Recent content by Shambolic

Round of applause for Walker's missus! *clap clap clap* You can't ask for any better than that... :)

What was your recipe (including yeast)? There's really no advice anyone can give you without a lot more information.

I always seem to get some airlock water leaking into my brew, and haven't had a problem yet. :)

I don't think it would be as effective. From what (little) I know, the yeast is an important part of the lagering process. You leave quite a bit of yeast behind in the secondary when you bottle...

Higher temperatures will give lower specific gravity readings, so the true reading is actually higher by a couple of points! This is quite baffling. Perhaps the DME/LME were measured in kilograms rather than pounds? Grasping at straws, but otherwise I have no idea...

To brew in summer I half-fill the bath with cold tap water and sit the fermenter in there. That keeps the temperature reasonable. You will get fluctuations of about 4-5 deg F as it warms up during the day and cools at night, but this is far less than the temp. swings you would get otherwise...

Yes, long-term (4-6 months or longer) ageing in the bottles makes a world of difference. I usually get 2-2.5 slabs (cases) of 375mL/330mL bottles from one batch, and I try to put one slab away for an absolute minimum of three months before I start drinking it. My last batch (Common Swill) was...

Yep: don't brew a barley wine for your second brew! You'd be much better off sticking to simple styles like pale ales for your first few batches. Once you understand the brewing process better, you can start to experiment a bit more. I would have appreciated that advice when I first started...

Hehe...I was going to point that out. Most of the beers I brew are in the 4.5-5.5% range. I think that's about right usually - you get both the taste and the intoxicating effects of alcohol, but neither dominates the experience.

I just leave my DME in the bag it came in, but fold the top over, and sit it on a shelf. Never had a problem with it hardening or anything else. Same with irish moss - I can't see why it would need to be 'fresh' in any way - it's already dried...

I don't think so. From what I've read on here and elsewhere, being served with the yeast is part of the distinctive flavour of some wheat beers.

My Stormy Night Porter fits the bill, except for the hops, and is quite straightforward. I don't have my brew book here right now, but can certainly post the recipe tomorrow. My version of it had OG = 1.064, FG = 1.024, so lots of nice body plus some residual sweetness, and alcohol approx...

Who is Pete Moss? Anyway... That does seem like too much crystal for a pale ale. Maybe halve it, and add another pound of DME to get your gravity up. It wouldn't hurt to have a bit more extract in there for your first attempt at a partial mash anyway, in case your efficiency is crap! :D

I'm curious about this too. Last brew took forever to start (I had it too cold), so I went and bought more yeast at LHBS. The girl also sold me a packet of nutrient to try to get things moving. I ended up using neither, as it started fermenting as soon as I had bought the stuff (of...

Okay. I guess it's fairly useless to me without converting, as we use Celcius here in Oz! I have a maths degree, and I find something a bit strange about the two formulae. Are you sure that the 't' you use isn't measured from some temperature other than zero in one or both of the formulae...