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I'm doing my first high gravity BIAB brew next week and am looking for tips that'll help me to hit my target OG of 1.090. I normally do 6 gallon brews in the 1.042 to 1.050 range and hit 80-85% BH efficiency. I crush my own grain with a 32 mil gap. I save back about 1.5 gallons for a 10 minute...

That water is high in sodium and very high in bicarb. Do you use something like brunwater to check it before brewing? A pale with that water is going to need acid to hit the correct mash pH.

It's hard to see how the box of electronics is related to overheating wires at the element. Your overheating is caused by unexpectedly high resistance somewhere in the high current line and I'm betting it's at one of the end connectors. I've seen the strands inside cable that's overheated...

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After a 10 day diacetyl rest starting at 1.012 I ended up with an FG of 1.007 for an attenuation of 83%; somewhat higher than Wyeast's range of 70-74%. I always seem to hit the 80s with my attenuation regardless of yeast strain if I mash at around 150.

Don't worry about the BJCP categories for classic British Ales. I must have drunk the lot over the last 30 years up and down the country and I simply don't recognise the divisions they've artificially created within the bitter style. In my stubborn yorkshire mind it's a bitter and then it's a...

A spray bottle of water with a couple of drops of dish washing liquid is a ghetto anti aphid spray. Been using it for years since finding out that's all there is in the bottles you buy at the garden centre.

Isn't 34/70 the one that brulosophy regularly ferment at ale temperatures and can't tell the difference to when it's fermented cold?

Looking on the bright side, you are a walking talking wild yeast detector! Once you've eradicated it from your brewing kit you'll never suffer an infection again because you'll detect it long before it takes hold in your brews.

I have a set of these nucleated glasses. Bottom line is that they work. Big time. You can buy them on amazon. To get the most out of them your beer carbonation and head retention must match the glass. Too much carbonation and head retention and it'll foam over very quickly. Too little...

EU law also permits +/- 0.5% to account for seasonal variations. There was a recent case in the UK where one of the megabreweries deliberately took advantage of this and labelled their cans at a higher level than the actual content in order to take advantage of a lower tax band applied at the...

Bump time. I'm on the second step of a 3 litre starter with my 2308 and on both steps I can't believe how aggressively this stuff has taken off. Bubbles within an hour and fully fermented out within a day. The flocculation is particularly impressive, when I turned off the stir plate it was like...

It sounds like you're on your way to reinventing the "KeyKeg". It's a dispensing method for real ale that's even been approved by our self-appointed beer police (CAMRA) since artificially produced CO2 does not come into contact with the beer. You mentioned "chill". Here that means between 10...

For higher carbonated styles, yes. In your recipe builder (I use Beersmith) add your carbonation sugar to the grist to see the effect for yourself.

Up until now I've only been bottling so I've not had the opportunity to try the same beer side-by-side. However my first force-carbonated kegged beer (an English bitter) is now conditioning and half a dozen bottles were done from that batch as well so I guess I'll find out soon if there's a...

I think that because I'd be watering down my finished beer with over a litre of water to maintain the same ABV I'll just go brew a slightly weaker beer to begin with and accept the slight drying-out effect of adding sugar.

Euuuh!! You could have saved yourself a few dollars by teaching him the trick where you fill the tube with water, put your gloved finger over the outlet end, put the other end in the beer and then release your finger with the outlet in position.

Here's a puzzler for the maths folks. I batch prime my beer with table sugar dissolved in boiled water before bottling. Depending on the carbonation level this can add up to 0.5% ABV to my brew. I don't want that and I know that it is possible to calculate the amount of water to batch prime with...

Now this is interesting. I've always regarded WLP041 as a probable expat that was appropriated from one of our own. Do you have any more information about how the strain came about?

The best indicator that your starter has worked is the change in colour. If it''s changed to a pale creamy latte colour then it's fine.