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I think the best advice to any newbie brewer is to just be patient! This was brought home to me when I made a batch of Bavarian lager. After 6 weeks in the bottle it still tasted harsh and smelt like bad drains. So I stored some bottles in a cardboard box and put them aside. I tried one last...

For my next two brews, I am going Belgian: Biere du Garde/Saison Dubbel strong brown ale Can anyone recommend a yeast (prefer White Labs) that will cover *Both* these styles (brew the first, then pitch on top). My experience with Belgian yeasts is zero up to now. Thanks Mike

I bought some Vienna malt at the weekend. I've never used this malt before. What is the color? Recipe suggestions please for these ingredients: 6lb vienna malt 3lb amber LME Safale lager yeast Hallertau hops Northern Brewer hops I'm thinking of a few gallons of oktoberfest or similar...

Just bottled a Czech pilsener, after 4 weeks in 2ndary. It tasted good! Question: If a beer tastes good at bottling time, will it still be good (or better) following carbonation in the bottle? In other words, is there still an opportunity for me to mess up this particular brew? Thanks, Mike

My next project will be a strong Scotch ale ("wee heavy"), so I have ordered some Wyeast 1728 Scottish. Question: does 1728 lend itself to other ale types? I was thinking of reusing the 1728 yeast in either a dark smoked beer (using Bamberg rauch malt). I reckon it should be OK, given that...

Newbie on brew #7. I want to try a strong belgian beer next. Anyone tried the Brewferm kits -- they are a Belgian company who sell in the UK. I was thinking of using a BrewFerm kit as base, adding some steeped grains to liven it up... PS: The Brewferm web site also includes several...

The good news -- my local home brew shop in the UK has some rauch malt from Bamberg, Germany. The bad news -- it is twice the price of normal UK pale base malt. So, I am thinking of brewing an "experimental" 3 gallon batch of smoked beer using: ---------------- pale malt rauch malt...

I'm currently doing "mini-mash" brewing using a variet of pots and pans on the kitchen cooker! I'm thinking of going to a converted picnic cooler + copper manifold. Question: How easy is the picnic cooler solution to clean out after use? Even at present, using only 3 or 4 lbs of grain, the...

I'm planning to make a stout and so I bought some roast barley at the weekend. I will probably have some left over -- could I safely use a small amount roast barley in a "dark lager" recipe, just for coloring mainly. Mike

I'm thinking of brewing a pilsner. Mini-mash: grains + LME. Question: The range of LMEs available in the UK are usually limited to light, amber and dark color. Will light LME be too dark for a pilsner? Another option is to look for a pilsner brew-kit and use the LME included with that... Mike

I've successfully brewed 4 batches so far without a hydrometer...but I suspected my latest batch using liquid yeast had stuck . So Ineeded to check the specific gravity... I bought a cheapo hydrometer from my home brew store. Took a sample from the bin. Reading was 1050. Took a sample of...

Newbie on brew #6. I want to experiment with reusing yeast by the simple method of dumping the wort onto the existing "cake" in the primary. Best advice seems to transition to darker, higher OG beers using this technique. Given that my initial beer is a Munich helles/light lager, what would...

Does dumping all the loose hops from the boil pot into the primary help with sanitation. I understand that hops are antiseptic -- does this help fight off nasty bacteria? Mike

My first attempt with liquid yeast (Wyeast 2206 bavarian lager). I smacked the pack, left it to rise for 2 days. Then pitched into a 3 gallon wort. No activity after after 48 hrs...should I be worrying yet? Are smack packs without a starter usually slow to take off? Mike

I have several pounds of left over lager malt (the English equivalent of pilsener malt). Could I use this in a stout recipe, as a substitute for "vanilla" pale malt? What effect on taste/fermentation would this have? Mike

Newbie on batch #3. Batch #1 and #2 after 2 or 3 weeks in bottles were pretty uninspiring -- flat, watery, tasteless. I was going to ditch them. But I just stuck 'em in a corner and went away on holiday for a week. Guess what? 10 days later they are *much* improved -- decent head, more...

Newbie batch #3. I added some steeped grains and plenty of hops to a basic LME recipe. The difference between my previous LME-only batches is startling. Lots more flavour, smells better, more body. Recipe is shown below. One problem, though. The brew has carbonated well and when I pour a...

Is it bad practice to "lift the lid" during primary fermentation? I tend to have a quick look every day or so, but some people advise against it...can this lead to a "vinegar" tasting brew? Mike

My first attempt at mini-mash has been in primary fermentation for 48 hrs. Its not doing much. And if it was, I couldn't tell because there is a solid layer of hops on top of the brew ( I just poured all the contents of the boil pot into the bin). Peeking at the top of the brew, or looking...

Bought one of those vacuum-packed compressed blocks of hops at the weekend. I had a hell of a time trying to cut off the required amount. Next time I'll try a hacksaw. Any tips on this? Mike