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Interested in peoples thoughts on not adding sugar to prime a barrel, just getting the beer into the barrel and injecting one sparklet of Co2?

Hi, I'm brewing two English Ales. I sparged and boiled 80 litres then split into two fermentation vessels. One vessel had Wyeast London Ale and the other Wyeast British Ale. Once of them has come down from 1050 to 1010 the other 1050 to 1020. Can I take the 1050 out and into the...

Hi, I recently bought some ale directly from a brewery near where I live. Sharpes brewery. I had a good long discussion about their techniques. For their traditional English ales they brew for about 4 days, clearing tank (secondary) for about 4 days then it's ready to drink. My...

Hi, I'm going to do a partigyle (my first) next week and wanted some advice. I have read that the way to go is generally just collect 6 gals of the first runnings without sparging. Then sparge the rest. My thoughts are this. If I just collect the first 6 gals. There won't be much...

Hi, I've recently made a 6.5 gal mashtun. I did my usual brew in it with 4kg malt (8.8lbs) and when I mashed the mash only came up about 1/2 way. The mash therefore went cool too quikly as there was too much room in the tun. My question is this. What's the biggest mash I can do from...

Hi, I browse a lot of US home brew sites... you guys seems to have more members etc. However you all have a distinctive USA twist to their brewing... obviously. two things come to mind. a) You guys often say 3-4 weeks primary produces a much better beer. You talk about clarity and...

Hi, I did a brew tonight but realised last min I had no Crytsal left. I substituted the 200g of crystal with 100g of Amber? Ingredients ------------------ Mash --------------- 3.8kg Pale Malt 100g Amber Malt 200g Maize 100g Flaked Barley Boil ----------------- 40g WGV Hops...

I have a water report from my local company. But can't work out how much Brupaks DLS and/or Gypsum to add to my liquor. Here's the important stuff. Can anyone help? Mean PH 7.91 Hardness Total as Ca mg/l = 12.59 (this is average - test show between 4 and 20 mg/l) I'm brewing...

Hi Experts, I've just bought a spanky new copper manifold and tap from eBay and am going to fit it into a cooler tonight. It has loads of straight slits in it.. not holes. Quick question for those in the know. How easy is it to clean the manifold after use? Am I more likely to get a...

Hi People, The last time I did a boil I left the lid kind of over the top of my urn (I boil in a tea urn). The beer turned out fine. What's the merits of boiling to reduce water Vs boiling with enough and keeping a top on so to speak.... Nick

Hi, Many of the recipes I read don't mention sugar at all. But most of them do. What are the benefits of brewing without sugar at all. Is it just cost? Does the final mash taste differently? I'm looking for a nice IPA recipe (UK / Proper Job style) and the only ones I find have no...

I've read a few books that say they leave the mash over night. Is this OK? Would this do anything bad? I'm thinking of doing an overnight mash. Thought?

I have decided to try a secondary ferment, just to see for myself the difference. I have only ever done full ferment in the primary. I brewed an English Ale. OG 1045 - Using Nottingham ale yeast. It's my usual brew and the Nottingham always attenuates really quickly and completely in 4-5...

I did a full mash 2 weeks a go. OG 1050ish. The fermentation has stopped and seems to have stopped for the last 6/7 days. I used Nottingham ale yeast, which I usually do, but normally I do OG around 1045. The yeast packet says for around 4.5 gals and I normally do around 5 gal. I...

Is the reason why sparging should take a long time because you won't get all the sugars out of the grains? My last sparge (2nd time) was on a 3.5kg bag of grains and took about 20 mins which I think was too quick. I poured boiled (chlorine free) water over the grains with a jug. The grains...

Hi, Here's the stats from my local water board. ph Average: 7.91 chlorine everage: 0.48 i have used 1/2 campden tablet on 10 gal of water. I have some Gypsum and some DLS salts. I wan't to brew an English Real Ale How much should I add? I have a detailed water report so can...

Hi, I'm just using a primary for my real ale. I normally add the airlock right off and leave for 10 days. Then I open, add some dry hops and close again for another 5 days or so. My question is, should I not put the water airlock on straight away? Would it be better to leave the hole...

Hi, I have bought some Campden tablets for my next brew. The last one (my first full grain) was malty, clear but still had that home brew taste that I got from the boots kits when I was younger. I'm sure it must have been either my water (chloramines) or even the cleaning fluid. I can't...

What have I done? I did a full mash (real Ale), used fuggles hops and some garden hops for flavour. The beer looks great, but it has a bad aftertatse. Slightly almondy. Any clues?

I don't use a secondary, just do a two week primary then 1 week condition in the cask. I have dry hopped (in a bag) for the second week. How do I mix in the finings and when? Do I stir them in? Or do i carefully pour them in? I hear that i'm not supposed to get much oxygen in the...