Jim's Beer Kit

The blow off tube and the inside of the FV re-pressurise when the beer is dropped to 12°C because the beer continues to ferment very slowly. The drop to 4°C isn't enough to reduce the pressure far enough to pull any liquid back through the tube into the FV. My blow off tube is about a metre long, w...

Try 'cold crashing' ( I hate that term) in two stages. Drop the beer to 12°C once the primary fermentation has finished. This won't suck anything back up through the blow off tube. After a few hours you'll see bubbles very, very slowly coming through the blow off tube. Then drop the temperature to ...

Ha ha! Have done a bit of research on the balloon. Thought it might be a bit of refined kit, but turns out to be a party item! A bit primitive, but if you find it successful, it’s a cheap option. How do you attach it Jocky?

I have the mini fermenter from BB and that certainly doesn't take much pressure. The silicone seal leaks even under a couple of psi. To avoid the suck back problem I attach a mylar foil balloon with CO2 in it in place of the airlock before cold crashing. If you don't have a CO2 bottle to fill the b...

The Starsan is unlikely to have ruined it. It might help to let us know what the actual fermenter is as they are not all built equally, especially with regard to pressurising them (it might change the advice somewhat). The fermentation vessel is a BrewBuilder standard 33 litre flat bottom bin with ...

Guys, advice please! I’ve recently changed from a plastic to a more up market stainless fermentation bin. As the top has a tri clamp hole I decided to do away with a standard bubbler and use a cornie gas disco fitting, connected to a bit of 3/8 gas pipe submerged in a small container of starsan. Wor...

FWIW I do the same as Jocky. I’ve taped a patch of insulation material, on to the bin half way up, to form a pouch, the stuff you put behind room radiators to reflect the heat. I simply slide the sensor in, and remove when I take the bin out of the fridge. I do have a stainless bin that being a bett...

I will be brewing 5L batches of beer. Will a 5L fermentation bin be big enough? It is oversized but just wondering if the additional space will be enough to contain the foam once the fermentation starts. It came as part of a starter 5L kit. Thanks. Totally agree with foob4r, but if you wish to try ...

I'm thinking of kegging my beer, but part of me is not so sure. I know there are plenty of reasons to keg over bottling, but have anyome made the move to cornelius kegs and regretted it or found it wasn't all they thought it would be? Difficult to find reasons. I converted about 3 years ago and now...

Hi Juffer. This may be an idea as Orlando suggested to me when I was in the same position as yourself. Log on to JBK links at the top of the forum, have a look at water treatment, then go to brewing calculators and select Graham’s water treatment calculator. Just fill in the boxes with the informati...

Yeh, agree with brewedout Guy. I use S-04 and US-05 quite a lot, I also rehydrate which tends to help with the lag time. 24hrs does seem on the long side, as I get evidence that fermentation has started after about 9hrs and krausen after about 18hrs. I suppose it also depends on the temperature you ...

Hi guys. Please find results of water analysis below Sodium as Na, mg/L 32.0 Potassium as K, mg/L 4.0 Magnesium as Mg, mg/L 7.8 Calcium as Ca, mg/L 51.8 Chloride as Cl, mg/L 51.9 Nitrate as NO3, mg/L 16.4 Phosphate as PO4, mg/L 4.5 Sulphate as SO4, mg/L 34.6 Total alkalinity as CaCO3, mg/L 92 pH 7....

orlando wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 25, 2020 8:18 am

Click on JBK links, top left, 5th topic down, water treatment. Review that first

Cheers Orlando.
Very helpful, I never noticed it before, been messing around with Graham’s water calculator this morning, will use the info on it.

Hi guys. I think my original question has been answered to great extent. I’ve sent a water sample to Phoenix analytical for a comprehensive check, so I’ll know what I’m working with to make adjustments in future. A very good step. Please post the findings of the analysis to open this discusion furt...

Hi guys. I think my original question has been answered to great extent. I’ve sent a water sample to Phoenix analytical for a comprehensive check, so I’ll know what I’m working with to make adjustments in future. A very good step. Please post the findings of the analysis to open this discusion furt...