Recent content by JimD

I've picked up from a few sources now that this yeast is a bit of a bugger. I've got a pale ale on the go now with it, and I'm skimming and rousing avery day (on day 3 at the moment). I've got the temperature at 22C, and after skimming all the crop and rousing, the head recovers after about 2...

I've never aerated, and never had problems. That was when I used Gervin ale yeast. Now I've started on Wyeast 1318 and it's a swine to get going properly. I've had to rouse it every other day just to keep it going (even at 22C), so I was seriously thinking of investing in some aeration...

Well it certainly won't do any harm! But that said, I never bother to purge my barrels and I've never had a problem. I reckon the beer gives off a certain amount of CO2 when you transfer it, so that probably fills the air space at the top before you get a chance to put the cap on the keg.

One thing you need to do is make sure you have a yeast with a high alcohol tolerance. With standard beer yeast, the fermentation will stick at, maybe 6 or 7% alcohol. Most people use a wine yeast for high strength beers, though you can get special high alcohol tolerant beer yeasts. As for the...

I have a feeling that you could. The starch in crystal malt should all be converted to sugar during malting. You may have to filter the stuff out after you extract the sugar, though. I'd be interested to know how you get on, if you decide to try it.

This article may be of interest. The guy who wrote it is French and he brews from his own apples in the traditional Breton way.

I've got a couple of Grolsch bottles that I fill when the keg's nearly empty (i.e. when I can't get any more clear beer out of it!). I just reprime with 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and leave them for a few weeks.

Wow, you certainly have a lot of home brewers in Oz! I'm from England and I feel well in the minority! :D

Hi, this is my first post on here. :) I make English-style ales and I usually boil for around 90 minutes: - 10 minutes with no hops, then another 80 minutes or so with the bittering hops. I add more hops at around 30m from the end and then the aroma hops and Irish moss 15 mins before the end.