Recent content by vanceonbeach

NZ Hops do CO2 hop extract http://www.nzhops.co.nz/products/co2_hop_extract.html Never used it, in fact never seen it available (but then I haven't been looking). I'm reading Brew Like A Monk at the moment, and Hieronymus reckons Chimay, Orval & Westvleteren all use hop extracts. So for...

In Wellington try: The Malthouse http://www.themalthouse.co.nz/ (Wide selection, located in the main drinking/eating part of town) Hashigo Zake http://www.hashigozake.co.nz/ (Terrible name, fantastic craft beer bar - my current favourite) Leuven http://www.leuven.co.nz/ (Good for Belgium...

I don't have temp control so I've been brewing with the seasons. It was all going fine until we had the warmest August on record and the usual 8 - 12*C monthly temp range was shot all to hell. I have a slightly fruity German Pils and a Lager that tastes like Pascall's fruit bursts dissolved in...

Which ingredient has the greatest influence on a beer? :huh: Beer is basically water, malt, hops, yeast and possibly some adjuncts right. Looking through lots of recipes recently, it struck me how similar most of them are. There's a base malt or extract, chosen from a fairly limited...

Cool, thanks Fourstar :)

Hmm, 24 hours and no replies. Average time to get an answer on the forum is usually 24 seconds. Must've asked most boring question ever. What to do, what to do... need to attract some attention somehow. Oh I know! And I'm fermenting my lager yeast at 135*C is that OK? And I'm using SO-4...

I read somewhere that two carb drops in a 750ml bottle add 0.2% to the alcohol content. So I'm guessing adding one drop would mean only a 0.1% increase so the short answer is no. I personally prefer a bit of fizz so would err on the 2carb drop fizzy side rather than risk a flat brew, but hey...

crickey you've gotta be quick around here!

Are you brewing kits or extract? If you're doing kits then you've got bittering hops in there already, maybe add a small amount as finishing hops for lovely aroma and a touch of flavour. It all depends on the style you want. You could go the really easy route and buy one of those hop teabags...

Thanks to the brass monkey winter we're having I've got a couple of fermenters cranking out lagers and pilsners :D Problem is I only have space in the brew fridge to cold condition one at a time so a queue is forming. How soon after fermentation finishes do I have to cold condition? Can I...

Thanks for the tip I checked the label but it reckons it's just apple juice concentrate and yeast so he should be OK. Any idea why it is fermenting down so low? The kit says it should stop bubbling at 1.006 but then again it doesn't say to add litres of apple juice and bright green schnapps...

I've currently brewing an apple flavoured rocket fuel by accident. I bought the 'Irish Cider' kit from Brewcraft which has a Black Rock Cider tin, a Kg of brew enhancer and a tiny little bottle of apple schnapps flavouring. The wife pointed out my mate who requested I make a cider has coeliac...

So I brewed up a Muntons Smugglers Gold using S-04, one of the 3 Kg kits that's notorious for stalling. Anyway you guessed it, the damn thing stalled at 1021 :angry: I pitched another S-04 which kicked it back into life temporarily. Now it's been in the fermenter for a month and it's only...

In all honesty it was for the sake of convenience and no other more worthy reason like taste or flavour. I get the yeast starter going 48 hrs in advance, a quick job that evening. Next night weigh out the grain and chuck it in some cold water to steep. Then on brew night it's just a case of...

Um, just to clarify, this thread was more about thanking everyone for their great advice and encouraging other K&K brewers to make the jump to extract because in my experience it's worth it. Happy to share my recipe, but it's not the greatest beer, just the greatest ever brewed by me - which...