Jim's Beer Kit

More! More! More! Don't feel like you're 'labouring it' because you're totally taking the piss

Your exact words lest you forgot.You might be an accomplished biochemist but I doubt your water chemistry. Quid pro quo.

In theory, and in my opinion , no. But it very much depends on the size and type of airlock connection. An ale, with a vigourous fermentation could produce so much krausen that it might overwelm the airlock/ blow off cane. What is crtical is the sizing of the airlock and it connection. The biggest r...

Sparky, Patience is a virtue. One thing I have learned it that one needs to be patient. I like to give my ales at least six weeks prior to drinking and much longer for pils, which are much more sensitive. Two things I would not do. If you have an indirect hot water cylinder your hot water could well...

I will try and keep this simple. To all intents, calcium carbonate is barely soluble in water. Very roughly 20 mg/L will dissolve in water as the carbonate. In the presence of carbon dioxide more calcium carbonate will dissolve as calcium bicarbonate is formed, which is soluble in the hundreds of mg...

Personally I would not have caramelised the honey as this will reduce the sugar content. Our heather honey was drinkable after one year and certainly did not have any off flavours. I still have quite a sgnificant volume in a corny keg. I will look out the keg and draw a sample. If you send me a pm w...

Oh dear, I wish I had spotted this earlier. Oxalic acid or Brewers Friend is not the right way. Likewise you must be very careful with abrasives. Never use wire wool or steel abraisives( wire brush- even stainless) Please look here for passivating stainlees steel. This is a repost on citric acid pas...

For what it is worth I store all my mead ( honey wine) in cornies. I have over 30 in mead use. I use carbon dioxide to displace the mead BUT via drinks gun with a very low flow rate. These are available on eBay . The flow is restricted by using a narrow tube - 3 mm ID. I tend to use a cheap soda str...

Quick answer. Not very accurate especially if the sample is coloured. Be very careful with pH meters. A pH determination is really only applicable in aqueous solutions- that means water. Once you have significant organic material the result is not necessarily accurate. The killer for pH probes is th...

I would not hold your breath on this concept of >5.5% alcohol being a sanitiser. If you wish to preserve foods or other organic matierals then 5% alcohol is not going to get you very far. Why do all the Covid santisers require 70% minimum alcohol ( ethanol and isopropanol). You might like to review ...

I think that your problem lies with the PBW which is a mix of sodium percarbonate and sodium metasilicate. This will raise the pH and combined with your hard water it has possibly caused carbon dioxide to react with calcium ions and precipitate. The long soak is the problew. I have never been a fan ...

As not much is posted on this thread for mead, if you are a mead fan here is an offer you cannot refuse. Up for grabs are 10 bottles of mead of 25,50 and 70 CL which will be sent at no cost to those who plead the best story of why I should send them a bottle at absolutely no cost. All that I ask is ...

The hose will be plasticised PVC and the plasticiser will most likely be either DOP or DiNP, both of which are ortho phthalate plasticisers. If the hose is more than 15 years old it is likely to be DOP. In either case it will not kill you and unlikely to harm you. Plasticiser will migrate over time,...

The reject rate for an RO is a function of the mineral ,loading AND the water pressure. For water to permeate through the membrane requires the osmotic pressure to be overcome. As the mineral loading increase so does the osmotic pressure. If you have a low mains pressure then there will be a very hi...

I will chip in my two cents worth but do not want to get embroiled in a pointless discussion. Several observations. You have a very thin water, which will be lacking any buffering in its delivered state. Calcium carbonate is sparingly soluble in water- typically about 40-50 mg/L depending on the oth...

That looks a nice neat job. I think you made the right choice. Fit and forget.