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I bought some of this to experiment with. I had been adjusting with phosphoric acid to fiddle with Ph in the past but I'm sure I could taste it in the finished brew. Has anyone noticed any benefit with this stuff? Is it useable in the sparge water aswell or will it only work in the mash? Thanks

I'm going to Berlin for a few days next week for my birthday, can anyone suggest some good places to drink over there? I don't know if Berlin is particularly known for its beer apart from the Berliner Weisse which i'll be wanting to try.

I'm using this yeast in a brew at the moment. It seems to be a very slow fermenter, I pitched last Friday and there was an enormous amount of foam the next day but the gravity doesn't seem to have dropped much. The gravity seems to be dropping very slowly each day now. Is this anyone elses...

What's everyones Wit experiences? I brewed one three weeks ago and I'm just tapping it today - It tastes amazing IMO, maybe one of the best I've made. I was a bit anxious as most people say that wits are a difficult style to brew. Here's the recipe if anyones interested. I recommend...

I just had a sample of my Oktoberfest that i've just started lagering after a diacetyl rest. It is still in the primary and I plan to start force-carbing this next week after it has cleared up a little. It is very sweet & thick tasting. I know the bitterness is supposed to be pretty low in...

I thought I'd join in on the Oktoberfest threads. I recently salvaged an old fridge which looks perfect for lagering so I put together this recipe for a 'fest: This is for 5imp gallons (6US) 7lb Pilsner malt (Germany) 6lb 3 oz Munich malt 1oz Tettnang (60mins) 1oz Hallertauer...

I'm attempting a cream ale this weekend for the summer. I had never heard of cream ales until this summer but I gather they're basically pale beers brewed with ale yeast with corn. Here's a recipe I made up, is it OK or am I way off? 5 UK gallons (6 US gallons) Maris Otter pale malt ...

I tried a trippel flavoured with spruce from a brewer in Alloa last week and it was amazing, so I fancy having a crack at my own, perhaps for drinking in the winter. Having never used spruce or brewed a trippel I would appreciate any advice on tweaking this recipe off the top of my head. I want...

I have just tested a kegged batch of bitter after 10 days and there is an overpowering medicinal solvent-like TCP odour. I know I've seen this before -- is this an infection? :mad:

Just finished my first all grain brew last night and it went fairly well. OK, so my step mash turned pretty much into a infusion mash but it still seemed to work. Most importantly I near enough hit my OG, without adding any DME apart from the starter, which I was worried I wouldn't because of...

Just racked the Pilsner Urquell clone I started a couple of weeks ago and I can't believe how good it tastes! It was also my first mini-mash. Loads of things went wrong at the time: my equipment was home-made and primative - I ended up with a really watery mash trying to regulate the temp; I...

I'm going to attempt my first mini-mash in a couple of days, a Pilsner Urquell clone, which is also my first proper lager. In regards to the starter, should I make it 'bigger' than usual, so that there's more active cells? What kind of size? Maybe two litres and a cup of DME? Also should I let...

I boiled my last batch with the lid on so as not to lose a gallon through evaporation... However I just noticed the John Palmer website said this will give nasty off-flavours. Do you think this will be noticable or am I being paranoid?

Stupid question, but if i'm converting a recipe for 5 US gallons to 5 UK gallons, do I just multiply the entire recipe (grains, hops, extract) by 1.2? Will boiling an extra US gallon of water change the utilisation of hop bitterness too much or should I add it after the boil? Thanks

I was going to attempt my first yeast starter today, I just wanted to ask a couple of things. I've not got any light DME, is dark DME acceptable for an IPA? I've also got a packet of muntons half glucose half light DME, could I use that instead? Should I use a full white labs vial or is that...

Anyone know of any cheap ways to buy DME in the UK? All I can find are the 500gm muntons packets at £3 a pop, which is to expensive considering you need at least 6 for recipe. LME is no good either at about £7 a can. Anyone know of a (UK) website where I can buy a big cheap bag of the stuff?

I'm about to rack an IPA into a king keg, and i'm just wondering how much priming sugar to put in... Does 100 grams of LME sound ok? I don't want much carbonation.

I just bought this keg today, and foolishly assumed that i'd be able to fill it up today without any other equipment. Basically, what else is involved with kegging? It's got this valve on top of it, which I can't figure out what it's for. I thought it was as simple as throwing my beer in with...

Hi there, I've just started using a secondary fermenter and i'm going to try and spice things up a bit for my next brew, possibly by adding hops 'cause I like a hoppy beer. My question is how should I go about this with minimal risk of messing it up. Do I boil the hops first or should I just...

I've been brewing with extracts for a couple of months now, and just started using a secondary fermenter. What should I be trying next? I'm still pretty much a beginner but I want to try something more fancy. Should I be steeping grains or something? Will I need extra equipment? Any...