Jim's Beer Kit

I use a reptile aquarium heater with a ceramic bulb holder. Screwfix do the holder and I got te bulb heater from ebay for about £15. Ive got the 60W version but go upto about 150W http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Reptile-Vivarium-Ceramic-Heat-Emitter-Heater-25W_W0QQitemZ400102812697QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_S...

A while ago I received 2 boots barrels from a charity shop and set about fixing them up. Every cap i tried did not fit. most were too big or the threads didnt match. I then purchased a couple red Hambledon Bard caps with the s30 valve and pressure relief valve in. The caps didnt fit but transfered t...

Same thing happened to me. Got a free fridge from freecycle and packed up soon after and am now on my second free fridge. Its a bit newer so will hopefully last longer. I guess people get rid of them for a reason! If the ambient is too hot, Im sure the compressor works harder than in normal use so. ...

Heat the glass with blowtorch?
Might melt the rubber a little allowing the corkscrew to pull it out

If you have the regulator set at 20psi and a T spilt to 2 kegs you will have 20 psi in both kegs regardless of how much liquid is in them. The liquid will become saturated with CO2 and any additional CO2 is only to fill dead space as the liquid goes down. Its possible the one with less liquid in wil...

I was going to make a homemade boiler but am concerned about the exposed element. Do people use these for heating water in or for boiling the wort or both? If you are boiling wort, do hop leaves ever stick to the element and burn or if using a hop bag, is it possible for the nylon bag to melt on the...

I put my whole stock pot into the coolbag so I dont have to transfer all the time. You lose a lot of heat transfering all the time - do it as little as possible. I find a coolbag is better for these small volumes as you can add the pot to it with lid and zip it closed - it moves and stretches a litt...

well first off - i would recommend a cool box or bag to mash in instead of the hob or oven so you dont have to constantly watch it. Use one thats big enough to take the stock pot, so you dont have to mess around transferring all the time, losing heat. Pre heat the cool box to help maintain temp. Don...

The mini mash method I use is on this very site - http://www.18000feet.com/minimash/page1.htm I bought the buckets in my local brew shop and do it exactly the way as above, only 2 gallons instead of 1 and using a coolbag instead of an oven as I couldnt get my oven to be stable. Works well though and...

I regualary do 10L brews in a 3G stock pot and used to have the same problem. Tried using a sieve but all the protein just went straight through. What I do now is add all the hops and irish moss to a nylon bag and remove this when cooling with IC. I then whirlpool whats left and let stand for 30mins...

I concur - I usually batch sparge with 2 batches and 10 mins between run offs. I always get 75% this way.
My last brew I simply let it all run through and only measured 65% so does make a big differnce.

I am quite new to AG brewing too and like you wanted to try out many smaller batches to get the technique sorted before commiting to 5G batches as they take me a while to get through. You can do it much cheaper then a full AG setup if all you want to do try out recipes and practice technique. I went...

Funny, I tried 2 differnt 4" lids and they just slipped over the threads.
I might try a new o ring or silicone sealent but I think its actually the plastic has perished and now permeable as there are lots of small holes on the inside of the barrel.
Thanks anyway

I was given 2 old boots pressure barrels - the white ones with black lids with integrated sparklet injector. The pressure relief valves on both were damaged and I didnt want to use sparklets. I couldnt find replacement caps that would fit. The standard 4" ones are too big and the 2" ones are way too...

I have exactly the same set up as you. I brew 2 gallons at a time and ferment in 2 glass demi johns. I have also seen the fluffy cloud type matter inthe brews and I think it is something to do with the protein material and the yeast reacting. When I rack off teh first demi, i get very little break m...