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have you used brown sugar in a brew before? Some people like it, i personally hate it. Thins the body, reduces head retention and gives you a sickly aftertaste. With 200g you could be ok, especially if you're using a US-05 and doing a 23L batch. But don't use any more than that. All the best...

guys thanks so much for the help. sternberg i realised i didn't put all my info in there. i use far far more than 500g of LME. I should have written that before I chill it i add the rest. I frequently do quite high alcohol beers (7-9%) and Imperial Stout's been my best. Thanks guys for the...

Dude. This is so helpful. I'd ready somewhere that you need a tight lid to stop hop aroma escaping and max volume of water too. DIdn't realise that extract was a different story. Looking forward to trying your tips. Thanks again. DR

Hi All, Just thought i'd post my method to see if anyone can help me improve things. I'm self-taught when it comes to Homebrew and I want to make the best brews possible. I've been thinking about my method and how it might be improved. Would love thoughts from some of you with a bit of trial...

HI All, I've got a failed batch of ale. I brewed in summer, bad move (26C) and as a result the beer tastes sour with a metho aftertaste and no head. No sign of infection just brewed too hot. My question is this: I don't need the bottles. I'm tempted to leave it for say 3 years and see if it...

Thanks guys. After reading felton's link and seeing that roasting your own barley requires a smoke filled house for about an hour and a half, and even then the result is inconsistent, i'll take Tropical's advice and order online this time. Cheers, DR

Hi All, Sorry if this is a repost, but couldn't find it on a search. I'm a fairly new extract brewer. Getting ready to brew a version of the Coopers Stout Clone in the recipe DB. It calls for roasted barley. My LHBS doesn't sell it, but the dude suggested I buy it from the supermarket and...

Haha thanks guys. Yeah i'll have to drink it, waste of money if i don't. But i'll give some more conditioning and lagering a shot. Have no temp control besides a consistent garage. Rule for next time: never brew in summer. Thanks for the help. DR

Just opened a beer i bottled about three weeks ago. I knew the 26C was risky. It's very very fruity. Drinkable but almost like punch with a sour finish. Anything i can do to settle it? Will time in the bottle or long lagering or anything help? or any other trick? Also doesn't have a head but i...

Yeah boilovers are annoying and hard to stop. The best solution i've discovered is to use a pressure cooker. Make sure the valve or lid switch is completely open because the pressure could change the time the hops need to cook. You're effectively using the pressure cooker as a saucepan with a...

sorry mate, still quite new to brewing so don't quite have the expert knowledge of all the variables that some of you guys have. both recipes were 26L batches. and brew mate allows you to put in the litres too and i did those recipes according to 26L batches. not quite sure what kettle loss...

Hi Everyone, Wondering if anyone else uses the BrewMate program? I think it's an excellent tool. But i've had a few problems with it. Namely that it never seems to calculate the extracts i use properly. For example, one recipe i used the following: 3.2kg LME Dark 1.7 LME Light 1kg DME Dark...

thanks again fellas. manticle thanks for the thoughts. never dry hopped with saaz before. I do like the grassy hit though. but i'll be careful and may reduce it a bit so thanks for the tip. the BU:GU ratio is 0.49 (according to BrewMate) which looks pretty evenly balanced: that's about what i'm...

Thanks guys, This is exactly the sort of info i need. I'll reduce the choc at least by half. I tend to drink stouts so don't mind a bit of roasty/chocolate flavour, but it seems like 400g was a bit of overkill. Thanks again. DR

Hi Guys, Been brewing for a year or so. Still doing extract (live in a tiny place). A while ago I tried a Macs Sassy Red Ale; Absolutely loved it. Trying to come up with an extract recipe that uses similar ideas. So it was basically a Red Ale with a whole lot of Saaz hops. So it had the sweet...

Sorry Mark, I didn't read your first reply carefully enough. That makes sense about the initial reading being stuffed coz i didn't mix it. Thanks for the advice! DR

Hey Mark, Thanks for the quick reply. I did a boil for an hour with 1.5kg LME Amber. Then when it had finished i dissolved the rest of the LME in the boiled mixture. Then I added some cold to the fermenter, then the boiled mixture, then more cold until at 26 Litres and cold enough to steep the...

Hi, I'm pretty new to homebrewing. Downloaded the BrewMate program at the suggestion of my homebrew store guy. Loved it. With my latest brew, I was aiming at a 7% Alc. Brown Ale. This is what I did: 4.5kg LME Amber 1.5kg LME Light Cara Dark 400g Choc 300g Crystal 200g Pacific Gem 20g (60m)...