Recent content by Wozza

Pretty much do as the other guys. Did a Coopers starter a few weeks back - went into an amber ale type beer. Racked to CC last night and it tasted pretty good... I use a 1.5L Grolsch for my starters. 100g DME to 1 litre of water and boil/simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool, mix the Coopers...

There's a thread currently running about who prefers which beer over what beer, and how bad is such and such commercial crap and how good is this particular brew. I was thinking that 'when' and 'where' you actually knock one back has a definate effect on your opinion as to the 'best beer'. So...

Ben, To release the pressure, cover the outlet with a towel or some old rags and push down on the valve with a screwdriver. Lota pressure in those things, so steady as she goes... Crackers, I was going to fit a s/s tap onto one of my kegs this weekend. Going to drill a 1/2" hole and poke a...

Don't forget, even the worst beer in the world is the best one you've ever had if you've drunk nothing else... Thing is, it's like asking whether its possible to run the 100m any faster. Surely its not possible to brew a better stout than Guiness? Someone surely doesn't make a better bitter...

Well done, Wasabi. There aren't many with the balls to pack up a well paid job and start again. And full marks to SWMBO. There aren't many women who would even consider supporting that sort of decision. Keep us posted on your progress.

How about a 20L tea urn as a boiler and a cheap and cheerfull 25L esky for mashing. You can use any old pots to take your sparge water to temp on the cook top. Fixing a tap into the esky can be a pain in the arse. Difficult getting a seal sometimes, but neoprene washers seem the go. I made a...

Whoa, two contradictory opinions here from a couple of the experts. Post Modern reckons rack into secondary to prevent problems re autolysis and Jovial reckons that 2 weeks in primary is okey dokey, backed up by White Labs. I must admit I've always done the first and it's the first time that...

I'd say it was done, too. But what I would do at this point is rack to a sealed jerry and leave it for a couple of weeks to settle out further - ideally in the fridge, and then bottle. If it doesn't go into the fridge, crack the top every week or so just in case there's a point or two of...

Still in the process of setting up the main brewery, but I was thinking of a name only last week. There's a brewery back in the old country (Old South Wales as opposed to New South Wales) called Buckleys. They brew real ale and Jeezus, it's good stuff if you like the British type bitters. The...

JM, What's the idea of simmering as opposed to boiling?

I've been using bleach to keep my beer bottles sweet. Bought some unscented bleach from the local supermarket - cheap as chips - and mixed up a solution in a spray bottle. Should be 0.24% hypochlorite solution (that's 60 ml of bleach, which is normally 4% Sodium hypochlorite, in a litre of...

To cool 15L down to pitching temp (with a coil made up of about 10m of 1/2" copper) I run the water quite slowly - takes about 30 minutes and uses about 30 to 40L. The first 20L is quite warm, so I use that for cleaning. The rest goes to the garden.

Gough, Just did 3 of the 50L kegs myself on Saturday. Pretty simple - a lot easier than I was expecting. Used a 100mm metal cutting disc on the old grinder and I did the 3 of them in about 45 minutes. Used 2 discs in total. I didn't take the whole top off - just cut a 300mm dia hole in the...

Welcome aboard NewBB. 'Is there some technique i could use to store the whole batch and still complete its process and once ready bottle it as i need it?' If I read that last part right, you may be proposing to just bottle a few at a time. Assuming that you've got close to, say, 20L of beer in...

Well done and congrats...