Recent content by jb444

Never tried an image before, see if this works... "When pi and i argue" you'd have to have done maths a-level for the second one to make much sense edit: sorry not sure what American equivalent of A-level is (if its different)

Hey gyrfalcon, I like the project and I have a few questions: firstly, I've got one of those giant carboys and havent dared to use it...how did you pluck up the courage to fill it full of 15 gallons of sticky expensive ingredients??? secondly...did you have trouble getting it fermenting?? last...

Honey has basically no nutrients for yeast, but for 2L you wont need much so it wont affect the flavour (Try putting 2 grams of table salt in 2L of water and see if you can taste it), champagne yeast would probably like a small amount of citric acid as well (not enough to flavour the mead). And...

Hey - he was ok even if I think therefore I am is a pile of cr**

If they're food grade they won't kill you, but any liguids/chemicals that have bee nin it will leech into the plastic - since theyre from a grocer thats unlikely, but they wont make good secondarys since they are pourous (I think anyway...I was told only PET won't let stuff through)

I have always 1/4 filled a measuring cylinder with wort, then top up to 4/4 with water I've put in the fridge before I start brewing, then multiply reading by 4 (although this way you potentially lose some accuracy due to inability to read to 1/4 degree sg) - it seems i'm alone in doing this though

mmm i've found somewhere (relatively) local that might have a 3" bung, but its made from natural cork, so I doubt I could get a hole in it that will seal with an airlock

cool thanks...might try a balloon

OK...so I built myself a 20l apple press out of a vice screw and made 8 UK gallons of cider...then realised I had nothing to use as a secondary. I had 3 1 gallon jars, and picked up from a flea market (get them in the USA?) a 20l glass jar that had a 3" wide top (not precise) and actually turned...

Indeed, (scientists claim) there have been times when 95% of life on earth was wiped out...I think compared to events like these what we do makes no difference, the earth will heat up or cool down whether we help it or not

Update: As far as I recognise the two different yeasts, they're both working on it at the moment

It does precipitate out carbonates, but make sure you siphon it of the precipitate or they can redissolve over time, In theory it would also stabilise any salts you added as water treatment, but I doubt whether you could ever tell the difference in the finished beer becuase of this.

Hi and thanks for all your responses Hmm yeah I think I worried too much because normally the fermentation is going like mad after that time (but then my room isnt normally this damn cold - where I live the dont switch on the heating untill october). The link was interesting, I'll see if I...

Hi all, I recently made an old ale, and it all went well, but after 24 hours yeast was still not even beginning to take off, so I pitched 2tsp of a different beer yeast and after that it got going nicely (but it could be either or both of the yeast strains) I just wondered, If the first yeast...

At the risk of being called pedantic if the hydrometer dosen't match it's scale, then it will probably read 0 in pure water, and it can only be tested by checking the hydrometer in a solution of known gravity to ensure its right (unless it reads wrong because the roll of paper with the scale has...