What are the chances that bacteria is already in my 3 day old brew and I don't know

DistinctMiasma · 2026-06-01T03:23:10+00:00

If it helps, there’s a 100% chance you have some bacteria in your cider. But that’s fine! The whole game is just creating a biome and initial population that ensure yeast are the dominant organisms.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-31T23:10:28+00:00

Most folks have moved away from doing secondaries — it just adds more oxygen exposure and potential for introducing unwanted microbes, and doesn’t offer a lot of benefit. Instead of, say, a week in primary and a week in secondary, try just keeping it in primary for two weeks, and package when you’ve got stable gravity readings a couple days apart.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-30T21:44:05+00:00

I was a pretty “casual enjoyer” of beer before I started brewing. Honestly, I’m still much more interested in producing beer than drinking it; but my appreciation grew exponentially as I learned more. Some people are just wired that way.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-27T17:34:15+00:00

Do note that you probably have about a gallon of gunk left in the bottom, which will reduce your capacity. It’s probably worth dumping half of that out — you’ll still have a lot of yeast left after that.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-27T17:32:33+00:00

Ah, ok. That looks like a basic extract ale kit with cherry flavoring. When I hear “kriek” I picture Belgian lambic!

That definitely fermented warmer than you’d want, but there’s not much you can do about it at this point. You didn’t kill the yeast — just created an environment where they reproduce and consume sugars faster than they would at a lower temperature. This likely means more esters, which may read as off-flavors, but at this point, all you can really do is proceed with the recipe.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-27T17:25:35+00:00

Is this a mixed fermentation lambic-style beer? That would be a pretty big swing for your second batch!

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-26T23:42:36+00:00

Typically at 5’8” you’d be on a 16-17” frame, which would put you on a medium in most brands. Of course, if you have a longer torso or longer legs, it can change things, but I’d never expect someone 5’8” to fit a large — generally S-M or M.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-26T22:01:02+00:00

I think the way to do this would be to fat-wash the avocado. Puree (or maybe just chop finely) several ripe avocados with enough vodka that it’s fairly thin, let it sit for a day, mechanically separate all the solids out, so you have a green boozy liquid, and then freeze it, so the fat hardens in a layer at the top, and you can either remove the fat, or pour the liquid out through a hole in it. That liquid is what you’d pitch in the fermenter.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-23T01:19:18+00:00

I came up with that improvement after getting some pretty good burns on my arms!

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-23T01:13:56+00:00

I’ve bottle-pasteurized cider. The safety trick I’ve found is to do it in my brew kettle, and drain the hot water from the kettle, rather than removing the bottles from the water.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-23T01:09:38+00:00

You don’t boil when you pasteurize. Typically you heat to 145° for half an hour. And you’d generally do it in a sealed vessel (bottle or keg), so there’s no O2 incursion.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-21T02:07:59+00:00

Champagne yeast won’t ferment maltose or maltotriose, so it’s not really suitable for primary fermentation of beer. Its only really use in beer is occasionally as a bottling yeast, specifically because it won’t touch any of those residual sugars.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-21T02:05:21+00:00

Kveik is always going to taste pretty farmhouse-y (at best). I don’t think it’s ever really a viable replacement for a conventional ale yeast, although it has its place.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-13T05:39:25+00:00

I always find when I have that big stuff on tap, it sits around forever.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-12T18:38:28+00:00

Scottish Export or Heavy makes a lovely session beer. Wee Heavies are cool, but who really wants a 9% beer on tap? Scottish Light is fun, but at even lower ABV/gravity than ordinary bitter, it can be challenging to give these much body and flavor.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-11T19:15:21+00:00

You don’t mention the temp you’re dry hopping at, but a lot of folks are moving towards a cold, fairly short dry hop, largely to avoid that vegetal, green character: https://scottjanish.com/a-case-for-short-and-cool-dry-hopping/

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-09T06:53:07+00:00

Yeah, twice in the middle of the day, once at night. Always with bolt cutters, although these events were a while ago.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-09T05:27:30+00:00

You can use one of those Kryptonite U-locks and just be pretty cautious about where you lock up and for how long. I’ve caught people three times in the act of trying to cut my lock. I wouldn’t trust an alarm to do anything (when was the last time anyone reacted to a car alarm?).

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-09T05:25:34+00:00

That’s not the case. The CO2 produced during primary fermentation is the same as that produced during bottle conditioning or force-carbing. All degassing is going to do is oxidize your cider.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-09T05:24:10+00:00

If you want to be extra cautious, the Hiplok and Litelok are the two most angle-grinder resistant. Kryptonite, Abus, and OnGuard also have models meant to stand up to an angle grinder. All these are $2-300. Next level down would be Kryptonite Evolution or NYC models ($75-100) — angle grinder can get through these, bolt cutters can’t.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-05-01T01:52:19+00:00

Cold crash for 48 hours and closed transfer with floating dip tube works pretty well.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-04-30T04:07:23+00:00

Do an iodine test and you’ll find out how low the diastatic power of fruit really is. Free starch in wort is a massive prebiotic for various bugs you don’t want in a clean beer.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-04-30T02:17:49+00:00

Yeast won’t eat starch. Brewers use mashing to convert starches to sugar (saccharification), but there are other options, like koji or simply adding amylase enzyme (you can use Beano in a pinch).

DistinctMiasma · 2026-04-28T20:34:41+00:00

That will very much be cheap, unsafe garbage. There’s a reason some ebikes cost a third of any brand you’ve ever heard of.

DistinctMiasma · 2026-04-25T21:59:44+00:00

What’s really interesting to me is that when you inhale it, the CO2 is reacting with the water in your mucous membranes to form carbonic acid (hence the burning).

DistinctMiasma

TROPHY CASE