FAQ

 

MONTHLY BREWS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

If I sign up, when do I get billed?

When do I get my box?

Is there a cut off date to get the current month's recipe?

What about my yeast. Does it stay fresh?

I haven't used Imperial yeast before. How do I use it?

What if I have enough beer and want to skip a delivery?

How long does shipping take?

What shipping service do you use?

Do you let me know what items I'm getting next month?

What if I don't like the style of beer on the recipe and forgot to skip, can I send it back?

You sent me extra grain and or hops than what the recipe calls for. What do I do with them?

My LME broke open, or something else broke, what do I do?

How long do the grains stay fresh?

How long do the hops stay fresh?

What is the Special Gift you send?

Do you ever send lager recipes?

Where do the recipes come from. Do I have to brew the recipe on the sheet you give me?

Is homebrewing legal in my state?

What are the green pellets that look like rabbit food in my beer kit?

If I add more yeast or ferment longer will that make more alcohol?

It is time to transfer my beer/wine to the glass jug and there is a bunch of gross looking stuff in my bucket, and it doesn’t smell very good. Has it gone bad?

I got my beer kit as a gift, and somehow forgot about it. I want to make it now, are the ingredients still good?

I love homebrewing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I sign up, when do I get billed?
We bill every month on the 15th.
You will be charged the day you sign up and then automatically skip the next billing cycle. This is in place to prevent you from being double-charged if you signed up close to the billing date. For example:

Normal Charge Date 15th/mo 15th/mo

Sign Up Date (first billing) Oct 10th Oct 20th

Next Charge Date Nov 15th Dec 15th

 

When do I get my box?
We ship out on the fourth Monday/Tuesday of every month. We send your Monthly Brews ground so it may take a few days to get to you.

 

Is there a cut off date to get the current month's recipe?
You have until the 15th to get that month's recipe. Worst case scenario, you order on the 15th and have to wait till the fourth Monday of the FOLLOWING month to get your first order.

 

What about my yeast. Does it stay fresh?
Not every Monthly Brews box will have liquid yeast, but most will. We will take care in shipping fresh yeast along with an ice pack and insulated as much as possible.

 

I haven't used Imperial yeast before. How do I use it?
1-Store refrigerated until ready to pitch. 2-Shake and kneed pouch to homogenize slurry. 3-Sanitize the sealed pouch. 4-Open and pitch entire contents into the well-aerated wort.

 

What if I have enough beer and want to skip a delivery?
Log into your Monthly Brews account. Click on "Your Account", then click on "Manage Subscriptions" under your name. You will be taken to your orders page. Click on "Delivery schedule" under your name to see your upcoming deliveries. Pick the delivery month that you would like to skip and click on the "skip" link on the right side of the delivery description. This action CAN be undone.

 

 

How long does shipping take?
We use FexEx express for most of our shipments. We ship on the first of the week so your order doesn’t get stuck in some warehouse over the weekend, and you should get it within days of shipping. Although, once it leaves our hands it is a bit out of our control.

 

 

What shipping service do you use?
FedEx express for nearly all of our orders. If you live in a region that makes it cost prohibitive to use FedEx express, we may change it, but we will try and keep the three day shipping window.

 

 

Do you let me know what items I'm getting next month?
On the 10th-12th of every month, we email out a Sneak Peak email to give our customers (or newsletter subscribers) an Idea of what is coming for the month. This gives month-to-month customers a chance to skip the next shipment before being billed on the 15th. Only customers subscribed to emails will get these, so make sure to keep the email marketing box checked at checkout, or if you missed it you can go here register your account with Mailchimp which we use to send these emails. http://eepurl.com/c8SGMz

 

 

What if I don't like the style of beer on the recipe and forgot to skip, can I send it back?
We do require 5 days to change your fulfilment options. The great part of Monthly Brews is that we keep ingredients separate, so you can make what you want. Let’s say we give you salt and acid malt one month for a Gose. Since those are gross, you don’t have to use the salt and the acid malt and can make a great mild german wheat beer. The idea is to get creative, try new things and make cool beer that you want to drink. Don’t give up on a box just because the suggested recipe isn’t something you would normally like.

 

 

You sent me extra grain and or hops than what the recipe calls for. What do I do with them?
We give you a minimum of ingredients so you know you are getting your money’s worth, but sometimes the suggested recipe doesn’t require it all. You may have to weigh out the grain or hops if you are following the recipe.

