Recent content by Madhouse

Of course you should make one, it's what homebrew's all about! It will certainly change with age, make lots and open one a month - if your memory's like mine you might want to write your tasting notes down. No idea about the yeast.

Back when I bottled I always went with the rule of 2 - 2 weeks in the fermenter, 2 weeks to carb in the bottle and then chill for 2 weeks. I've adjusted this for kegging now but in general my beers always get two weeks to ferment even if they're 'done' inside a week.

I think it's been a long time coming. Too late for their beer though, IMO they've become everything they stood against in the early years. That said, DIY Dog's been a handy reference and has allowed me to make the good beers of old.

Last time I had Issues carbing in a keg I'd just installed a manifold and didn't realise it went off/on/off so inadvertently wasn't letting any gas through. Doesn't sound like your issue though, 14psi at 4 degrees should do you ok - it's about what I do over a couple of weeks. Of course more...

Made a saison the other day with 30g each of sweet and bitter orange peel (both dried) in a 20L batch. It's pretty subtle though, I might up it next time. Have also made a marmalade beer using the Mamade home made marmalade can and just adding it to the boil. That worked well.

From what you've said your local one don't deal in that cylinder size, don't fill locally so can't accept it as it's not part of whatever supplier agreements they have. Sounds like you need to find someone who supplies that type of cylinder and have a chat to them, certainly no guarantees of...

Hello & welcome to the start of your homebrew journey! This is exactly how I started and I found the bottom of the wardrobe to be the best, most constant temperature. I also found that after a couple of brews Mrs M became far more receptive to the concept of a brew fridge in the garage as she...

How'd you get on? Have also just made my first Saison and am bottling it later now that it's carbonated in the keg - I went Maris, Vienna, Crystal, and Flaked Oats with Chinook, Mosaic & Cascade, no dry hop though so will be interested to hear how that changes things. Think I used Belle too...

If it's finished it just means that sugar you have left isn't fermentable, as Mashbag said, add more simple sugar and the yeast will lap it up. I find my bigger stouts like a bit of time to mature in the bottle, but I can be impatient so will start drinking them straight away. It's certainly...

Bags have always worked for me, I make sure I use a decent sized bag to allow the hops some space, most of the time a stainless spoon gets lobbed in the bag too but I've dry-hopped without a weight with no issues. Currently using one of those stainless tubes with rum soaked oak chips in to...

I'm not doing too badly with three then - Fermentation, Carbonation and Finished Goods. If I wanted to brew more I'd have to either go to 5 or have a small lottery win and go down the conical fermenter with heater & chiller route - which I would totally do!

Just don't do what I did when I lagered in the fermenter for the first time - forgot about physics and managed to suck a pint of steriliser through the blow-off tube as I chilled it down - doh!

I print them on regular paper - the laser printer at work is best for this ;) - and then brush the bottle with milk (not skimmed) and stick the label on (which is why laser is better than inkjet). Decent hold and the label comes right off when you wash it.

I find that adding dextrin malt / carapils / oats to my mash bill helps head retention a lot. But you're also disappointed in your carbonation levels which suggests you need more bottling sugar. Alternatively it's a great excuse to move to using kegs, CO2 and a beer gun / counterpressure system...

It's as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. It's a hobby, so for me it's about enjoying the process as well as enjoying the final result. Yes, I end up with some great beers at a fraction of what I'd pay in the shops (let alone in the pub!) but if I was in it for that I probably would have...