Jim's Beer Kit

I know that the rule-of-thumb is to use double the cell count of yeast for a lager (ie - 1.5million/mL/degree Plato) to account for the lower fermentation temps. Brewing lagers in a warmish climate without the means to keep the FVs cold enough has been a problem for me over the years, so I've prett...

LeeH wrote:46 a sack?

Nope.

Even the Minch malt is £40 a sack at The Homebrew Company now!

What ever happened to the days when,for top fermented beer, we made a pint starter. It always worked fine until the Yanks told us it was wrong. I remember having this conversation with GW a few years back. “Fine” or fantastic? Even starter size is a big simplification though, yeast health plays a b...

Sorry I’m a little tired so I hope others pick up on anything they disagree with. With a relatively fresh pack and a stir plate and a stepped starter you should be able to get away with a <2L starter, you can always split this on the second step. Here is an example, that includes a slight overbuild ...

Following on from the "WLP001 Next Gen" thread, that turned into a discussion about The Malt Miller carrying Brewlab slopes (though it would be easier for searching in the future):

https://youtu.be/ZeMWN9tQYbw

Cheers guys.

Coincidence this, I’ve just brewed the Graham Wheeler’s recipe for Guinness. I’ve brewed it about 6 times now, a very nice drink, but I have been reducing the roasted barley to make it less pronounced and a little smoother (to my taste!). I think I’ve overdone it, by reducing it by 20%, I’ve lost a...

What’s the BB or manufacturing date on the yeast packet? Do you have a stir plate? I can run some numbers for you.
It looks like you can get away with a smaller starter, given the gravity and using a step.

You will generally need more cells when fermenting a lager due to the lower fermenting temperatures. Take a look at the online calculators for how much, but a 4L stepped one for lager isn’t unusual. It isn’t as scary as it sounds though, just don’t try and do it in one step. You could use a demijohn...

It will be interesting to see the results of that.

What are you testing and who is doing it? [emoji846]

Another option might be a vodka tincture but it might be a little late to play around with that.
I’ve tried hibiscus in a sour beer before, it adds some pretty interesting notes.
Good luck with the beer.

Interesting question as, unlike some other additions like hibiscus, it does not specify dried leaves. In Brooklyn Brew Shop’s book they use fresh petals, as an alternative to dried rose buds, at flame out, so killing any nasties or wild yeast. James Morton has this to say in his “Brew” book about us...

Don’t worry about oxidation - it won’t happen. The surface area you are exposing is tiny, you’ll be opening it for seconds, and when you’re done you just pour out a quarter pint to make sure the exposed beer is gone and the beer line is full of liquid. The exposed beer would only get poured if a fl...

No Paul, well I can't remember him, but he does/did work at Brewlab and I never knowingly met him there. He wrote a good article on Brewlab's website about a Green Hop brew done at Wadworth, but couldn't find it today. My records show it was written Aug 14th, 2020 because I referred to it when doin...