Jim's Beer Kit

Hi, another brewer from Switzerland - who'd a though it! - I also use exclusively weyermann malts. Their pale ale malt is my go-to for most english style beers and I like it, it converts just fine. I tried their marris otter (nearly twice the price) for a brew recently and it turned out fine but it ...

You have to sterilise the lids of the jars too and the last time I put them In an oven at 150deg the rubber sealant melted. Oops. I've washed yeast in jars that we're simply boiled in a pan with no,issues. Yet.

I _think_ I've already squared it with my good lady that if/when we build our house there'll be adequate brewery space. Time will tell but I think just not having the beery smells coming in through the kitchen door will swing it. By the way, where did you get the plastic case for your temp controlle...

I've never overnight mashed but usually leave the full pre-boil volume overnight before boiling the next day. This means the wort is sitting for about 20hrs. I do bring the whole lot up to 80degrees before putting the lid on to kill any bacteria though.

Don't sweat it, your beer will be fine.

I'm interested I doing a bit of this too. There was an interesting pod cast on the brewing network but I can't seem to re-listen to it. I wouldn't boil it for long, I think you would want the punchy spice of fresh ginger. Maybe right at the end to sterilise for a minute or two? Are you planning to h...

I would advise smacking well in advance anyway. The smack packs are effectively small starters so sitting around fully inflated isn't going to do much harm to the number of viable cells. I've had varying "lag" times for smack packs and a little patience is better than pitching yeast that isn't ready...

Interesting technique, what's your scale for converting l/min to pressure? I've the same gauge on my regulator and would like to have an accurate idea of the pressure I'm applying.

Temperature control was the biggie once I moved from kits to all grain. It probably would have helped the kits a bunch too..... To be honest, I often don't actually "control" temperature, but I choose where to ferment based on the temperature that I want - spare room / garage / utility room etc. onc...

After a couple of years all grain brewing I have found that I like to both keg and bottle from the same batch. Bottling some means I have some to give away or take out, and also gives me a choice of beers later on once the kegs are finished. I bottle directly from the fermenter, stirring in priming ...

I would say check carefully for bubbles stuck to the hydrometer too. If there is sediment in the sample that could possibly affect the reading too.

My biggest concern for water on your first AG brew would be getting it from one vessel to the other without it peeing all over the floor when hot and sticky! Run hot water through everything to check for leaks before you start and don't worry one iota about the chemistry. I've made hefeweisens, stou...

300 bottles! Ouch, my arm is aching after holding 20-odd bottles under the filler.

Go 750ml size, charge more and bottle less.... Just the faff of corking and wiring then ha!

That sounds pretty low for those starting gravtities to me. To go lower um, brett? Cooler mash temp, step mash with rests to break up the long chains???

82% and 78% apparent attenuations are pretty good and the key is - do they taste dry enough???

I regularly mash and sparge one night and leave it until as long as the next night before boiling up. This way I can fit a brew in during the week and save the whole weekend for the family. No significant negative effects I can detect so far, my beers have been getting better and better. I think the...

Not sure of benefits, but just be careful opening up the cornie after conditioning at room temp. Any residual fermentation builds pressure, so be careful to vent slow and long before opening the keg up - I recently has a cornie 'gush' on me because I just quickly vented via the pressure release valv...