Jim's Beer Kit

I agree - the Guinness FES is superb. I'm also partial to St Peter's Cream Stout - very tasty.

That was quick! All working again - I'm not so sure how stable the formulator is on the new server, but the recipes are accessible. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Jymbo

Apologies to all hopandgrain.com users. My ISP has updated the server software twice this year and on both occasions broken the website. I'm trying to move the website away from asp.net as it is a pain to work with so please bear with me while I get it back up and running.

Epsom Salts can absorb water if they are not stored properly - if they're dry I'd say they're fine to use - I've been using the same tub for years now - I haven't checked the best before date, but I'm sure it's well expired.

Anyone who has tried to use the hopandgrain.com recipe database recently will know that it was banjaxed! This happened when my ISP upgraded the server software without telling me - so the site was down for a couple of months before I even noticed! Anyway, it's working again for those of you who may ...

I used to have this problem and water treatment solved it for me. I use Salifert to measure the alkalinity of the water and add CRS to correct it. I then use Grahams water calculator to work out the other additions that are needed, depending on the style of beer I'm making. The water board kindly se...

Maybe you're right - but in the past I've had brews with an OG in the forties stick in the mid teens, and every one of them tasted sickly sweet. I suppose Guinness has plenty of IBUs to balance it out, but personally I'd be inclined to try to get it to ferment out properly.

If it sticks at 1015 I'd be inclined to throw in a packet of Nottingham. It's a good attenuator. Let's face it, it won't taste good at 1015.

Hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Fat Tire is a lovely brew - I had a few pints of it in San Francisco a few years back and took a mental note to have a stab at it. An American guy who I work with says he has a very good AG recipe for it and he's brewed it a number of times. Interested to hear how yours turns out, Pads. Will maybe h...

Good luck with this, Charliemartin - I'll be interested to see how it turns out - it's a great session ale.

Hi Charliemartin, Fraid I haven't refined the recipe - this one was pretty decent, and if you tried the few refinements I suggested, I'd say it'd come out pretty decent - I also did an earlier version which was very nice, but probably a bit further from Thrappledouser - you can see the thread here ....

Why not make your own? I thought about that but I don't get a lot of time this weather - I made my own boiler a few years ago and it's a great job. What sort of tubing /connectors do the plate counterflow chillers take - does the plastic tubing just slot on or do I need some sort of screw on connec...

DaveGillespie wrote:Bump - Jymbo, how did this turn out?

It turned out great - probably could have done with a few less grammes for flameout and dry hop.

I've been thinking of getting a counterflow wort chiller to try and speed up my brewday. They seem quite expensive - mostly around the £100 mark, and yet they look remarkably similar to an industrial heat exchanger - something like this which is half the price. Has anyone used one of these as a wort...