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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

Thanks LU. 1 tin = 2.2kg = 3.5 lb I'll be doing a "3gall plus" batch. This will be the first time I've used grains. I can't wait! Mike

>I did a lager last winter and left it in the garage, but it get's pretty cold where I live. You might swing it the way you've described.< I'm quite tempted to just pack a few bottles in a cardboard box with some newspaper insulation and then store them in the back of my external unheated...

Thinking about this... the olden times brewers of Germany and Bohemia didn't have access to fridges, yet presumably produced good beers. My cave idea isn't so wacky after all! Mike

Yeah. I'm beginning to think I should have spent the extra and bought a bin with integral tap. Mike

Any UK brewers here who have brewed good lagers without using a fridge? I understand that lagers should be fermented at 45-55 and lagered at 35-45. I live in a centrally heated bungalow. I would guess that the ambient temp. over autumn/winter is in the high 50s, maybe higher. UK winters aren't...

Thanx all. An auto-siphon sounds a good investment. Also, a bottling bin. Mike

Just had a disastrous newbie siphoning session, transferring from primary bin to secondary 5 litre carboys. Beer all over the floor, I ended up just sucking the damn siphon tube to get things moving. I managed to transfer plenty of oxygen and possibly some bacteria. I wish I had practiced...

Thanks, CF. Re: your signature, asking for suggestions for your next brew. Something dark -- Bohemian dark lager. I was in Prague earlier this year, the Kozel dark lager was sublime! I plan to try to brew it when I have a bit more experience. Mike

Yes, I know. But I'm using bottles at the moment....5 gall is 40 bottles. A 2 gall brew of 16 bottles would be easier. Mike

I'm a newbie with a couple of kit brews currently on the go. I've been learning up on "proper" grain/hop brewing and am really keen to try out a few ideas as soon as possible. I'm thinking about rolling out a few small experimental batches, 1 or 2 galls. Pros: I'll get more brewing...

Newbie in the UK with 2 kit brews (light ale, bitter) under my belt. Looking to move up to extract + steeping grains. I would like to create a Munich dark lager (dunkel) about 4% ABV. I have these leftovers: 0.5 tin of John Bull dark LME 1.0 tin of LME from a good quality light ale...