Jim's Beer Kit

Thank you for all the replies. I know the "sprinkle it on and leave it" technique does work (most of my brews were made using it) but I am very interested in the science behind brewing and yeast action and I now have plenty more to consider. (The reason for coming back to homebrewing is the fun aspe...

I too have gone over to Starsan - bottles get rinsed immediately after pouring and stored in a box. When box is full - they all go in dishwasher - and when out I squirt Starsan in each, swirl it around a little and cover them all with large piece of clingfilm. Box goes into garage. On bottling days,...

I have looked around the forum and haven't found this question - apologies if I missed it. Different kits have differing procedures for introducing the yeast, so my question is: does it matter? Brewferm kits say to mix yeast with warm water and stand for 20 mins or so before adding. Other kits say s...

Just in case anyone was wondering... If you balance your FV on a small stool or coffee table on top of the kitchen work top, and then prop a metal dish under one edge to allow the siphon tube to get the last drop of beer out and you accidentally tug the siphon tube while trying to fill the last bott...

Ok. Thanks guys. Panic over. Thinking about it further, wasn't beer brewed in the Middle Ages in order to make water safer to drink? Hence "small beer" ie 2% beer drunk at breakfast, by the whole household? They had no steriliser etc so beer must have some robust qualities of its own? Anyway, thank ...

This will likely seem a daft question but I'm bottling my first beer (in 20 years or so) tomorrow and I can't for the life of me remember how I used to use the siphon tube without contaminating the beer. Sucking the first draw is no good, so what do people do? I have a syphon tube with a plastic cup...

Eliminates oxygen which has a staling effect on the beer - in the long term, most of us drink it way before that's a problem :D Eek. I will be bottling my Brewferm Abdij in a couple of weeks and was hoping to save them till Christmas (well most of them). Should I be thinking about purging oxygen fr...

I have just made up my first brew of Brewferm ABDIJ and I used a large 5L bottle of spring water plus a couple of 2L bottles (dead cheap 25p each - from Lidl) and was wondering if this was a good way of avoiding having to use campden tablets to remove chlorine from tap water? I know I'm adding to th...

Crowncap - excellent post. Love the pics but what's all that business with the CO2 spray thing?? What is that for, how does it work and what does it do for the beer in the bottle?

Cheers

Thank you fellas!

All very helpful comments.

So what exactly is candi sugar?

How can I make my own?

Should the brewferm instructions have been clearer about this?

Is any old golden syrup ok to use in place of candi sugar?

Thanks so much for your help.

Hello. I have a brewferm Abdij kit as my first attempt in 20+ years at home brewing. I'm a bit confused about what extra stuff I need to add to the kit (9l). I have bought a 500g bag of medium spraymalt as I I think that is the sugar I need but anything else? What is candi sugar and do I need that a...

Many thanks for the advice. Will proceed with the Campden tablet this first time. Whilst I'm at it, I've seen a lot about having an airlock on the FV and most seem to say it's a good idea. When I was in my local suppliers this morning, I was told it wasn't necessary so have come away without one. Am...

I am about to restart my home brew hobby after at least 20 years. I managed some decent brews but also had too many failures - mostly due to a nasty metallic taste. Things have moved on since those days in the home brew world it seems but I have become very concerned about water quality and what to ...