Recent content by illywhacker

Hey all, My last few brews have consistently had the same off taste that I'm struggling to nail down. Hard to describe, but I'd say it is a sharp alcohol flavour, maybe slightly nail polish remover-y, but only slight. Drinkable but distracting. The first off-brew, I thought it must be some...

Jeez researching a little more on rebuilding kegs I realise I may have inadvertently swapped the poppets round when I was sanitizing. Could that be responsible?

So I swapped the lines and unsurprisingly, no diff. Suspect you may be right dblunn re the leaky seal. As I said the keg was second hand and in a bit rough condition when I purchased it. I didn't think to check the seals. How do I do this? Is it safe/sensible to remove the poppet of a...

Hey all, Just setting up my new kegerator, already christened 'Bertha'. Bertha has two taps and after a bit of trial and error, both have been set up identically; 2.4m of 5mm line, 12psi, 4deg. However while one tap (I haven't named Bertha's taps...yet) is pouring fine, albeit a little slowly...

Was the Maris Otter to fit the clone or a practical choice? You reckon SNPA is a maris otter-er?

Ah thanks all. Not sure I'm game to go a straight Colombus brew, but I'm getting a little more accustomed to the profile. With more careful use I'll think it'll find a home in my freezer

I leave my brews in primary for up to a month, no problems. The yeast is slowly but surely cleaning up the more reluctant fermentables and their off tastes. So relax and keg when you're ready. I cold crash in primary at the end of the four weeks, with pretty clear results. Point being that it...

Yeah I might persist but just scale it down a bit. It's quite nice as it is, but those not into ballsy hops may baulk. Too rough as a bittering hop, you reckon?

I've always understood SNPA and it's Little Creatures PA clone to feature Munich malts very strongly, as opposed to a straight pale and crystal combo. It's worked for me in the past to get that thicker mouthfeel without the caramels offered from crystals. Haven't drunk your beer though. Try a...

Recently started using this hop. Idea was to use it as a resiny, piney, more gutsy hop to complement cascade and mosaic in flavour, aroma and dry-hopping hop-heavy pale ales and IPAs. Both brews I've tried it with, works as envisaged, but for a really strong, can only describe it as a peppery...

Hey all, Planning on blowing my tax return on a 2 x 9.5L keg/kererator system. However, I need a little advice on converting conditioning procedures, I think. I currently brew 12L brews pretty much once per week. In primary for say 4 weeks; bottle 2, minimum; drink, enjoy. They're good. So...

Doesn't that mean all the hops' oils are still extracting though? Do you then shift your flavour hops back 10-20 mins? And won't the aroma hops end up bittering? I like the idea of quickly locking in the hop profile.

Okay well I tried the whirlpool. Didn't go well. It was an IPA so there was a crapload of hop material. Didn't like the idea of the wort just sitting there while it settled out so I started syphoning, but with the result that a tonne of the hop material got sucked up. And eff me did the syphon...

Why didn't anyone sit me down earlier and force me to understand how easy it is to make your own immersion chiller?! I know you all know this, but I didn't. Grand total of $55, wort from 100 to 22 in 18 mins plus I get to feel all manly by twisting copper with my bare hands. And there I was...

Yeah, I batch sparge. Mash half the water at the desired temp, usually 67, then add second half of water to mash out at 75. I don't fly sparge or anything. I thought it may have been mash pH. Measured it at around 5.7, which seems okay. I've had the taste on beers not dry-hopped, so don't think...