Jim's Beer Kit

Indeed, I've not heard of any actual problem ingredients discovered in starsan (or clones), just less than EU-compliant words/paperwork. Starsan was registered as a sanitiser before testing regulations became more stringent; whether it would pass now I've no idea, though there are (apparently valid...

Pale beers made with highly alkaline water will not usually be as good as they could or should, but will not make a beer that tastes "off". However, it will make it more difficult to diagnose other faults in the beer. As a priority you should measure the amount of alkalinity present and reduce it to...

Exactly. It's an excellent last step sanitiser, where most of what it's going to combat in significant population is lactobacillus from grain dust in the air of the brewery. Anything that is going to ruin your beer (mold/wild yeast) will have needed much longer than a brew day to grow a significant...

https://reader016.staticloud.net/reader016/html5/20181125/55cf9cae550346d033aaabc3/bgb.png There's some info here which you might already have seen, but whatever, doesn't exactly deal with your issue. I had a similar problem, can't exactly remember all details, but like yours the pump didn't operat...

Yes, you've got it. Examine to see if the agitator/pump are not turning as they should due to being contact with the body/surround.

Welcome to Jim's.

Hi Kev, I too have long wondered why some American homebrewers insist all beers should brewed using low mineral liquor. Certainly large International Breweries use RO water to enable consistent brewing across the world. That's not a priority for me and probably many others, but it makes sense for, s...

Still with Guy on this and doubt that the problem you have is due to a mash pH of 4.2. That said we can't discount what you measured until it can be confirmed to be incorrect and if the alkalinity is as you measured, 166ppm but you are treating it as if it was 220, you would get a low mash pH. Water...

What Guy said. I can't say how much extra acid would be needed to get a mash pH of 4.2, but without a lot of dark malts it wouldn't be a minor amount. How does Murphy's analysis compare with the mean values provided by your water supply company? What value of pH do your strips give for your finished...

Well worth a tenner even if it’s there as a spare That seems to be so. It would be interesting to compare the linearity between and outside the calibration points for both machines. Mine tends to be used in flourishes. Often I won't bother when time is short or for a basic brew, but it gets a bashi...

I had a similar situation with my rather expensive Milwaukee ph meter ( a good £60-£80 I think) worked fine for a couple years, always cleaned and stored the probe in storage solution. It wouldn’t calibrate at all and a new probe was more than a new one! So I bought one of these https://uploads.tap...

They don't last for ever. My first probe didn't last long, but wasn't giving erratic readings, instead it just continued to drift. For readings to be practical and meaningful they should be taken with the sample and probe at very similar temperatures, close to 20C and constant. For our purpose perfe...

Depends upon the yeast. If it's real top fermenting, then top-crop will keep it working at its best. While WLP002 provides a good looking head, it's too light to merit constant top cropping and slurry would be a better choice. I wouldn't know about FM11, but most Northern yeasts were either Burton o...

Ah, Thanks Kev for pointing that out. Mine are the other type.

My kettle element died during a brew last week, managed to finish off in the HLT. HLT element is looking pretty gnarly too. I've got 6 or 7 years out of them. They were Tribune S6212 elements (DIN25?) - I'm not sure they were actually stainless. I used a 32.5mm QMax, and a 1.25" backnut. So ideally...

MickJ wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 6:07 am

Will keep on finding out about the pump and where I can get a porcelain handle .....

Michael

You might look here for a handle. I'm not sure if length is standard, but have found them helpful on the telephone in the past.