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it's worst part of brewing for me - but once it's done it's done I use some brewpaks bottle cleaner which gets most off - some peal off but leave a sticky residue - that comes off with Brasso once they are cleaned up I rinse as soon as I use them - then next time they just need a quick starsan...

I'll let the specialists comment on the 180F for 20 mins - but that sounds a bit high for a bit too long at the start Sometimes the yeast can take a couple of days to get going - I give the carboy a bit of shake in the morning if it's not started - to get a bit more oxygen in (not sure if...

I drop all the Cara grains in whatever I brew - I don't like any sweetness - I might put something else in dark to sub Tbh I'm not trying to build replicas - recipes are guidance - it's pretty hard to make a bad beer

I've bottled two brews now using 250G Torrified in roughly 5KG of grain The heads have improved but the bubbles look larger and a little bit unnatural - what other (non sweet) ways are there to get some more head on the beer in bottles?

No matter how I carb - time fixes I find putting disolved sugar in to the bottling bin has fastest results - if I sugar the bottles that adds another week or two Sometimes it's just slow to carb - but always by 6+ weeks they've carbed right up In fact the ones that carb early often end up...

Most bought bottles I can get the labels off with the Brupak bottle cleaner - but a few don't come off - but they will peel off - however those ones often leave a sticky residue on the bottle I was talking to wife about it - she asked if I'd tried Brasso - obv. I hadn't - but she used to work...

I poured rather than syphoned one of my first batches - it wasn't even a gentle pour as I didn't know about the oxidisation thing then - it was a proper from height splash in to the bucket - came out just fine

MJ West Coast M44 yeast sounds like it might be worth a try

I'm experimenting a bit with something similar for summer, I've got something pretty good using: 3KG Maris Otter (65%) 1.75KG Pilsner (30%) 250g Torrified (5%) 40G Target (at 60) 100G Saaz (split 10, 5, 0) For a 23L batch I've used US-05 but I suspect there are alternatives which might be...

I'm making progress on this now - using some Pils malt with the Maris has given me the colour and reduced the maltiness - hops are closer now I'm using Target to bitter and Saaz - but still something missing - I need to try another yeast (I've used US-05 for this so far). Has anyone got any...

Simcoe are expensive for me - so I'll use a cheaper hop for the 60 min

I've found using a dilution of sugar (boiled and cooled) and pouring that in to the bottling bucket gives me fastest and most consistent carbonation - using sugar direct in bottle it seemed to take a week or two longer

you don't really need measuring - other than some scales for the grain also if you've got a jug or scoop and you know it does roughly a kilo or lb or something - you can just use that as a rough measure instead of weighing out kits are expensive and they always seem to skimp on the good stuff...

For me the calculators only go so far - I write everything down when I'm brewing and make a list of what I'll change next brew. Interestingly I've found a huge diff in the strike temp I need between doing 5.5KG and 4KG batches to get to mash temp - but it's taken 5+ brews to work out that diff.

I don't use a bag but I squeeze the hops hard if the carboy is short I'm putting an extra couple of litres in the brew kettle now so I almost always get enough The risk is going too high on the carboy and having a blow off (I always use tubes) - I'm still working this out but there seems to be...

What I didn't get was that usually use Maris and sometimes a bit of Pils - but this was my first all Pils and I was expecting it to be a lot lighter than the Maris - but it's either the same or darker in the carboy

I'm using some: Weyermann® Extra Pale Premium Pilsner Malt The ferment with US-05 and very small amount of torrified wheat is looking very dark - like a brown ale - I was expecting it to be much lighter - is that just because of the volume in the carboy and in a glass it will be lighter?

for me it added quite a bit more complexity - getting it into the carboy - getting the beer into bottling bucket - and then cleaning the yeast up to repitch

no you'll be fine - but you're brave dry hopping on a first brew :)

Also - I don't think many people can afford to drink 4 pints of commercial craft beer a night at £4 or £5 a pint - when you can brew for a quarter of the price