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I harvest my yeast from my starters so I don't have to muck around washing yeast out of fermenters. The harvested yeast sits in mason jars in the fridge. I much prefer this method, but it does require a bit of maths if you are more pedantic than "this size for ales and this size for lagers" like...

I use a tap, or more specifically a 3 piece ball valve. Wouldn't even consider ******* around with siphoning hot wort. I'm planning on a small upgrade to it next year too, fitting an elbow pickup tube to it so I can more effectively whirlpool the wort after flameout. I currently don't whirlpool...

I often find FG samples taste more bitter than the beer ends up once carbonated and ready to drink. The sweetness could be from a bit of unfermented priming sugar, or it could be from a lack of carbonation as well. The 'bite' from full carbonation offsets sweetness. That's why flat Coke always...

I normally go at least a few days. Preferably a week. As above experiences will vary but I find it takes at least a few days to drop out most of the stuff I want dropped.

I know, I don't use heat in mine either because it isn't necessary here. On the rare occasions that it is I use an Erlenmeyer flask of boiling water in there. In any case, I measure the temp of the brew by taping the probe to the side of the fermenter underneath some packing foam, rather than...

Richard, if you set the difference to 0.5 with a set temp of 19, it kicks in the fridge when it warms to 19.5 to cool it back down to the set temp of 19 then turns the fridge off, it doesn't keep going til it gets to 0.5 under the set temperature before it turns the fridge off (if it did, what...

Yep. I usually work on the idea of not rushing it but at the same time not unnecessarily wasting time either.

I think there's a benefit to leaving it in the FV for maybe 2-3 days after FG is reached but that's all. It doesn't need any longer and there is no benefit to leaving it any longer than that. I don't really agree with these rigid timeframes some guys use, you know the "all my batches sit in the...

Originally not really feasible but where I'll be setting up the brewing equipment in our new place I could, as I could move the BBQ next to the urn and use the side burner to boil the grain portions. May give it a go some time. As for percentage of melanoidin, it's around the 3% mark I think...

This information is really interesting stuff. I don't do it exactly the same at home because I don't really have the means to but I'm still happy with the outcomes at the moment. Decoctions would be a really big pain in the arse to try on my current BIAB brewing system. I use melanoidin malt as...

Pilsners are lagers but I would agree they aren't crisp like some other lager styles are. Still crisper than most ales to my palate though.

Mine's not an Urquell clone although is based on it, I can post it when I'm on the computer again if you'd like. However I don't think there are any shortcuts to get around a reasonable lagering period. All of mine have been much better beers after at least 6 weeks lagering in the keg after...

My Cascade has finally poked its head up properly, should be seeing more over the coming weeks. Glad it will be a more normal season by the looks of things, last year I was harvesting in December. We're moving house in December this year so harvest will be after that which is nice. It's still at...

You'll probably find that there will be some trub in the cube when it cools down, I usually have some in there after it cools even if there's none when it initially goes in. I think this cube trub is more like a cold break than hot break though so not too much to worry about. I keep the vast...

For sure, I'll grab the recipe next time I'm on the computer.

Yup, my pilsner is based on Urquell, it may not be as crisp as macro swill but it's still a crisp beer. Especially after fining it and allowing the keg to lager for a month and a half in addition to the time it gets in the fermenter before kegging. Beautifully clear, flavorful and crisp. It is...

I've never hopped mine either, given I harvest yeast from them I guess I want it as clean as possible without going to the trouble of washing it, the whole reason I began this process in the first place. I get consistently good results so I doubt I'll change anything about it.

I do the same as Altone with my APAs, same grain bill on every one of them with the hops changed up, and pretty much always used Maris Otter in them too. I only keep two base malts unless you count Munich II as a base malt, those being Weyermann Bohemian Pils malt for lagers, and up until...

BS 3 is a yearly subscription one.

I got it mainly for the water profile stuff - in BS2, nothing that is added or removed from the recipe affects the predicted mash pH, but in BS3 they've fixed that issue so now it does. I also like the improved calculations for late/whirlpool hop additions. Not worried about using the cloud or...