Search results

So, having put the hop bag in about 10 days ago now I come to test the beer as strangely its still bubbling through the air lock despite it having been 4 weeks since brew day. Ok, I'm brewing at lower than average temps, about 12\13° at the moment as that's the unheated utility room temp. But...

Eventually but surely I feel I will upgrade to metal pressure barrels\kegs in the future, just learning for now before investing in better gear. But early results appear good for me and with all the advice in mind and noted 1 thing comes across rather clear, in that no matter what steps &...

Well, I'm still very much learning in many respects. And yes I may be guilty of not carrying out a pre beer filling test. But I did a semi pressure test with a hot sterilisation fluid mix which would have at least steam pressure tested the barrels. Which that test alone indicated I was not...

Well, that's the thing is it holding the pressure?. I'm thinking, more hoping it is, and that the leaking from the valve was more down to the pressure being to high. OK the added 2 8g bulbs would never give an instant light carb. Maybe given time & now seemingly fully pressure tight I might...

So, 2 days ago I put the Coopers Irish Stout in the wilko pressure barrel. And today I went to test it, not because I ever thought it ready but more to check the pressure & thankfully it may well have saved the batch. First draw, no pressure at all and even slowed to a trickle as I filled the...

Due to fermenting at low temps 12-16c fermentation still seems to be occurring and taking far longer than expected. Not overly bothered by a slow fermentation period as such. But I'm now at the stage I want to get the hops in. Only the hop addition seems very small so I assume the bulk was in...

As said in the past, when getting back into home brewing I was sold on a sample bottle of a Bavarian Blonde pilsener style in the local home brew shop. And even though I buggered the brew up somewhat it was still drinkable. Maybe there is a difference between "lager" & "pilsner" or other such...

I was just going to ask about my Coopers Irish stout, been fermenting at lower than ideal temps for 19 days now and whilst not seeming to bubble through the airlock any more the reading yesterday was 1.012. This seems a little higher that the 1.008-1.010 I was aiming for but if that's stuck or...

Yeah, the PTFE tape was bought before the barrel was. But 1 of the the reviews on wilkos website (be it going back some time) suggest you can't buy compatible lids for the Wilko pressure barrels?. If the 4" king keg lids do fit then happy days. Another tip I came by was to use either a fine...

So, I got a pressure barrel yesterday ready to put my Irish Stout into. Just a cheap one from Wilko for now to play with to see how it goes, OK I know some might never touch these cheap ones but hay ho. Anyway whilst is seems OK, already well lubricated on the lid and washer seel in the lid...

Surely most of this thread issue on lager kits being "tasteless" can be mirrored to pretty much any ale kit that uses sugar instead of DME\LME and not brewed short volume wise to give extra body?. Its the only thing I do with kits now, brew them short & use mainly DME instead of sugar.

Now here is the thing, coming back from a weeks holiday on Saturday night I check the temps and they have dropped to 12\13C, great temps for a lager kit I'm thinking, more so if I can get temps a couple of C lower. Now pretty sure it would have took a good 2\3 days for the temps to drop that low...

Congrats, looking forwards to hearing how all the brews turn out.

Interesting couple of posts. I might just get the original kit I got some 18 months ago when getting back into home brewing, the previously mentioned Bohemian Blonde and start with that brewing at the said 18° that the utility room seems stable at. I can understand and see the need for steady...

Yep, mine is bubbling away nicely at 18\19 deg. Certainly not going mental and frothing through the airlock like some have reported, I guess fermenting at lower temps helps for a more relaxed fermentation and hopefully that will pay off with the finished product. And yep, also thinking minimum...

Right I've just got this 1 on (I did intend to do the IPA kit next but hay ho might still get that on this week) tonight. Brewed short to 20 litre instead of 23 as I wanted something a bit more. As might be said, the instructions suggest just adding 1kg of dextrose, but not wanting the lack of...

Then that raises 2 questions, maybe 3 lol. So just what yeast are in these lager\pilnser type kits if they seem to require higher than conventional lager brewing temps?. What happens to the overall brew from a lager kit if you simply switch it to a more temp tolerance yeast and brew the kit at...

I'm confused at a couple of posts with regards to fermenting temps. As really wanting to try a lager I've been somewhat put off by what I thought was very low temps required, which without additional cooling equipment is beyond conventional methods. But some of the posts indicate it is...

Thanks guys, adding hops later I guess would mean retaining more of the hoppy flavour & aroma. Then again, I like hoppy ales so might even add a little bit of what I have in the chest freezer at the same time.

I got this (and the bitter 1) this week (full size) with the intention of letting it ferment away while I'm away for a week from Saturday. Only I note the packet says to add the hops on day 7 of what is suggested a 10 day fermentation period. This part of the instructions kinds of screws up my...