akin to what you did in kegs before) that takes place after primary fermentation. You can use it for lagering or rests (such as diacetyl) and other processes that basically improve the flavor of your beer...

Yes, you can sparge several times. I use it to get multiple beers out of one mash -- a big, 1st runnings beer and a smaller 2nd or even 3rd runnings brew. Kaz (a brewer in Oregon) does something where he makes a small "kicker mash" which he'll mix in with the 2nd or third sparge. Particularly...

Jim - with 1st generation pitchings, I think it is down to the yeast strain and health. That is, more robust strains and healthier starting populations require less aeration. However, all yeast will benefit from aeration in the early stages -- eg, heavily aerated starter, aerate at pitching...

Damn straight! Thats what I like seeing ausdb -- pretty much identical to what I did, though I made mine an octagon to make it easier to lift... Cheers mate! Ziggy

Check this out: DIY Plastic Conicals

I had a decent fiver about three weeks ago (boys night in...) and I was the only one who couldn't (not wouldn't -- COULDN'T) make it to work. I stood up and my legs collapsed. Still have a bump on the head from the dunny. I don't think I've ever hit a sixer, though I've come damn close... I'm...

Absolutely -- I find I observe 1 or two AFDs per week... from afar with a pint in my hand.

Jase - Well, I could give you the address of my hardware store, but as I live in Mexico, I doubt it'll do y'all much good. Just get some standard metal flyscreen (the kind you put on windows or doors), cut it into two identical octagons with a rectangular bit coming off one end (to make a...

I made my own version of the hop-stopper a couple of weeks ago and I haven't had an issue yet. I use both pellets and whole hops and my wort comes out crystal clear with zero stoppage. I used regular SS flyscreen, a copper pickup tube and a plated ball valve. Cost me about AU$8. I'm making a...

They're pretty close. Hallertauer Hersbrucker's tend to have a bit more delicate aroma, but I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference without a side-by-side comparison. I prefer Mt. Hoods because of the slightly higher alpha acid rating and the fact that they are waaaaay easier to grow...

Ryan - don't boil it!! Boiling will drive off a large amount of the aromatics that make honey taste like honey... pasteurize it below boiling (160F/65C for ten minutes ought to do it) and then add it to your secondary.

Warren - No, actually, it was pre-fermentation. I tasted the wort in the morning from the tun and it was sour before it went into the kettle. I went ahead and fermented anyway just to see if I could salvage it, but it didn't work. And, FYI, I stopped using water from the toilet after I saw my...

Honey won't add very much flavor as it is extremely fermentable. Add it to secondary if you want any flavor at all, but don't expect much. If you DO want honey flavor try to get your hands on some Braumalt (AKA Honey Malt), but be careful as it adds HEAPS of honey flavor. GMK - its not the...

Couple o pointers: 1) Make sure you hit your first infusion temps bang on : once you strike, do NOT add unboiled water to cool the mash... the longer resting period will give bacteria and other bugs ample time to invade your mash and sour your wort. Trust me. I lost 65 litres of stout wort to...

A good tactic is to make a spice infusion in vodka and then add measured amounts of that to the beer before kegging or bottling. Take your spices, put them in a bottle of vodka for two weeks (day before pitching). At racking, take a sample and add measured amounts (1ml) until you get the...

In my experience, the experience of my brewing friends, the collective experience of Tastbrew.com, bodensatz.com and the HBD, yeast autolysis is an extremely rare occurence. I personally have left beer on the trub in the primary fermentor for six weeks and cider for two months with no adverse...

Colin - Amarillo is my foundation hop. I use it in ALL my IPAs and most of my APAs and have a lot of experience with it. I just made a continuously hopped IPA with Glacier and Amarillo which came out EXCELLENT. I'd throw in 15-20 grams as you runoff the wort for FWH to get some of its...

BK - In addition to the thoughts on chlorine and infections, it could HSA -- hot side aeration. Conventionally, HSA off flavors are describeds as 'wet cardboard' flavors -- I thought it smelled like wet sawdust and sulfur and tasted like athlete's foot covered in lamicil. It could also be...

I use high temp silicone washers under the nut to seal my kettles. If you're nervous about the nut pushing the washer through, put a steel washer in between the nut and the rubber washer to distribute the pressure a bit. I'd put one on either side of the kettle and, if possible shorten the...