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Summer ferment in Queensland without any practical temp control: Two can stout. Crazy ferment within a few hours, checked temp - around 28 maybe higher. Foam everywhere, airlock acting like a safety valve, not a good look for a long time brewer, (what was I thinking)? Bottles of frozen water...

An excellent & very practical response. My experience is that the plastic buckets sold as fermenters are not that easily scratched, nevertheless taking care is just common sense. Drain taps are the area of concern. I rarely remove mine but do run hot water & sterilent through whilst opening &...

Kadmium, please stop the BS & deliberate mis-representation. Its unworthy of this forum. I use bleach, always have. Yes I also have Iodophor & Starsan. I have sought only to present a working reliable alternative & I have attempted to be fair. Regarding the question of dilution of bleach, I...

Ok that works. But it involves a fair bit of handling. I have worked over many years to minimise handling of water & equipment including bottles. Don't be afraid to lightly scrub your fermenter, one of mine is 20 years old & is not compromised. I can easily get the crud/Krausen off with hand...

You know you should. No problems so far but it's a bad habit which may catch you out one day. The degree of risk is significant. You reduce the risk if your immediate next brew is a quick starter. If it's not you are potentially exposing possible pathogens to your wort for maybe up to 8 hours...

Clearly you have not bothered to read what has been said. Not unusual for the anti- bleach people who can't even acknowledge the cheapest source of bleach is "liquid chlorine" bought at any pool shop (smallest qty usually 5 or 10 litres) great around the house ( dishwasher clean out etc...

Nothing in the above posts to fault. All procedures will work! I can advise with 40 years of brewing (experienced but not a true expert) I have never had a bottle infection. Two basic rules: 1) Your first use bottles need special attention, God know where you got them: soak, sanitise, inspect...

Star San as cheap as reported here? Well not in Australia. But lets have the links to the lower priced suppliers.....................................please Also something definitive about longevity both "as supplied, non diluted" & (as apparently frequently used) diluted. BTW bleach haters who...

Star San is very suitable for all brewing purposes I can think of. BUT it's not low cost. Bleach is about $1.00 per litre & readily available at all pool shops - pretty damned low cost! The only other factor to consider when using bleach is: do you have sufficient hot water to do the final...

I have no problems with your suggestions. BUT like you I am a bleach fan & I use it about 50;50 diluted with cold tapwater. Exposure need only be about 1 minute & the surfaces must be continually bathed by manipulating the vessel. Only warnings are: Must not be used on stainless kegs, use safety...

I agree with this view of the "yeast recovery" subject. I re-use up to 3 times. Everything that is left in my fermentor which usually amounts to about a litre. If for some reason the recovered container becomes older than 3 months I dump it. Just to be on the safe side. BTW the brew utilising...

Bleach is definitely out. Obvious corrosion potential when chlorine ions can contact stainless. Just don't even consider it. I have a different approach which works for me, minimises time spent & does not require a sanitiser. 1) thoroughly rinse out the keg with cold tapwater, sometimes if the...

Can't do that until after you buy the fridge. Still good info, I did not know that trick. Thanks

I keg brew & have used a 25 year old fridge for the last 10 years. It has a top freezer which my wife claims but still room for 4 kegs in main compartment. The previous owner was successfull in mounting a tap & tray on one side which has proved really useful. Now I'd like to "modernise"with...

You have conducted the best possible test - you tasted the brew & obviously thought it was sound. Only thing to "worry about" is maybe how long you should allow for bottle secondary fermentation & maturation. This will depend on the temp of your storage area.

For relative beginners to home brewing it's hard to not recommend any Coopers Kit. Their products are consistent & their general purpose ale yeast ( that's in almost every Kit) is particularly robust & dependable. The first improvement over a standard K & K is to use two cans & forget the sugar...

Two issues here: 1) Overall sanitation of all items. Once an infection has occurred experience has taught me that it can be really difficult to eradicate. But do not waste energy on anything else until you have re-sanitised everything. I would use liquid pool chlorine at full strength...

Coopers Lager Kit - not too bad for a kit IMHO, I have done two can versions but the result is a too bitter for my taste. Also I have used as a"base" for other brews which have generally worked out quite well. Interestingly there is a YouTube video by Craig using this kit & only additional...

Now that's a great tip which I probably would not have thought of. Can you say the amount of nibs & Vodka you use in what I presume is a 23 litre brew.

A successful commercial "craft brewer" I talked to in NZ advised nibs for the flavour with of course chocolate malt grains. It was intended as a confidential tip so I can't say more except the chocolate stout made there was exceptional. At that time I knew too little to question the issue of...