Jim's Beer Kit

I also leave my beers in the FV for 2 weeks and don't bother with the hydrometer - I keg my beers - and I put the hops in my Razorback after the first week. However, as a mate also found with this kit, it was still fermenting after two weeks; I ended up leaving it in the FV for a total of 3 weeks fo...

Mine has been in the keg about 9 or 10 weeks now and there is still some of that bitterness there but it is balancing out quite well. I took a litre to a friend place the other day and he was impressed by it. Unfortunately I'm coming to the end of the barrel now - if I do it again I'll make sure tha...

It was 2 weeks in primary, 1 week secondary before moving to the garage, where it's been for a few weeks now. Even after 2 weeks in the cold, it was a completely different beer - though it's continued to improve since.

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I primary fermented Landlords finest for 10 days, adding the hops after 5 days as directed. I've siphoned into a polypin and primed for 10 days until the polypin has stopped expanding. The brew tastes good, but it doesn't taste as expected at this point. It's more like an alcoholic grapefruit squas...

jonnyt wrote:Then you would need a 501ml spray bottle

Darn! OK, I'll dilute it at 499:1 instead.

Having just bought some Starsan but not having used it (nor made any up) yet, I thought that it states 300:1 dilution - which would be about 3.3ml per litre rather than 1.6... Have I got it wrong? _ I found a handy Excel spreadsheet that calculates the right amounts based on a conversation with Sta...

I've just bought some Starsan, having been attracted by the idea of not rinsing. However, I'm not sure I understand! I've now got 1 litre made up at the correct dilution in a spray bottle. Can I really just spray some onto the inside of my FV (for example), tip out any excess, then run the wort in ...

Well, I decided to stick with putting it into the garage after a week - which was last night - so we'll see how it works out. Had a little sip and, while the yeast has a particularly unpleasant flavour, the beer itself tastes amazing. Provided it keeps most of the hop flavour and aroma while the yea...

Out of interest, how long are you guys leaving the keg in the warm for secondary fermentation to happen? Mine's been in for 6 days and has built up loads of pressure so I'm tempted to move it to the garage tomorrow but the instructions suggest leaving it for 2 weeks...

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Thanks for all your suggestions. I have another Festival kit in the stash (Landlord) so, when that one reaches the front of the queue, I'll try putting the suggestions into practice.

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Cheers Rob. Did that (which is probably why I was able to get most of it out). There was just a thin film on the inner surfaces of the pouches (as far as I could tell) left that I would like to have gone in the FV rather than the bin.

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Top suggestion! Sticky kak is a double whammy too: it's wasted LME that should be in the beer (however little of it), and even the tiniest spot results in the "Not only do you make my kitchen* smell like a brewery..." thing. Thanks, _ * Yes, she says "the kitchen" but I know that she is thinking "my...

I just put on my Festival Pilgrim's Hope last night, which is the first time that I done a kit with pouches of LME rather than tins. It said to rinse out the pouches with warm water but, after squeezing as much as I could into the FV, I wasn't really able to rinse it effectively: the little bit of L...

Bubbled like mad for 2 days then nothing, just seems to have stopped. Mine (which is currently undergoing secondary fermentation) did the same - went bonkers very quickly and for a couple of days, then almost nothing. However, I left it for 2 weeks before testing it - it was 1.010 - and then kegged...

Thanks both. Sounds like a cardboard box in the garage is the answer then - I might put the yeast in the fridge but, over winter, the temperature might not be too different. Unfortunately I keg my beer rather than bottle it so, with two barrels, I'm limited to having one brew drinking and one condit...