Jim's Beer Kit

BX as bittering in a dark ale is killer; the dark malts and blackcurranty hops really work together.

Well, I thought I'd report back; after finally sourcing some 514 locally, I used it in my house ale, which I have used Coopers in many times. Not a true side by side comparison, but I'm not anal enough to split batches etc. This yeast is very different, in aroma, flavour and flocculation/sedimentati...

Has the flavour or aroma changed noticeably? I went through a real problem with gushers i while back, which I put down to wild yeast, most likely S.diastaticus (which chews through any unfermented dextrins and smells highly phenolic) probably from brewing in an area where a lot of people have fruit ...

Invert sugars are integral to the flavour of a number of quintessentially British styles, most prominently Mild. Using grains will not get a similar result. http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert/comment-page-1 is my go-to for whipping up a batch of invert. My experie...

Unbearable? Like vomit/cheese or like excrement? I've intentionally sour mashed three times and been lucky twice, and unlucky once. And the unlucky one was enough to kill a brown dog... If it was that bad, you did the right thing.

Pretty sure Seymour said the bulk was blended to overcome attenuation issues. So both yeasts are present.

TheSumOfAllBeers wrote:Once it goes in the cube, you won't lose aroma. It is trapped now until you pitch it.

That's not entirely accurate. The hop oils will continue to isomerise in the hot wort, and may shift from delivering aroma to flavour or bitterness.

jaroporter wrote:yeast still in suspension and not at FG.... ....do ya think it might still be fermenting.. ??

What's your:

Original gravity?
Expected final gravity?
Current actual gravity?

My advice is: don't stuff around with the process. Transfer too cool and you will lose cubes to wild yeast and bacteria. Move your hop additions too radically, you will end up with unbalanced beer. Keep it simple.

...And corn sugar as table white or belgian canDi? Guessing last 15 minute of boil ?... Corn sugar is dextrose or brewing suger over here Right. Don't overthink it. I guarantee AB-Inbev is not using a fancy, expensive form of sugar. Any ol' cheap white table sugar will do: corn, cane, beet, etc. Th...

No chill requires that wort goes into the storage container hot to pasteurise it. This means no cold break, and any late hop additions will isomerise for a lot longer. In practice, factor all late hops as if they went in 20 mins earlier. This can limit your brewing styles - us pale ales are a chall...

Thanks for the reply Seymour, interesting stuff.

Seymour, a couple of points and questions if I may: -I'm 99% sure the Coopers dry yeast as sold separately is 100% their proprietary yeast, not a blend. The blends only come packaged with the kits. -The proprietary dry strain (Ac) was developed by Coopers to most closely replicate their commercial c...

Mangrove Jack make a Belgian ale yeast that I have used once, but on an odd recipe that doesn't showcase it. Would like to heat others opinions on it. I did a run of Saisons and BSA's 18 months ago alternating Belle Saison and MJ Belgian. Much preferred the Belle Saison beers; found the MJ to be ve...

Is UK roasted wheat a close match for midnight wheat? http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=35 I've never seen roasted wheat, but it could be. Pretty sure Midnight Wheat is a proprietary name for a brand of roasted wheat. Debittered roasted malts are made (in broad terms) b...