Recent content by jeremys

I want to buy a big bag of Muntons lightest DME, as I've heard it is made with Maris Otter, which should be good for all of my English ales. Problem is, I don't know of any homebrew shop that sells the stuff. I'm based in Perth and generally buy my supplies from TWOC, who stock pre-hopped cans...

Turns out Back 2 Basics is just a short drive from my house and I've never heard of it before. I gave them a call and they do have them back in stock now, so I'm off to pay $89.95 and pick mine up in person - STOKED! Thanks to everyone who has helped to answer my question!

My old temperature controller has stopped working. I bought it from my local homebrew shop because it did not require wiring and I am not handy or electronically minded in the slightest. However, I don't wish to spend my money on the same unit which has died after just over one year's use, plus...

I'm a big fan of brewing low gravity beers instead of starters, why brew something that you can't drink? I will occasionally make a starter if I have old yeast or want to brew something on short notice, but in generaly I try to brew something with about 3.5%abv and then brew a stronger beer...

That calculator is gold! I've entered in my data, plans are now to let the yeast pack swell (or not) for 3 days at 20C, then put it into a 1L starter on Tuesday, the yeast from that into a 2L starter on Wednesday, then that yeast into a 4L starter in my better bottle on Thursday. After 24 hours...

Yes! It suggests I would need 3.5 fresh packs, 1 fresh pack in a 9L starter, or 2 fresh packs in a 4L starter. I'd rather slightly overpitch than under, which is why I'm thinking a 2-3 step starter would make sense. I've done plenty of starters before, just never multi-step starters and never...

I have bought a Wyeast smack pack of 2206, but forgot to check the date on the pack. It is nearly 6 months old, and I am planning to make a starter with it to use in a batch of Marzen next weekend. I've never used yeast close to this old before, and Mr Malty's pitching rate calculator suggests...

I'm interested to know who here has bottle conditioned a lager before. I'm an extract brewer and package soley in bottles and I have never done a lager before. I'm planning on brewing a Marzen in a week or so and will be bottling it once fermentation is complete (actually I usually leave my...

I brew almost exclusively with DME and have generally found that poor attenuation is a given. If you're going to do this recipe again and want to get closer to 1.010, I'd drop the Carapils and bump the corn sugar up to 20%, as DME is generally made using pale malt and a touch of...

Oh, and should I do a 60 or 90 minute boil?

My homebrew club is having a German lager competition this October, and I've decided that this is the kick up the bum I needed to brew my first lager. Because of how long it takes to make a good lager, I'm not planning to do a trial batch, just jump straight in and hopefully enter with the first...

Good point, you two have put my mind at rest - thankyou! :D

I generally don't even bother tasting any of my brews until they've had at least 2 weeks in bottles and generally find them to be at their best after 4-12 weeks. I was just wondering whether the 90 minutes would be enough to make an appreciable difference in final carbonation level. If the yeast...

Yesterday I bottled a strong stout (A RIS recipe, dialled down to 7.2%) but took about 90 minutes after adding the priming sugar to start bottling (I was brewing a pale ale at the same time and got distracted). I am wondering whether this will result in the beers being undercarbonated? Will the...