Jim's Beer Kit

My suggestion for this kit is to get yourself a pack of Nottingham yeast and use that in place of whats included. The Nottingham usually does a good job of tearing through the wort and generally drops clear for me.

Cheers

http://new.midwestsupplies.com/beer/hop ... 59h4at57us

Not sure about the hercules but I am sure that you could substitute something of equal aa rating, give Summit a try, I love them for an American IPA.

Cheers

In the past I have gone with 1 tsp of coriander seed for 5 minutes and with the zest of 3 oranges at flame out.

Be careful with the zesting of the oranges and don't get any of the pith.

Cheers

If you are enlarging your starter then you add the smaller starter into the larger container of extract. The only time that I toss the excess fluid is before actually pitch into the main brew.

Cheers

I think that this would be an ideal situation to do a side by side brewing test. Why not split a batch with half being made with your tap water and half being the mineral water and then do a blind taste test with some of your mates? Believe me those blind taste tests are very informative.

Cheers

I think that you will be fine, I can't even tell you how many beers that I have brewed which during initial fermentation I did not even have an air lock on them. May times I simply put a piece of tin foil on the carboy opening for the first few days of strong fermentation before the stopper and airl...

My brews all taste considerably better the longer that they age, that is up to a point of course and then they start to tail off. I have beers in my cellar that I have brewed 2 and three years ago and they still taste great. Mind you these are 8-9 abv and 50 IBU brews so that helps them age more gra...

I am not familiar with that particular barley wine, but if you follow the old adage of taking 3 days readings that are identical then you are at the finish line for your yeast. I would generally try to rouse the yeast a few times if had any suspicions about them dropping out too early. Hope that hel...

http://new.midwestsupplies.com/kegging/ ... v72q3091hb

Check out this link, I know that its in the US but if you can't find parts where you are it might be worth it.

Cheers

I think that you should ditch the lemon grass and just add the zest of some lemons at flame out. The aroma I think will be better and it will be cheaper to boot. Plus you will have the lemon juice to use in something else as an added bonus

Cheers.

I think that perhaps we are not speaking on the same page..........my 2.5 gallon batches ferment in a 3 gallon carboy and then are kegged in a 2.5 gallon corny. Although I do also bottle on occasion too.

Cheers

11 liter for a 5 gallon batch? I think that you are a tad bit on the small side. Perhaps you should try just doing some half batches for the time being until you are able to gear up for a larger brew pot. I do 2.5 gallon batches all the time, even though I have larger pot sizes also.

Cheers

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index. ... a_mash_tun

Here is another similar look at converting the cooler.

Cheers

I personally use Nottingham and S-33 for my Pale Ales (and IPAs) but if you are looking for that American feel to it then I think that you will want to try our Safale US-05 it will give you the clean taste taste you might be looking for. I also use Marris Otter or Golden Promise for my PAs but the f...

What you are looking for is a nice tart(sour) cherry. Frozen is quite fine, in fact I find them to be better for the simple reason that the walls of the fruit after freezing are more readily permeated by the wort.

Cheers