Jim's Beer Kit

Rob, manky... is that a Midlands term? I’m from your neck of the woods originally and still have family over your way. Didn’t you do a Keystone Brew a few years ago?

You see, that’s why I was unsure if it’s infected, it’s not so bad I’d throw it away.

I found doing 10 litre brews made it easier to fit a brew in if time is your problem. 2 x cheap 14 litre stockpots, one turned into a mash tun with some camping mat and a tap, the other is the boiler. No need for a tap on the boiler, I can just pick it up and pour the wort through a sieve into the F...

Oh, and as I always do, I tried the sample I took and it is very pleasant. I have recently improved my mash efficiency, so I have gone over one end and under the other end and I’m looking at an unexpected ABV of 8.5% plus.

An update on this for what it’s worth. I raised this over about five days to 30 degrees and it has bubbled like crazy until the last day or two. I’ve just taken a reading which is 1.002. I can’t see the point of adding any champagne yeast...

Yes, I was hoping it was the yeast and dry hops but the fizziness made me think yeast infection. I was paranoid about infection before, even though I’d never had one (despite a few heat of war mistakes), I’ll be even worse now.

I was suspecting wild yeast. It’s just about drinkable... isn’t Brett the most common wild yeast infection? If so I’ll just say it’s intentional.

I recently brewed a Punk IPA clone using the Brewdog recipe. It's cloudier than any brew I've made up to now (they've all been pretty crystal clear other than my wheat beers) which I initially put down to the high level of dry hopping and using a US yeast. However, I'm sure they're getting a bit fiz...

Thanks for the help, the Brupaks heap of crap will now be HLT when my shiny new kettle (with element) arrives from Brew Builder!

kettle elements often come with some dryboil protection, with my old blue barrel boiler fitted with 2x budget kettle elements this took the shape of a 'pingring' (Bi-metalic ring that would ping /spring into a new shape once hot enough), which in turn pushed in a small white pin to break the electr...

Thanks, both. Sounds like my current boiler should be doing better. My worry with using a normal element is that the same will happen again.

My Brupaks boiler let me down for the second time today, it just can't handle high OG brews, the element overheats and cuts out. So after a truly awful time of trying to salvage the day, I'm going to relegate it to HLT and get a new kettle. I only need a 33 litre at this stage, although I'm tempted ...

I used them once because they stocked the large keg cooler bags. The yeast I got was out of date....and delivery was slow. Never again. I use Brew UK and malt miller about 70/30. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro I waiver too. Malt Miller is slightly better quality but no free delivery over £6...

Thanks, IPA. When I was first started brewing, I just followed recipes without any thought or knowledge of pitching the right amount of yeast and always had good results. As I have learnt a little bit more, I know that I must have been underpitching by some amount according to the calculators, so I ...

Yes, the problem is that if I go with Brewer’s friend I have multiple steps starting at 200ml, if I go with Beersmith, I can probably do it in one step.