Questions from our patrons:

Q: Do I put the curved end of the racking tube in the carboy when I siphon?
A: No, use the straight end with the tip attached.

Q: Do I pour the beer into the bucket when I'm ready to bottle?
A: No!! This will lead to oxidation of the beer. Use the racking tube and flexible tubing a GENTLY siphon into your bottling bucket.

Q: When using two cans of malt for my recipe, do I use one pack of yeast or both packs?
A: You can use one pack and put the other in the refrigerator for a back up or you can use both packs. You will get complete fermentation regardless of whether you use just one pack or both.

Q: If I use two packs of yeast, will this be too much?
A: No. The yeast will multiply to a certain extent regardless of whether you use one pack or two.

Q: Do I follow the directions on the can malts?
A: For the love of beer NO!!!! This will produce a cidery, winey flavor that is not enjoyable. You can either use two cans or use DME instead of sugar. This will produce a much more acceptable outcome. Sugar is good for priming only if you are using candi sugar in a Belgian beer.

Q: My beer has bubbled up through the airlock; should I dump it?
A: No. Remove the airlock, thoroughly clean and sanitize. If the carboy is still foaming over, install a blow-off tube that fits snugly into the mouth of the carboy, with the other end submerged into a sanitizer solution.

Q: Can I crush the specialty grains in a coffee grinder or blender?
A: In small quantities (less than 20 percent of the fermentables) in recipes using malt extract, grains add color, sweetness and perhaps some body. They don't add many fermentables and thus "mill size" is not critical. It is however important not to grind grain so fine that husk material exits the muslin bag and transfers harsh flavors to the wort during the boil. We suggest milling the grain with a roller mill, or cracking at home with a rolling pin.

Q: I've pitched an active yeast package and my wort is not doing anything.
A: The first phase of fermentation is yeast reproduction. This is the "lag" period when nothing appears to be happening. Once sufficient yeast has been produced, they begin to eat the sugars and fermentation is evident by slight white dots and foam that soon builds into a large, foamy head, or krausen. The lag phase can last from a few hours to several days. Ideally, activity should start within 24 hours, but may take longer if a small population of yeast was pitched.

Q: Is it necessary to do a secondary fermentation?
A: No. But using a secondary allows you to rack beer off of the dead yeast and other precipitated solids. The resulting beer is clearer, cleaner tasting, has less sediment in the bottles, and is less prone to haze and off-flavors.

Q: There is scum floating on the top of my beer/wine/mead/cider. Does that mean there is something wrong?
A: If this scum is floating on the top of your secondary fermenter, there could very well be something wrong. The first questions I would ask is how much airspace do you have in the top of your fermenter? If this answer is there is quite a bit of airspace, you could very well have an infection. If this is beer, taste it and smell it. If the beer smells bad and tastes bad, it is bad. The only alternative is to dump it. It would be a good idea to read up on the importance of sanitation and keeping your secondary fermenter topped up. If you are dealing with wine, cider or mead, you can use Potassium Metabisulphite or Campden Tablets to kill the bacteria and then you need to top up your fermenter with wine or rack into a smaller fermenter so that you are topped up.

We have some great books in the shop that will help tremendously with trouble shooting fermentation issues. We recommend that you have at least one good book that you can refer to when needed.



Q: My wine/cider/mead has been in the fermenter for 7 days and my airlock just quit bubbling. Is that normal?

A: Take a hydrometer (gravity) reading. If your hydrometer reads somewhere around 1.000, your wine has gone through most or all of its fermentation. Make sure your hydrometer is floating when you take the reading. This is also the perfect time to transfer your wine from the primary fermenter into the secondary using your syphon/racking equipment. Avoid sediment and any other solids. Your wine make ferment just a bit more, but most or all of the fermentation has already taken place. Once your wine has stopped fermenting, it will start to clear.

Q: How do I know if my wine/beer is finished fermenting?

A: Take a hydrometer reading and compare to your starting gravity. Make sure you adjust reading based on temperature. If uncertain as to what your readings mean or what you should do now, just give us a call at 770-507-5998. We are always happy to help.



Q:How often should I rack my wine or mead?

A:Once every 3-4 weeks, until there is no more sediment at the bottom of your carboy. Read more



Q: Can I make my beer or wine better than the store bought stuff?

A: From day one, yes you can! First off, you have complete control over ingredients, so if there's something you're craving (say, a hoppier IPA), you can make it happen! The proper techniques are easy to learn and will have you making award-winning beer and wine in no time!

Q: Is Yeast Nutrient/Engergizer the same as thing as Yeast?

A: Yeast Nutrient is food for the yeast and Yeast Energizer prevents a stuck fermentation. Yeast is a whole different product. For a complete listing of our Wine Yeasts, go to Products: Winemaking. For a complete listing of Beer Yeasts, go to Products: Brewing.



Q: I want to use bread yeast in my wine and/or beer. All yeast is the same, right?

A: WRONG. Yeast comes in all sorts of strains. Bread yeast is made specifically for bread. Wine yeast is made specifically to support wine characteristics and the fermentation of wine. Beer yeast is made specifically for beer and to support the fermentation of beer. There are many different kinds of beer and wine yeast to fit your kind of brew!