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Good luck, let us know how you get on athumb..

Aye, and the World Health Organisation is in a conspiracy to crash the economies of every economy in the world, for shits and giggles.

Thanks, that's good info.

Came here to say this. It's as inevitable as night follows day. The wilko hydrometer is fine. If the liquid you're measuring isn't boiling you can sanitise the hydrometer and bob the whole thing provided that you can still read the scale.

But can you really keep that distance at all times? Does everyone else? Better safe than sorry if you ask me.

Here to second the long thermometer and third the hydrometer and sample jar. The Wilko one's what I've got, it's fine, but they are also cheap online. Brewstore.co.uk has one that comes with a trial jar. Having two trial jars is handy. They are dirt cheap and you can put a thermometer in them...

Brewer's friend has been good for me so far

By the way, this might be a wee bit off topic in this thread but I have a load of resources bookmarked about medieval brewing and the history of brewing in Scotland and northwestern Europe. If there's interest then I'm happy to post them in a thread like I did for kveik.

Good point. Sensory perceptions can be influenced by what we expect to be there. Go far enough back and most common ale would have been a bit smokey. Peat, turf and furze (gorse) were the fuels used by the very poor. Wood or coal would have been too expensive for many folk to malt with...

Single use, although you might find little difference from one brew day to the next. Depends on the sensor, some wander more than others. I think the best practice would be to calibrate at the start of your session and check if you are doing more than one measurement or set of measurements in a...

I'm wondering how long it's going to take for us to be put in a second lockdown. Where I live in central Scotland people are great at wearing masks inside shops but they take them off the minute they get outside. Better than nothing but still a bit complacent. Also it seems to be going house...

Good for them, that'll have taken some work and fine tuning.

Peated malt tastes *rank* in beers. Rauchmalt seems to be the way to go if you want smokiness. Not that it's expected in this style.

Quoted for truth. I researched the subject meticulously to avoid making the same mistakes as everyone else. I've been making them anyway. Actually brewing is the best teacher, at least in my experience. Still plenty of good advice and information here though, I hope you have fun searching...

One more thing, Scottish Water has a page where you can find out approximately what your water profile is. If you really want to be precise, there are tests out there for aquarium keepers that you can use to tell exactly what the calcium etc levels are. Personally I think the Scottish Water...

You're welcome

Yep, your de-ionised water is perfect. Calibration is an easy thing to miss if you've never used these instruments before. You will probably find that the readings wander a wee bit in between sessions. If the probe is going way off during your brew sessions then it might be time to replace it...

Buffering beer with salts is like seasoning food, especially if you have really soft water. Make yourself an account at Beersmith and check out their info on water profiles and their calculators. As a general rule you'll be wanting to punt up the calcium level. Magnesium doesn't matter too...

It's impressive how well the cheap shots hold up. As long as you calibrate it every session and at 20 degrees C, they're fine. Sachets of buffering solution are available. You get 3 in a set and, each is calibrated to a known pH and formulated to be added to RO water to make 250ml buffer. This...

Still sounds like a bargain. Good for you!