Search results

I have a an STC-1000 (Mangrove Jack's one) connected to my brew fridge and heat pad. I've done many brews with this setup without any issues. Today I was cold crashing my IPA and the temperature was stuck on around 10.5-11.5C according to the STC, but the top of the beer had ice on it and my IR...

Thanks! I'm used to much lower mash temps so this is a first for me.

I just got an all grain stout kit with oats from a brew shop, and the recommended mash temp is 69C (156.2F). Isn't this a really high mash temp for such a grain bill? The FG is meant to be 1.016 using US-05. Pic attached of recipe.

I've done a lot of bottle conditioning and haven't noticed yeasty flavours (except for in my early days of brewing when I underpitched, fermented too warm etc), although I've only made quite flavourful styles like hoppy pale ales and porters. If I make something very lightly flavoured like a...

I have the 35L Robobrew 3.1 (Brewzilla). I slowly add sparge water over about a 5 minute period, although I could sparge faster if I wanted to and still get 75-80% brewhouse efficiency. The only time I've had to stir the grains during the sparge process is when I had a stuck mash, and that was...

I was under the impression that adding dry hops (pellets in my case) causes extra nucleation points or something due to more surface area. That's all I know on the matter. I use plastic bucket style fermenters. Changing to a different fermenter is not an option as then I will need a bigger brew...

You're right about putting the sugar water in the bottling bucket first - I'll start doing that with the next batch I'm bottling in a couple of days. My hoppy beers are fairly good, although when comparing them side-by-side with the official brewery endorsed all grain kits (like Behemoth Chur)...

It normally takes only a few short days to ferment a low gravity wort in the primary fermenter. When we bottle condition we're only adding 2-4 gravity points, so fermentation shouldn't take long especially considering bottle carbonation is often performed at a higher temperature than primary...

TL;DR: Obvious answer is "buy a keg setup". But funds don't allow for that. I really enjoy hoppy beers and I have a great temperature controlled cupboard for bottle carbonation. We all know that hop aroma suffers greatly from bottling vs kegging - but what can I do better? I do a 2 week...

Do you normally put the (sanitized) hydrometer directly into the fermenter, or do you pull a sample from the fermenter, then put it in the hydrometer test jars to test? I've been thinking of putting the hydrometer into the fermenter once the krausen has completely subsided, then taking a look at...

I usually use Star San but Total San is easier to get around here. Any ideas on how it compares to Star San? https://mangrovejacks.com/products/total-san-sanitiser

Also would these mildly hoppy ales have a good shelf life? I can put them in the cold garage now it's winter but come summer time I don't have anywhere cold to store them for long.

I've done something similar before, turned out quite nice. I'm off to buy some hops. Always wanted to try those. I'm keen to see the recipe. :) I'm not really sure what my mistakes are (apart from bottle conditioning), I use freshly milled grains, always pay close attention to mash temp...

Gladfield say the toffee is unique to them - so I'm quite interested to hear what the closest thing is from other maltsters. In saying that, I only use Gladfield as it's cheap and readily availiable.

Was the yeast fresh? Whatever you do, don't get any traces of olive oil in the beer or it will kill the head retention. Old extract tends to darken and may lose bitterness I guess so this may be a cause of the excess maltiness.

Last time I grew hops at the parents place in my very early days of brewing (I forgot the strain), when I moved out, my mom was digging for hours to kill it off as it literally grew like a pernicious weed. Excuse the pun! Pernicious Weed

90% ale yeast, 10% light crystal? Or what would make it better? I'll aim for around 1.050 OG. These look nice: https://leagueofbrewers.co.nz/the-league-f5-new-zealand-pilsner-all-grain-kit-23l.html https://leagueofbrewers.co.nz/the-league-freestyle-new-zealand-pilsner-all-grain-kit-23l.html...

That sounds tasty! I like a single hop Cascade. A couple of days ago was my first single hop NZ Cascade so I'm keen to see what that's like compared to US Cascade. I like a little bit of a sweet honey after taste to balance out the bitterness. I could increase the whirlpool additions too for a...

I have used the M44 a few times. I find it attenuates much better than US-05. I had a 1.062 OG IPA with around 10% DME and it still went down to 1.010. I have very soft water (see screenshot). I have CaSO4 and CaCl2 for my salts. I think I'll target around 30 IBU's. Mash I'll probably go with...

I'm bored of the usual ale malt + crystal combo so looking at around 85% Vienna + 15% toffee with the hops of my choice, maybe some local NZ hops like Taiheke (NZ Cascade) and Motueka (NZ hops are readily available and cheap). Any thoughts on this grain bill? Yeast either US-05 or M44. I've...