Jim's Beer Kit

I'm beginning to fear the worst with this one. After coolin for 24hrs, It hasn't cleared anymore. Also I can see some small black spots on the sides of the bottle. I think I actually pitched 24 hrs later which prob means The temp was ok but also perhaps allowed time for some nasties to get hold. (So...

Will keep pitching temp in mind next time. With notty, i even pitched at the upper end of their recommended range in the past, which was 35c with no problem. I was actually thinking about sending beers off for critique, in this case it will be more for a diagnosis! I'll see if the one in the fridge ...

Cheers for all the comments guys, they've certainly made me think.. -I don't use a heat mat, but a converted fridge +stc to keep temp stable -it doesn't taste bad like an infection, just very yeasty, like the last beer you bottle from the bottling bucket with all the sediment n stuff -it doesn't tas...

Consensus is that it's Auto lysis then? That leaves me with a large amount of cr@p beer!

Cheers for the tips guys.. I usually do 2 weeks in the fermenter but I had a busy time and was only able to bottle after 3 weeks. I did a lot of reading on it and most seemed to think that 3 weeks or even longer should be fine?? Guess I'll go back to my normal routine... As for the venting, that wou...

Hi all, I recently brewed a Harvey's Sussex best from a recipe on the forum. Fairly simple recipe with bit of crystal and maize, and various hops, not that different to a few brews I've made successfully. The only thing I never used before was the wlp002 which some recommended for this brew. I ferme...

I use the fridge for fermentation control, then up to 23c for 3 weeks to carb bottles, then just unplug and allow to condition in the fridge at ambient temp which is fairly constant in the cellar at 15c. Works fine for 4-5 23l brews a year, but i guess im not drinking that much for fridge space to b...

Having opened one it looks like it was a perfect seal, I used a pump and an iron. It was also on 10 bags So I can only conclude that they were cr*p bags. Just found some mylar ones from mylarshop or smthg like that, hopefully that does the trick!
Cheers for the help

Had a brewday last weekend and i was surprised to find my vacuum packed hop bags all puffed up and full of air! :shock: They were nice and tight when i packed them a couple of months ago, so no idea whats going on. The bags i used were silver foil/plastic ones i got from fleebay (cue-rolling of eyes...

Thanks for all the tips guys, ive been offline for a few days an just picked them up. I'll go for higher carbonation next time, but im pretty sure the fizz isn't the problem, more retaining it... Interesting point about high a acids, will try that too. I mashed a stout (with roast + malt barley) at ...

Carbonation was fine, enough fizz, but it just didnt last/form a head.
I fermented at 19c, cold crashed and primed, bottled straight away...

So ive been trying to get better heads in my beers for a while but i dont think im getting anywhere fast! 1 hobgoblinn clone. Mo, crystal, choc 67c mash 2 dead donkey mo crystal flaked barley, 63c mash 3golden ale mo, malt and flaked wheat From the three, the hobgoblin had the best and a reasonable ...

Thanks for the tips all, i took the advice and changed to a blonde ale. More aroma hops and saved the corriander and orange peel for next time.

Couldnt change the proportions so quite a lot of wheat, fingers crossed...
Cheers

So i havent been very diciplined with updating my hop/grain/yeast inventory and its left me in a bit of a fix today! I have my grains mashing at the moment for a wheat beer but realised i only have 2 packs of windsor yeast. So my choice is to use the windsor or prepare the wort, leave in the ferment...

Thanks Jocky, that makes sense, i'll put them back in the fridge and warm them up. Never realised they needed so long and at such a high temp, always seemed to work fine before but i must never have stored them there in the winter.
Glad to hear the yeast will wake up with some heat
Cheers!