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  1. SKBugs

    Some bottles overcarbonate and some don't

    Why does this happen? My beer ferments out no worries, and i use the 750ml PET bottles. I add 2 carbonation drops to each one and fill up to just above the neck taper. 1/3 of my batch is being lost. Help please.
  2. SKBugs

    Left my fridge open!

    I accidentally left my fridge open after pitching a 5 gal Belgian Ale. It spent the best part of maybe 14 hours at 86 f. Is my batch ruined? Does anyone have any experience as to suggest what may happen and if I can salvage it. [emoji31]
  3. SKBugs

    Copper immersion chiller question

    G’day all, I picked up the above from a bloke off the net. The quality of the chiller looks pretty good but it’s got slight discoloration and marks on the copper tubing that looks a bit grubby. I was wondering whether a boil would clean it or some mild dishwashing detergent maybe. Does anyone...
  4. SKBugs

    Mango mead - sweet or dry?

    Does anyone have a view on whether the Mango would compliment a dry or a sweet mead? The acid may add to the sweet, but not sure. Any ideas?
  5. SKBugs

    New to brewing, very limited equipment.

    All i have is a 8 gallon(ish) kettle and an electric stove top. I have made a couple of extract batches with some steeping grains, which came out at around 4-5 gallons. The stove managed the boil very well and i think it could go up to most of the 8 gallons. The two beers i made have been...
  6. SKBugs

    Adding yeast to assist with bottle conditioning.

    My meads finish dry and don’t carb very well even though I use the carb drops. I suspect the yeast has done its thing. I read about sprinkling a yeast onto the mead at bottling to get a little fermentation going. Does anyone have a recommendation for how much yeast for a 1 gallon brew? And...
  7. SKBugs

    Aiming for a semi-sweet FG

    I would like my mead to stop at 1.010 - 1.015 and be around the 10%. I was planning on using D47 or 71B. Is it really a matter of starting with a gravity of 1.090, as the MeadMakr calculator tells me? Won't the yeasts keep going till they stop? Or will the amount of honey used to get the OG...
  8. SKBugs

    What the heck is this?

    It is (was) a strawberry cabana (banana) mead put down in May. Strawberries added in both 1st and 2nd and banana in the 2nd. Back sweetened after stabilizing last month and has been sitting in my brew fridge at about 65-70 degrees. Is this just fruit left over or an infection? The stuff...
  9. SKBugs

    Braggot first attempt

    G'day folks, I want to try my hand at a braggot and was wondering what people thought about the following recipe and method: 3 pounds honey 3 pounds DME (light malt) 8 ounces hops (generic variety - maybe fruity) Nottingham Yeast (prepared with starter) Boil DME in about 2 gals water for an...
  10. SKBugs

    What's the go with Tea

    G'day all, I have just started using tea (meadowfoam and hibiscus) in a brew which seems to really go with mead. Can someone explain what the tea does and how is the best way to use it? Ie as the initial brew or in secondary etc? Also, is there an accepted protocol as to how much to use per...
  11. SKBugs

    Strawberry (Cabana) that has slowed down

    My brew has slowed down considerably. It is still going, but no where near what i am used to. It's maybe a 1.5 gal batch with 2 pound of strawberries straight in at primary. No banana yet as i was going to put it in secondary with another 2 pound of strawberries The yeast was 2 smack packs...
  12. SKBugs

    Off flavour of pepper/wood/burnt stuff

    G'day all, I was hoping someone could give me a clue as to the off taste that is happening with my cyser. Made on about 4 quarts of apply juice and a pound of honey. Used Fermaid K and DAP and went to about 13-14% Into secondary I also added: juice of 3 lemons 1 ounce lemon rind 1/2 tsp...
  13. SKBugs

    Yeast starter for old yeast

    I bought some liquid yeast at a discount and the clerk told me to make a starter for it overnight to make sure it was still a goer. I’m not sure of the best way to do it for a starter. I was going to add it to about 12-16 ounce of water with a dash of honey and maybe add some go ferm as well...
  14. SKBugs

    Passion fruit Melomel

    I have a passion fruit vine that just keeps on giving, so I figured about making a mead with it. At bottling in Aug 2018 it tasted really bloody awful. But I had a bottle a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic. 1 gal batch made in April 2018 31/3 pounds honey (bush honey from local...
  15. SKBugs

    What does too much DAP taste like?

    I buggered up my math and added DAP late in the game. Can anyone shed light as to what unused DAP tastes like in mead? As it's young it's hard to know whether it's just estery or something else. Finished around 14%.
  16. SKBugs

    Degassing the Psychopomp

    G'day all. I'm giving the above a go as per the Groennfel recipe i.e. straight from the primary to the bottle. I have an issue with the degassing. The recipe calls for vigorous stirring before bottling to eliminate the egg smell (of which there is plenty). My problem is by doing that I stir up...
  17. SKBugs

    Step Feeding my mead

    I would like to try step feeding with EC-1118. I'm not sure exactly how to, but I think I can give it a go. I would like some help in working out how to calculate ABV when step feeding. Do I take a new reading each time I add honey then after that fermentation ends? Do people try for a...
  18. SKBugs

    Melomel gravity ABV help

    G'day all, I need some help trying to work out my ABV for my melomel. I suspect it will be around 15% so probably not really too bothersome, but I may be serving it to my father-in-law and it is always good to come prepared with as much information as possible - if you get me. As follows...
  19. SKBugs

    Back sweetening and gravity readings

    Could anyone enlighten me on the protocols for taking grav readings for back sweetening. Is the reading taken before adding the honey? Is the original readings disregarded completely? Not really sure how it works. Thanks
  20. SKBugs

    Cyser question

    G'day all, I want to do a cyser around the 13-15%. Should I treat the apple juice the same as water in regards to calculating the amount of honey to use, or does it (as i suspect it would) change dramatically? I intend to add honey first and then top up with cider. However I would normally...
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