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I'm pretty new to AG myself, but from what I've heard/read, the loss of water/liquor/wort during the process is a fairly natural by-product of the grains absorbing some of it, the hops absorbing some of it, and the boil evaporating some of it. Topping up with cold water to reach the desired OG...

If you were aiming for OG of 1038, and ended up with 1057 instead, wouldn't you just add water to both bring down the OG and increase the volume? That's what I do...

Useful info gents. Hot break aside, what 'qualities' might boiling for longer give to the beer that would be lost by boiling for less time? Let's assume I'm talking session strength ale and not a biggie at this point - I know the rules change when brewing bigger beers.

Would one approach lead to the beer being 'drier' than the other? I ask because I'm interested in getting relatively balanced beers, in general - hoppy, aromatic, but not too bitter and dry on the palate. From what I've read, boiling longer adds a certain amount of 'caramelisation', suggesting...

Now you've got me - what's the hot break?

Hi all. Planning to brew a Golden Ale on Wednesday, probably just with Pale Malt and some Torrefied Wheat aiming for 4.5%ABV. I'm just wondering what the real reasons are for using different boil times. What's the benefit of going for 90 mins over 60 mins, or the benefits of the opposite? To my...

I'm guessing (hoping...) that the issue is that I never got the bottles warm enough at any point. Our house is particularly cold. Initially I forgot to warm them after priming. Then when I brought them up from the cellar eventually, having remembered, they may have only gone over 18 degrees C...

Thabnks BrewBilly. Sadly no such cupboard here (water heater is in the cellar so doesn't work out for me) but I'll try to find a room I can get up to that heat for a period of time. Would putting them in a bath of warm water to kickstart things work? Has anyone tried that?

Not as far as I can tell. Just one of these: http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/ingredien ... lp023.html at room temp. Says it is right amount for 5 gallons.

If all I need to do is warm the bottles to get the secondary fermentation going, how long for and to what temp? I'm assuming two days at around 24 degrees (based on what the kits used to say). Is that about right?

Accurate as far as I can tell. I'll give it a couple of tests.

Yes. Did it the same way I did it with my last kit beer - mixed some spray malt with some beer and syringed it in. Should have been enough based on previous experience. The kit beer was actually a touch too lively. Whereas this one hasn't cleared and is basically flat. One issue I posted about...

Hmmm, just opened a bottle of my first full mash beer, and it's flat as a pancake. Tastes nice, just completely flat - oh, and hasn't cleared down yet either. It's been in the bottle for two weeks, after two weeks in keg to mature. I didn't warm the bottles up after bottling - might that be the...

Just read around on this a bit further, and at the moment, things are pointing towards the mash heat as part of the issue. Only thing is, it never says how/why that causes a problem. Mash temperature was pretty much bang on 66 degrees C, as intended. And after 90 mins had only dropped by 0.5...

Yep, taken that into account. The beer being measured for FG was 18 degrees C. It's a 20 degree hydrometer. So worryingly, that drops the FG even further, closer to 1.006. Not a disaster, just not sure what's causing it!

Afternoon all. Not sure what the etiquette is for continuing a discussion, but I'll try posting here and see if that helps. I've just experienced a similar 'issue' again today - an FG that seems lower than it should be. Got myself a new hydrometer after the last fiasco, and took an OG reading...

In the end, I improvised on this occasion, as I wasn't going to get a chance to head out and buy more gear. For those who are interested, I'll try to post pictures - I just haven't worked out how to post pics to the forum yet!

Hmm, bit worried even some of these suggestions are beyond my DIY scope. What I've got at the moment is a Hozelock Round Mixer Tap connector (http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st ... ber=163197) securely attached to a shower hose (that's had the shower head removed). The problem is that the...

Evening all. I'm beginning to get seriously frustrated with finding a way to effectively connect my immersion chiller to any tap in my house without it leaking in some way (which would mean water getting into the beer). I have this immersion chiller: http://www.easyhomebrew.co.uk/immchiller.aspx...

Thanks all for the reassurance. Much appreciated.