Recent content by secondratemime

Sounds great, shame it's quite a pricey solution though! So you could generate an effective whirlpool with a screen like this? I imagine it would really help filter out all the debris as you describe, but does it limit the flow/put a lot of strain on the pump? James

That's what I had feared. Leaf hops are the most readily available in the UK, so I'd like to figure out a solution, but could probably have a look at pellet alternatives. I've read about people stuffing a stainless steel scrubbie under the dip tube, but wasn't sure how that would cope with a...

I'm brewing a lot of beer for my wedding next year and getting a new system priced up. I'm pretty set on the SS Brewtech 20 Gallon kettle, but I'll need to revise my cooling setup and all the options have me confused. I can get 25m (80ft) of 10mm copper coil fairly cheaply, so I thought...

Cheers dude! I'm a glutton for punishment - it'll be the final year of my PhD when it kicks off too! I've always done stuff for other peoples weddings (cooking/catering and playing with my band), so it annoys me I won't be able to do anything for the one that really matters. Literally the only...

Hi all, I'm not sure where to post this, so bear with me! I'm getting married in a year and am keen to brew as much of the beer as possible. I'm a pretty confident all-grain homebrewer these days, but my setup is geared up for standard 5-6 gallon batches and these aren't going to go very far...

Guess I must have nailed it! I'm thinking of doing this as an open fermentation, as I hear that can really boost the ester profile that the belgian yeast will bring. I'll probably sub half the date syrup for home made dark candi syrup too to make it a Flemmish Imperial Stout. James

Hi all, I'm doing a bit of a clear out of spare grains that have built up over the last few months before I buy any more and given that I have a decent amount of roasted barley and chocolate malt, I figured I'd brew a smaller batch of RIS rather than a larger one of something tamer. I've...

Hi all, There's a bunch of stuff I want to brew at the moment, but I have a lot of odd's and end's building up from previous batches - so help a brother out. Sugary Bits 1.5kg Amber Malt Extract 1.5kg Light DME (Mostly for starters, but could be put to good use for the right recipe)...

Jaggery is boiled palm sugar, whereas this stuff is made from boiled date syrup I think? Saying that, I thought of using some jaggery to put the indian in an IIPA today to lighten the body a little. It tastes almost fudgey in it's raw state, what kind of flavour does it lend to stout? James

Good call, but as quads usually take considerable bottle conditioning time to hit their stride I wanted to see if there was any prevailing wisdom. I'll probably just buy some, see what it tastes like and guesstimate it. James

Yeah I can imagine that traditional molasses would be pretty powerful stuff, but in this case I don't know if it's a bit of a misnomer. It's a middle eastern product (from Basra in Iraq of all places, so I'll be checking mine for depleted uranium deposits) so I wasn't sure if it was really...

Hi all, I've been itching to brew a belgian quad for a while and have been looking around for ingredients. Some recipes include date sugar, but the closest I've found so far is date molasses - is this the same kind of product? I plan on making some candi syrup in as well, but I'm...

I heard four weeks was approaching the maximum time it was advisable to leave the beer on top of the yeast cake - if you think it'd benefit from longer then I'm in no rush so could give it a couple of extra weeks. Whats the upper limit for leaving it on the yeast? James

Yeah it's definitely improving with time, I have a fair amount that I want to age for as many months as I can stomach. I'll leave this one in primary for as long as I dare and then bottle direct from there James

I would love to have a corny set-up, but it's not in my immediate future. I reckon I'll give it till the 4 week mark and then cold crash, bottle and see what happens. I did a 2 week primary, 2 week secondary with a Dubbel I did before xmas, but seeing how active this one is at nearly four weeks...