Jim's Beer Kit

phil.dadd wrote:I use brewersfriend, it's pretty good!

^^^^^

In theory, the yeast if well stored should be viable for a good while after the BBE date, but tbh, is it worth the hastle of the risk when you could nip into wilko's and pick out a sachet of their (suspected Notty) own brand ale yeast for 99p ? Get some in and on standby. Personally, I'd make the sa...

Interesting on the `NO Vote`! I had some screw top bottles off my neighbour a few weeks ago, put a TC in them as an experiment. (Only used 4 just in case)! [-X Opened one yesterday, good hiss on opening, lovely fizzy TC, no probs opening bottle. Will try some more when bottling Pilsner on Sunday! :...

As stated, thin glass and even thinner contents are the issue

Much better off buying an 18 bottle pack of Magners cider in brown 330cl bottles - decent glass and drinkable content.

I find gumtree good for local bargains. This, and local free ads such as the Friday-Ad turn up gold quite often - Ebay is pretty much a waste of time as it's full of high price chancers selling their wares and idiot buyers who'll pay nearly retail just to f**k you over in the last 3 seconds of the ...

In more serious nature, a quick look at the beer aisle of supermarkets right now will reveal a whole swathe of heavily marketed, colourfully decorated "craft" ales and lagers - the trend seems to be to sell them in 330ml cans at the moment - some of which i've tried on a whim and found them just as ...

Its a con...a marketing tool used by manufacturers to extract even more coin from your pocket...for exactly the same thing...they add `Crafted` or `Craft made`..etc. and then charge you an extra quid for the privilege. And in my experience the ale inside invariably is sub-standard. Any examples? Ge...

I think it's cobblers. BrewDog did well enough out of it :lol: I'll agree to the sentiment that the phrase these days is meaningless. At the start of the real ale revolution, it did mean something - but the money men at the big names took the hint and used it to market mass produced cr*p. After all...

I've used "yorkshire squares" quite sucessfully - and by that, I mean the 30L underbed storage boxes with lids they sell in Tescos and other supermarkets - not bad for £6 a piece. Just make sure you check for the "5" inside a recycling symbol ( or "PP") along with a food safe logo - most have them t...

Conversely I recently tried a bottle of beer from a well known brewery containing Cloves. 2 of us had a bottle each and we both poured it down the sink. Im this moment supping a pint of Cinnamon and Clove Turbo cider I made - not enough cinnamon, too much clove (and I only added 6 to a 20L batch......

Oddy enough, I found 3 bottles of a kit Stout I made approximately 3 years ago during a clear up today. Just cracked one - nicely carbonated.... good head and colour..... but tasted bloody aweful :( - certainly not how I remember them being; flavour had taken on a thin, harsh, metallic note with a h...

It seems that certain flavours carry through fermentation well, and others dont. My personal favourite is Apple and Lychee cider - adding a litre of lychee juice to the ferment leaves just the right level of flavour, but others such as cranberry or raspberry work well too. If you want to be sure of ...

I dont think there's such a thing as too much conditioning time unless you're talking years :lol: As it's been said, if you're thinking about doing something quite potent, the sooner the better. Maybe this year I'll get to take a crack at my Sammiclaus lager recipe :) - traditionally brewed on the 6...

Aldi Digital kitchen scales for malt and hops (0-3000g in 1g increments) and a set of drug-dealer "jewellers" scales for salts (100g on 0.01g increments) - ordered for a lovely chinese gent on ebay

For large malt bills, I may have to weigh out two quantities of malt, but it's hardly a trial.

You should be able to get things returned much cheaper than that - use a courier company, not Royal Mail I use www.interparcel.com regularly and ship stuff all over the world - good case in point being that I shipped to Norway recently (which is one of the dearest places in Europe to ship to) - 18kg...