Recent content by malbeven

I cut up a Chux superwipe and staple it into a big square tea bag thing with the hops stapled in. I make 4 out of each one, all double layered. Works a treat.

Count me in!

A question that's been bugging me for a while. I've often steeped hops in boiling water and added them to the brew just before pitching the yeast. And I've often dry hopped after the initial ferment. Is it ok to add steeped hops later in the brewing process? My thought is that you'd get more...

Like the look of this. Do you need to mix the bottle at all to disolve the sugar? ie turn it over a couple of times, or will it just get eaten by the yeast all by itself? Never been too sure about this, but have always done it when priming with a teaspoon of sugar. At the moment I'm bulk...

Both of the above are good calls. I mostly use old Milo tins. The big tins (the kids get through shitloads of the stuff) are good for a kilo.

My two cents: I use a test tube style aquarium heater stuck into the side of the fermenter with a rubber grommet to seal around the hole. It can be easily removed and sanitized between brews and I've found it to be very successful. Really cheap way of doing it too - you can pick one up off...

Yep, agree with that. Sounds like it must have been a pretty darn good beer anyway, so just do it again.

Having imaginary drunk them, do you get imaginary drunk? And then suffer from an imaginary hangover? Hmm. For me its a triple rinse in tap water, bottles upside down 'till dry, then a rinse in sanitizer prior to refilling the bottles. Never had a problem, and very quick and easy.

I've always bulk primed in a second fermenter, but lately I've had 2 brews in at once so I've taken to bulk priming in the primary fermenter. I just dissolve sugar or dex (usually about 160g dex or 130g sugar for a 23lt ale) in about a cup of hot water, gently pour it in, then gently stir with...

Thanks guys, great advice. I reckon I'll go for more of the EKG,, less of the American hoops and the BRY-97 yeast. Appreciate your help. Will let you know how it goes. Cheers.

Yeah, agree with that. As I said, comes out as a best bitter in the spreadsheet, but I wouldn't have called it that on paper. Think it will be pretty drinkable though all the same. Any dramas with using only dry malt, with no liquid, or doesn't it really matter? Thanks for your thoughts. Mal

Hi all. Anyone see any problems with this? Comes up well on Iain's spreadsheet (excellent, btw), but just after any thoughts. 23 ltr Brew, 2.5kg LDM 150g Medium Crystal 150g Carawheat 50g Carafa 1 Grains steeped 30 min at 70 deg. Then boiled with: 24g Centennial @ 60min 15g EKG @ 15 min...

If you're using a plastic fermenter, the best / cheapest heater is a test tube type aquarium heater. Stick it through the side wall of the fermentor with a grommit. Mine's has a temp adjusting dial on it, so you can set what you want. Works a treat. Get one of ebay for about $20.