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I've been using calcium sulphate for all my brews for a year or two. I read that Burton water has a high permanent hardness due to a very high content of calcium sulphate or gypsum, and that this is one reason why it gained a good reputation for brewing bitter beers, by enhancing the bitter...

Just for anyone searching for this topic of Aureus Humulus Lupulus (an ornamental golden-leaved hop) and who comes across this old post like I did. I have the same plant in my garden and picked some fresh ripe hop cones in Sept 2015 to put into my bottles of homebrewed ale, which were lacking in...

I ferment my beer at room temperature in a corner of the kitchen. The temperature varies winter to summer. Recent brews have been around 16C, but a good vigorous fermentation has still been achieved, more or less complete in 10 days. Not being a commercial brand brewer, I don't like to control...

I've not had any problems with bugs and tap water when making beer and wine, as long as the fermenting bin is protected from the air and preferably airtight. I don't use any form of sanitiser when washing out my beer and wine swing-top bottles(kept closed and washed out thoroughly the next day...

Thanks for the reply. Just an aside.....interesting what you say about dead yeast inhibiting yeast activity. I use a homemade sourdough culture to ferment all my beer and wine and for making bread. I save the yeast left on the bottom of the fermentation bin and add it back to the original...

Just thought....the bubbles in the beer when you returned to the fermenting bin would give a high reading for SG. You would have to shake the sample tested to get rid of the bubbles before taking a reading on the hydrometer.

I assume you have a bigger than normal fermenting bin at 25 litrs. However, seems like a lot of malt for 4.5%. What were the starting and finishing gravities out of interest?

I sympathise with your problems and you are tackling them with great resourcefulness. My advice in future is to first take the starting SG. Then allow fermentation to proceed at room temperature with an airlock on the bin until the bubbles have virtually stopped. This might be after two weeks...

I used to add Irish moss to the boil but have not used it for a long while. I haven't noticed any difference. I've read that by precipitating too much protein, Irish moss may reduce the head retention properties of the beer...the same goes for fining agents. That's the last thing I want. OK...

Beer with good condition should not be tampered with. However, sometimes the beer contains enough carbon dioxide but fails to deliver a good head or any head at all. I'm not an advocate of a big creamy head, but I like to see some activity at the surface of the beer. Washing thoroughly to...