 

 

My LME broke open, or something else broke, what do I do?
We try and package your kit in a way that doesn’t risk hurting your ingredients. We have over 5 years shipping experience, but abuse in the mail/shipping does happen. Please just call us and let us know that your LME was lost, and we will send out a replacement free of charge.

 

 

How long do the grains stay fresh?
Just like any food you cook with, the fresher the better. But, we rotate through our inventory very quickly and are getting fresh ingredients to you is our number one priority. Once you get the grain you have several months before it starts to degrade. If we are milling your grain, it is best to use it as quickly as you can, but you have a few weeks under good conditions (cool and dry) before any stale flavors show up.

 

 

How long do the hops stay fresh?
Just like any food you cook with, the fresher the better. Keeping hops in the freezer will help maintain quality, but even though our hops are vacuum packed fresh, all hops, regardless of how they are packaged and kept will eventually fade in bitterness and flavor. Our hops in the freezer should last several months without any noticeable change, but the quicker you can use them the better they will be.

 

 

What is the Special Gift you send?
We send a cool extra item to you every month when you sign up for recurring payment product. It might be a few stickers, might be some cleanser, or some new yeast. It might be a coupon for a bigger item we can’t ship with your box or a vendor sample of some kind. You never know, but we do it to keep things interesting.

 

 

Do you ever send lager recipes?
We will occasionally do a lager recipe. However, the Monthly Brews is really just a bunch of ingredients that you get to decide what to do with. If our recommended recipe is a lager, and the included yeast is a lager yeast, we will also include a dry packet of yeast that will make for a great beer if you follow the recipe but can’t cold ferment your beer.

 

 

Where do the recipes come from. Do I have to brew the recipe on the sheet you give me?
Our recipes are created/brewed/and taste tested with a brewing group with over 40 years combined experience, including 2 BJCP certified judges, 2 homebrew supply store owners, and a professional brewer. We take pride in all of our recipes, but the goal of the Monthly Brews boxes is to let you experiment with new ingredients that might be hard to source locally. Brew them however you want, or mix them into your next recipe. You do not have to brew the recipe on the sheet, that is just a suggestion.

 

 

Is homebrewing legal in my state?
Gypsum is used to harden water. Many beer styles prefer hard water, so if you are using soft water from your house tap, add some gypsum to your water before you boil to harden it. Just ¼ teaspoon in 1 gallon of water will be plenty.

 

 

What are the green pellets that look like rabbit food in my beer kit?
Hops! When they are on the vine, hops look like a small green pine cone with soft leafs. They are then picked, dried, pelletized and frozen to maintain freshness. We then vacuum pack them and put them in your kit. If you do not think you will brew for a while, keep them out of sunlight and store them in the refrigerator or freezer to maintain freshness.

 

 

If I add more yeast or ferment longer will that make more alcohol?
Sugar equals alcohol. This could be the sugar from grain, grapes, honey, and other fruits and vegetables, and of course sugar cane. Yeast will “eat” sugar to produce alcohol and CO2, and will do so until it runs out of sugar, or it dies from alcohol toxicity. This typically happens within 2-7 days if fermenting at the correct temps, so adding more yeast or waiting longer will not make more alcohol... but adding more sugar will

 

 

It is time to transfer my beer and there is a bunch of gross looking stuff in my bucket, and it doesn’t smell very good. Has it gone bad?
This is normal, some beers/wines produce more of this than others, but the junk on top is called krausen and the sludge on the bottom called trub, is mainly yeast. Some of the most repulsive looking and sometimes even smelling fermentations end up making the best drinks, so see it through to completion and judge the final product.

 

 

I got my beer kit as a gift, and somehow forgot about it. I want to make it now, are the ingredients still good?
We package our ingredients in a way that will prolong the life of the items. Nothing will go “bad” necessarily if kept away from light, moisture, heat and pests, but the grain can go stale over a few months, the hops flavor can diminish over time, and the yeast can become less viable. I would recommend making the beer anyway, even if the beer doesn't come out as good as it normally would, it will get you familiar with your equipment and the brewing process. Knowing what to expect on your next batch with fresh ingredients will make your second batch that much better.

 

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I love homebrewing?
It's OK... we do too!.