Hydrometers and Sparging, surely its not just me?

[norman]

Sorry for the delay in replying but this is the one I bought
http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?q=b ... e&ct=title

[Andy]

That's a pretty good price Norman!

[ColinKeb]

being a lazy git i just taste it, if its sweet it goes in probably wring and i do tend to end up with quite bitter beers, i will try and do it properly next time .

[norman]

yes and well built too Andy.all mtal and rubber.

[ColinKeb]

i do tend to end up with quite bitter beers,

I recall you saying thay you used Dave Lines recipes, apparently the alpha acid contents of hops has increased since his day, you may need to reduce your hops rates a little.

ace! i wil try that , they are fine for me but others have complained that they have a bit of a bitter slap to the face. i double checked the hops measures each time but they were right, what youre saying may convince others i can actually make nice beer

[PieOPah]

I got the same refractometer as everybody else it would appear. I think mine reads 0-32% but can't quite remember.

Since I batch sparge, I don't need to sparge down to 1.006 (although I have been thinking of doing a smaller 3rd sparge just as an extra rinse and for 'spare' top up wort).

I just use the refractometer to get the readings at various stages for pure curiosity.

I have been thinking about how I could Fly Sparge so may give this a try in the near future. May need to buy an extra 35 litre fermenting bucket though!

[Western Brewer]

i do tend to end up with quite bitter beers

I have recently done a clone of DL's Directors. This came out quite bitter and Richard at Cheers Home brew shop said that it could of been water treatment or over hopped. So what Daab said could be correct as I followed the recipe to the letter. I was dead chuffed as his first comment that it was extremely clear.

[SteveD]

With fairly bitter recipes, i've found serving the beer too cold can mask the maltiness and throw the hop balance off making it seem over hopped.
(or put it another way...serve your beer a little warmer, you may get away with it )

Agree...too cold kills an ale. I have a simple method...fetch cold pint in from shed, put in microwave. 20 secs full power, and it's just right

[ColinKeb]

i cant stand cool beer, i always drink it at room temperature i just cant taste it if its cool.

[DRB]

I must admit I like a cold beer,it wouldn't be the same in the height of summer asking for a room temp beer rather than a nice cold beer.

[Jim]

It depends how warm your room is!

As has been said before, 14C isn't warm, it's cold - just not icy cold.