Jim's Beer Kit

I've now moved on to servicing the club's Angram CQs. We bought these new in 2012, and have 10 on the bar. I'm on the third one, and have found a broken return spring. Has anyone else had this problem? I noticed that on the previous two CQs, one spring detaches completely, while the other seems to b...

A note on older Harry Masons beer engines [pre 2012]. I've just finished servicing a number of these for our club, but required a few spares. Amongst which, were a clevis . It's different from from the one I was replacing, and so is the clevis pin . These parts appear to have been redesigned to make...

For a note on Harry Masons older beer engines, See viewtopic.php?f=38&t=81509.

I've just finished stripping and cleaning a couple of EWL items. I made the mistake of removing the cylinder first. I found it impossible to undo the nut until I bolted the cylinder back onto the chassis. Jim's advice, to clamp the big nut at the bottom into a vice or similar (I used a workmate), an...

I have also learned to my cost that bleach/chlorine can permanently taint the pumps . It shouldn't be a problem with thin bleach but probably would be with thick bleach, which is intended to cling to surfaces. Let's not forget that pub cleaning fluid is chlorine based. Beer liner cleaner usually ha...

As the pack hadn't been opened, the viability was still good, obviously. Storage conditions will affect it to some extent too, but you seem to have done the right thing, and made a starter.

Once opened, viability starts dropping off more rapidly. You can use Mr Malty calculator to see by how much.

I'd suggest that there's another reason for the cloudy bottles, other than the yeast.

You could always come down to Egham Beer Festival the following week. 10th - 13th Nov.

No train strikes that weekend [so far].

simon12 wrote:... and use the current kettle element to adjust it.

I'm not sure I know what you mean by that.

I think a PID's a bit overkill for for an HLT, but some people do use them.

Simplest is usually best, I find.

What are you fermenting in? I noticed that you said " just a slight puff of gas when I unscrewed the cap".

It's not a good idea to seal everything airtight, as the CO2 needs to escape.

Save a copy of the webpage http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/calc.html as a complete MHT file.

You can then use it offline.

Internet Explorer may be the best browser to save with, as you can save it as an single MHTML file.

I use a 30A controller, like this one on ebay.

I prefer to switch on and off, but then I use a maxi 110. It's a bit smaller, so it chills down quicker. I doubt whether the 210 takes much longer, though. Chill down times should be in the manual.

That brew is crying out to be called Black Perle...