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1034 sounds awfully high, I guess you already re-pitched and it isn't cold but 1034 is closer to a starting gravity than a F.G. !

Carafa 2 has a very roasty dark flavour, I used 150 g in a brew and it definitely had a real dark ale taste like a stout although mine was much thinner, a lot more so than dark crystal - I'm going to scale it back to 50-100g next time. As for steeping, check out my citra and Amarillo pale ale...

Cool I'm probably on team re-hydrate but didn't want to start that good old debate and I also don't have much experience with saf personally. I'm sure people have done side-by-sides. Whatever happens trickymac - do not worry about airlock activity!

or rack it using a siphon / hose

If I were in your shoes, I would just pitch the us05 yeast as it doesn't look like an overly heavy beer, though follow the manufacturers instructions and do your best to ferment as close to 18C as you can, maybe do a search on "swamp cooler" and temp control on here. You want it to be stable...

I think most though not all of the Coopers yeasts are the same general strain - which they use because it is a bit of an all rounder and can work in warmer temp ranges. There is a list of which yeasts are in which kits on the Coopers site and probably on here too, though you are definitely...

sounds cool - pretty sure I have been told about this place but never been. Will try and make it next week - are you saying we should bring along a couple of bottles?

how about young henry's!

If you have any dry malt extract on hand you could try making a simple starter, or if the LHBS is hard to get to you could also buy a 6 pack of Coopers PA, drink it and use the yeast from there.

cheers mate, there are a lot of awesome posts and guides on here but some of the old ones don't have the original pictures attached any more. A lot of this stuff is pretty straightforward once you see it or give it a try and I've always found pictures and videos pretty helpful, figured it might...

In case anyone's interested, another great yeast guide here: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/3697-yeast-farming/ I'll post a pic once I've rinsed the sample in the fridge in a couple of days

I used Ahtanum a while ago for a late addition and dry hop in a pale ale. Was definitely one of my better beers, would like to try it again in larger quantities in the future.

Yep just one and the DME is much easier to measure. The difference in weight is the water content of liquid malt extract. You don't need to have a huge boil, but the bigger the better and I think 5L has been recommended previously as a good minimum, my last one I did about 500g of DME with the...

Looks like a very good recipe, I'd personally follow hoppy2B's advice and up the late hops

Quite a few yeasts you could use that would probably help improve it. Nottingham I like and a lot of people would probably recommend s05 as a good go to yeast. I've used Windsor for dark ales but not sure if that would be the best pick for this brew. The cooler you can ferment this, the better...

Yeah I'm interested as well to see how the Mr beer cans go. Just based off the product info, they seemed to be a bit lighter in bitterness than a regular kit, but I'm aiming for a pretty hoppy pale ale with a relatively low/ average alcohol level. I'll be curious to see what the balance is...

nah 100g of DME plus or minus will be fine, I think most people would be pretty hard pressed to taste that in a 21L batch mate. it may account for a tiny bit of why yours came out a point lower but wouldn't have made up the 2 points between 1038 and 1040 but as manticle said you can still add it...

Depending on your recipe, if you are making kits it would be much easier to do say a 4-8L boil with just the DME addition made to 1030-1050 or use the steeping liquor if you are using some crystal. I tend to add some or all of my DME to the steep liquor. Get the volume right and then carry on...

Actually a pretty good question. If you are concerned about your bottles priming/ conditioning a few degrees higher than ferment temp - do not be! Someone much smarter than I said to think about it like this; for a standard 4-5% ABV, the bottle priming fermentation is only about 10% of that...

Sounds like it went OK and I'm sure you will have made good beer! You'll notice the hop flavour and aroma will lessen over time and probably after fermentation so you may find it rather nice, cascade is a good hop, your beer might taste a little like snpa perhaps. Next brew things will seem...