Recent content by ollave

Mmm ... not really. (Having spent hundreds, and then more hundreds.) Recommended reading: http://www.bythom.com/support.htm http://reallyrightstuff.com/tripods/index.html Both those will depress you with respect to what you get for how much money. :( After reading that, think about what...

Australian based ... no, sorry. There are the usual suspects which include forums: o dpreview.com -- much noise, little signal, not really recommended o fredmiranda.com -- a little more civilised than dpreview, but still busy and noisy o luminous-landscape.com -- quieter and (I think) more...

That is a subject of some debate. It seems (to me, anyrate) that the source is the flour, but I've not seen any scientific proof to consider this absolutely certain. A good guide to creating a sourdough starter is this one: SourDom's How to make your own starter tutorial If you follow those...

Sound like good choices to me! Surely AG brewers never give up -- aren't you just "resting"? :D The pleasure, I'd bet, for most, with the very nice bonus (he says, fingers crossed, not having achieved that goal quite yet) of getting quality brews for the price of mainstream retail beers or...

For anyone who's interested, Safeway (er, Woolworths?) at Northland in Preston (Melbourne) have Cascade Golden Harvest Lager kits at half price ($7.18 from memory). I presume it's another discontinued item, as the best before dates on the tins I've looked at are May 2010. There are a few...

Thanks -- wonder if DK used Cascade 'cos it was available, or as a specific choice? I shall use fuggles or goldings, and see about sourcing some choc malt.

Oooh, that's vicious. I like ... and think I might arrange some ventilation, like open window(s) and range hood!

(Yes, replying to an old post, but it looks like the right thread ...) Two comments: First, I've tried something like this but without the extra hops and (BIG MISTAKE) using the kit yeast: blah. Lacked flavour, and didn't attenuate well. Then I added to the problems choosing low-ish...

I've got a few soaking now. Was thinking after 24 hours they'd have come loose if they were going to, but I'll leave 'em longer. Procrastination a specialty! Thanks!

Yeah. I have a mild allergy to advertising. Maybe if they put different pictures on the labels? :D

Recently a mate introduced me to Bullmers cider. Nice drop, and nice 500ml heavy brown glass bottles with a non-screw crown top and no branding/logo/whatnot on the bottle itself. So, perfect? Nope: even after soaking these bottles need a require a paint scraper with a razor blade to get the...

Couldn't resist trying one after a week in the bottle. (Yeah, too soon. But curiosity won.) Colour unchanged (of course?), and the initial scent after pouring a glass is of the honey. If there's hop aroma there, it's hiding ... but I've had hay fever this week so it's a wonder I can smell...

*laughter* Yup. And noticing things like head retention, colour, malt, hop bitterness/flavour/aroma, and carbonation level in commercial beers ... which means enjoying the good ones more, but also being irritated by the bad ones worse. :( When I was learning to make espresso, someone asked...

$36 is about what you'd pay for a slab of cheapish commercial beer, including taxes. For that same outlay (excluding your time and equipment) you are getting 23 litres, which is rather more. With moderate skill those ingredients can produce something as good or better than that cheapish...

Well, a constant problem is easier to troubleshoot than an intermittent one, so that's good news, if not so good news as no problem at all would be. :icon_cheers: I'm not sure I understand what problem(s) you're complaining about: head retention and carbonation aren't the same (related, sure)...