Recent content by melbrine

Thank you, I appreciate your information

Can anyone see any down side to delivering a squirt of co2 when racking off the primary yeast and/or when racking for bulk priming and bottling? I thought a small dose into the empty container would expel oxygen and maybe even another dose before putting on the lid would ensure no oxygen with...

Had a porter go up to30+ degrees due to stupidity - got it down to acceptable temperature and carried on. Has turned out a top drop.

Have you checked your hydrometer? I had the same trouble with a helles bock that "stuck" at 1026 in spite of all you tried. Borrowed a hydrometer that read 19 - bottled and no problems. I now have 3 hydrometers (threw out the first one) and they all give different readings with a 6 point...

Wyeast Labs website has a pitch rate calculator you can play with to build up your starter - just remember they work in gallons, but it works fine.

Just put your figures in and get 4.3 litres. Much more like it. I have Mr Malty hiccup from time to time too. You can't go wrong with 4 L. Happy Brewing!

You are not alone! Last year I threw out 3 brews (180 bottles) because of a metallic taste that suddenly appeared. I OCD cleaned everything, replaced all fittings with stainless steel,reviewed every step of my milling, mashing sparging, boiling, fermenting, racking and bottling, soul-searched...

If you google home brewing wiki malts chart you'll get a reasonable result. Cheers, Mel

I don't use Beersmith, but it works this way. Volume at beginning of boil X Gravity at beginning of boil = Volume at end of boil X Gravity at end of boil (Make sure you stir the wort before taking preboil SG so that you are not just taking from the bottom or top, depending how you get your...

81% on the figures provided. Assuming you allowed correction factor for SG if you measured the wort soon after the mash and still hot, and you use a potential grain extract factor of 36 for the pilsener malt and 34 for the carapils. I base this on page 33 of Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers.

Selleys Silicone 401 is another option. Got a tube from Home Hardware. Sealed my tap in my kettle with it as well and no problems. Quoting the tube " Suitable for incidental food contact".