Jim's Beer Kit

I usually add citric acid and tannin (strong tea method) to most of my fruit/country wines, but keep seeing recipes using a teaspoon of acid blend. Would using acid blend be an improvement? Do you add it to every wine, or only certain wines that are possibly lacking? Would it be better to buy the ma...

I only found out recently that there were so many liquid wine yeasts available and have yet to try any, but I will at some point in the future (once I've tried liquid beer yeast which I really should get to grips with!) £7 is not too bad if you can build a starter to make 5 gallon batches with. I wo...

Thank you both for your suggestions. I'll leave out the caramalt and mash at 66 degrees instead, that should end up a bit drier. If you have an English hop option I would sub for the Willamette. Unfortunately, I've only got Willamette, Challenger, Mount Hood and Cascade left. Would it be better to u...

Hi, I wasn't planning on making a bitter but a friend of mine is coming to stay in a couple of months and it's his favourite style so I thought I'd see if I could cobble one together with some leftover ingredients, (hence the small amount of biscuit malt which will probably not add much flavour). I ...

Fyfe Robertson went in search of the perfect pint in 1973;

https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/vid ... 861784883/


and another BBC video from the 60's;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-norther ... er-brewing

I agree with Jaroporter, I've never used finings in wine either. Once the primary fermentation has finished, I rack the wine into another fermenter and let it clear in a cool place. It will probably need racking again after a month or so, depending on how much sediment drops out.

Stewb wrote:

MarkA wrote: Me Too!

"Lazy brewers unite"

"Meh. Maybe tomorrow. The sofa's actually quite comfy at the moment"

I never pulp as it's harder to strain. I just chop the rhubarb into smallish pieces and put in a sanitised bucket. Add the sugar and leave overnight, strain juice off into demijohn, rinse rhubarb with water and strain again until the demijohn is full and add yeast.

Stewb wrote:I'm a lazy bottler

Me Too! I do much the same - rinse 3 or 4 times after drinking, empty the drips, stick a plastic resealable cap on to keep the dust/spiders out. On bottling day, a quick squirt of Starsan, drain, and fill with beer

An interesting read, thanks Matt. I'll definitely be seeking some of this out when (or if) it becomes available over here.

I've also bookmarked the site and will be having a read through some more of Scott's blogs, there's some good stuff on there, cheers!

I would personally rouse the yeast in the fermenter (gently so as to not add oxygen) and up the temp by a degree or so to see if the yeast will restart. For rehydration, I use cooled boiled water. Sprinkle the dried yeast on top, leave it somewhere warm for 20 minutes or so, then stir. That's all it...

Fair enough, I'll give it a go

I don't trust the link to be honest (sorry if it's legit but not good for a first post)

Nice experiment fego, cheers!

I have left many airlocks soaking for days in a VWP solution with no problems.

I have found though that airlocks that have dulled or discoloured never come back clear, even after soaking. As long as they are clean and sanitised, I don't worry about using them.