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I'm no expert, having made only 3 brews so far. But patience is vital. The kits I’ve used so far have all claimed to need only 3-4 weeks. This is absolute rubbish. This week is Week 12 for my first two kits (counting the first week of fermentation as week 1), and both are now finally clear and...

Well put it like this. If I spend £59 with many online home brew suppliers they’ll charge me about £6 delivery. If I spend £60, they won’t add a delivery charge. So delivery is free. It’s all about their margins, and the threshold where it becomes economical for them to waive the delivery charge...

Understood. Delivery charges are an issue here too. Where possible I try to get to the level where companies offer free delivery — usually about £60 in Britain. Brew-Day had an unusually high minimum (£90) but I paid the £6.95 shipping as my order was quite heavy inc. a kilo of cleaner and a...

I bought a beer kit, some Chemclean, and a few items of equipment from them last month. Very easy to deal with and I received my stuff very quickly. Within 24 hours if I remember correctly.

Another newbie question. I've had a brew (St Peter's Red Ale) fermenting for about 17 days now. I opened the lid for the first time just now and FG seems to be where I want it. But now that I've cracked the lid (and replaced the airlock with a solid bung), how soon should I package it? My plan...

I've seen a few fruit flies recently but compared to the numbers we had when we lived abroad, the population doesn't seem high enough to bother with traps where I am. But FYI, what we used to do (similar to what's been said already) was to use cheap champagne flutes (or other long, narrow...

Do you mean me? Not sure yet though they looked ok when I packaged them up. Haven’t drunk any. If I remember, I’ll post an update when I do.

I bought one recently from Love Brewing. I was nervous about whether it would fit the tap snugly so I bought the tap and bottler together. I’ve used it once so far, bottling 36 half litres without a hitch. No valve issues at all. https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/little-bottler/

Thanks - that sounds promising as several members of my family are keen on ginger beer. I'll do a bit of research on recipes but may badger you for yours if I draw a blank.

I've bought a few 5L bottles of Tesco water to use in my recent brews (based on forum recommendations). But what to do with the empty containers? I can find a use for one or two in the kitchen but I still have about 8 of the things. It seems a shame just to recycle them, so I was wondering if...

Agreed. I don’t like killing any living creature but slugs are enemies, and will eat your food if they get to it first. Do everything possible to reduce their population.

I lived in Manchester for a few years back in the 80s and never rated Boddingtons. Too light and feminine for my taste. I was keen on Robinson’s of Stockport and Hydes and Holts. But we ended up frequenting a pub we found that served Taylor’s Landlord, still a favourite bitter from the other...

My local pub sells 5 different beers on hand pump including a dark mild and a premium dark bitter. I think much depends on how we define bitter. What I just described as a 'premium dark bitter' (Harvey’s Tom Paine) I see is described by the brewery as 'a dry-hopped robust pale ale'. But anyway...

Never had them in the house but certainly in the garden, especially near hostas and veg. Don’t be sentimental about not killing slugs. They are a terrible pest. My wife is a keen gardener and hates slugs. She has campaigns where she goes out in the evening and grabs every slug she can find. She...

No. What started as half jokey, idle daydreaming about possible ways of communicating coded messages to a chess player, seems now to have turned into established wisdom that this is what's routinely done at 'higher levels' of the game?

The trouble is, there are vocal lobbies on both sides. Needless to say, as with many big emotional issues, each side likes to quote scientists friendly to (and often financed by) their own side. From a very inexpert standpoint, I’d say it seems unlikely for UK fracking to get the economies of...

I think it's just the success of fracking in the US that has raised hopes here. As I said in my earlier post, let's give it a go and see. There are massive lobbies on both sides of the argument so I trust no one. I'd just like to test it out (in a limited way) and find the truth.

I wonder if the US has a different geology? Fracking has been very successful there and reduced their dependence on traditional energy sources. But (big but) that doesn't mean it will work here if the geology is different. And of course they have more room there. But (trying to be fair) I'd like...

I don't have the means to manipulate temperature reliably. I'm not planning to start drinking it for another 6-8 weeks so I'm relying on a natural drop in ambient temperature to help me along. The KK is in my garage where the temp has dropped gradually from around 22 to 18 over the past couple...

Sure, but as I said, I'd rather not wait for it to reach its maximum. The pressure is already pretty high. I'd rather manage it more proactively. I was asking whether it's OK to adopt this approach. I added 80g of priming sugar to the barrel before filling it.