Jay's Brewing Blog

What is the big difference between Belgian Candi Sugar and sugar cane from the store?  I mean it’s sugar right?  Well there are some differences, and at the end of this I hope to bring some clarification to this discussion.  Also I hope not to ruffle to many feathers on this discussion.   But at […]

If you are like me, the week before Saint Patrick’s  Day I’m making my beer because of bad planning.  Well not this year!  I’ve been planning out this one for a while. This year is different.  I’ve marked this beer down for a while thanks to the brewing calendar.  If you want to know, Saint Patrick’s Day […]

This will be a short post but a post that is well  needed.  Recently a few customers have come up to me with a question about if their carboy has scratches can they still use it.  Yes, yes you can. Many people are concerned about bacteria or other micro’s dwelling in the scratches.  I don’t […]

In the world of all-grain when it comes to sparging there are two main ways to do it: 1) Fly sparge 2) Batch sparge. Well there is a 3rd way to do it, it’s called no sparge.  The way that this is done is, you add all of the water you need to your mash […]

It’s happened to many home brewers and home wine makers, your rubber stopper falls through the neck of the carboy.  When it happens to you, you can feel desperation in your belly.  Well there is a way to get your stopper out of the carboy easily. I actually learned this trick for when wine a […]

Honestly, I’ll come out right and say it.  I was inspired to find this recipe after watching the show on the Discovery Channel, “Moonshiners”. They made banana brandy which I have never tasted.  Brandy is distilled wine for those that don’t know.  I can tell you this, I’ve never had banana wine either.  My curiosity […]

What is one of the most influential pieces of a recipe for beer?  If you’re thinking yeast you are correct.   Here is a quick reference for the white labs ale yeast and what they can bring to your beer. Now you know what the attenuation is as well as the flocculation.  This should make a bit more sense. […]

If you made it to this point in the series you have the knowledge to start brewing all-grain. You need: Recipe  Mash Tun Extra Cooler Turkey Burner Big Pot (7 gallons +) I brewed this batch of beer with one of my buddies and took pictures of it so we’ll go with this recipe.  It […]