Recent content by phinnsfotos

Hmmmm, not getting many votes of confidence, on this one. Maybe I'll try a full extract.

Yup, the kit cans are (iso)hopped.

I'm thinking about trying my hand at a small batch barley wine for Christmas. Something around 10-12 litres, and a good strong, malty beer. Something you'd sip from a wine glass ;) So I'm wondering if a kits a bits is allowed for barley wines: 1 x 1.7kg Coopers Real Ale 1 x 1.5kg Coopers Light...

Yeah, I know, it's just that this beer threw a thick persistent head in the hydrometer tube. Never had a beer do that before. Made bottling a bit difficult.

I've been brewing a dark ale. Coopers Dark Ale kit, 1kg light dry malt, about 300gm of speciality grains, about 20gm @ 20 minutes of hops, US-04 yeast at around 18-20 degrees Well I got a bit busy and it ended up sitting in the primary fermenter for 5 weeks. I pored out a hydrometer reading and...

Awww, I was hoping for a beer with Maltesers in it :(

No boil, just Canberra tap water straight into the fermenter. Sometimes I put about 8 liters into big bottles to cool in the fridge over night, them add them to the wort to get the pitch temp down too. No infection in 20 brews, knock on wood.

My goals aren't quite that noble. More of a "Hmm, that has a bit of a honey taste"

Looks like I'll give hallertauer a thrash. I'm hoping that should temper the sweetness of the caramunich and honey. So final (18 litres, give it a test run) 1 x Coopers Canadian Blonde 500gm Coopers LDM 200gm Caramunich II 750gm Honey (Black and gold baby) 10gm @ 20 mins Hallertauer 10gm @ 10...

Hi, I'm thinking I might put on a winter honey beer. Something like: Coopers Canadian Tin .5 or 1 Kg of LDM 750gm of Honey 200-300gm of Caramunich II Probably US05 as I've got some re-cultured in the fridge. But I was thinking of giving Safale T-58 for something different. So I'm trying to...

Hi, I've been keeping my cracked specialty grain in the fridge in sealed plastic bags, in a sealed plastic container. How long should that be okay for? Weeks, months?

I've got a can of the Coopers Dark ale sitting at home and I've been wondering what to do with it. Some good ideas here. I"m thinking: Coopers Dark Ale 1Kg Light Dry Malt 100gm CaraMunich II 100gm Chit Choc Malt 50gm Roast Barley (not so sure about this one) 20gm @ 20mins EKG US04 We'll see...

I'm a tap water fan. I did one brew with bottled water and I couldn't taste any difference, so I thought that was an expensive PITA, so I just keep using tap water now. Although I do use the jugs that I bought the water in to chill 8 litres before I do a brew. Easy way to control temp for pitching.

Not sure if it's "okay", but I always take my reading from the tap and I haven't had any crazy readying yet. I usually take a measure of liquid out and pour it down the sink (or drink it), then test a second sample, just to make sure it's a clear reading.

Didn't vote, I"ve only used a tap. What are some of the arguments for siphons? They seem like a PITA, but like I said, I haven't used one.