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I have a thought on this: you might have had it too, but here goes... When 644 Trois first appeared, it was marketed as a Brett. Now, some claim that White Labs knew it was Sacc all along and sold it as Brett to get top dollar for small cell counts. I don't care about that, because ... well, I...

I think that's the crux of it for many people. In the past I've been wary of it for the same reason. However, I make my own beer because I like beer but most of all I like the process and I want to explore what can be done. Yeast blends will change over time, and one might become dominant...

Have you thought about maybe adding a bit of something like Saccharomyces Bruxellensis Trois to the secondary and dry hopping. That would give you more fruitiness and add a bit more depth to whatever the S-04 has done. Another fruit option would be to combine a good English Ale yeast with one of...

My point isn't that you forget about hops; they're part of the equation, just as grain and other adjuncts are. I think what I'm alluding to is that you can use different hops at different times, alone or in combination, and you get varying degrees of bitterness or fruitiness or spice or...

I come from an age when homebrew was the staple reserve of Boots, John Bull kits and beer with a nasty twang, no matter how hard you tried. As more quality ingredients became easily available, the average homebrewer could make better beer, but there was still a lot of style limitations. Hops...

I tend to chuck in flame out hops when the heat goes off. Then I let them steep for 20 minutes before cooling.

I, like many others of a certain age, grew up in what many look back on as 'better times'. We had the cold war, the threat of nuclear war, the Russians and a host of other bogeymen that regularly came out of the closet. Living in London (just like many other cities) there were regular IRA...

Wheat can add a sour and refreshing edge to a good recipe. I think the thing with wheat is that it does need to be paired with a good yeast. The right yeast can make a wheaty beer refreshing and light, while an inappropriate one can feel heavy and thick, which gives the impression of it being...

Nelson Sauvin, Moteuka, Cascade

You'll get films and skins on top of beers for a wide range of reasons. The vast majority of them are innocent. Also remember that as the yeast increase their numbers, they are better equipped to deal with other invaders! Additionally, the increasing levels of alcohol in the beer, coupled with...

My first port of call is always the Malt Miller, simply because of the range on offer and the service (next day delivery, always turns up well packed, issues - usually me forgetting something or ordering the wrong thing - always resolved easily, questions answered quickly). If there's something...

Having carried out numerous cider yeast experiments my personal favourite is S-04 combined with WLP644. A decent champagne yeast comes close behind that. Also, if you want it dry but not bone dry, add a bit of pear juice to introduce some sorbitol.

It's been established that WLP644 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois is actually a Sacc strain which displays Brett characteristics, but my question is for those who use this particular strain. Do you treat it as dirty or clean? I've so far used it in new fermentors, but should it reside on the...

As they have said with the hop stand. Personally I'd go with one pack of Nottingham, rehydrated. Two is overkill and won't add anything. Nottingham is a fast starter anyway.

As an ex-Surrey dweller, I used to find very cheap spaces on farms. Most will either let out units as a revenue stream or will be willing to listen to offers. Because of the amount of unused outbuildings on farms coupled with a growing number of serviced offices in the region, and because...

I started out bottling everything, then moved to King Kegs. That was the dark days of brewing for me. I had gas leaks, beer leaks, malformed taps, malformed lids and once a malformed fist where I punched one of them across the room. I bunged them on Fleabay and some poor deluded soul gave me...

Try lifting the FV and see how much suck she has! I doubt it'll be 'golfball through a hose' type power, but if it gets close you know what that means: you need a longer hose!

As Clint states, the only real issue with big bottles is that you'll need big glasses (or big jugs, ooh err Missus). Either that or you can learn to get to the toilet a bit smartish on the odd occasion!

To be honest, in too many decades of brewing I've never bothered with pre-boil gravities. Assuming all things to be equal, you tried to raise the pre-boil gravity from 1.024 to 1.038 (an increase of 0.014) to end up with an OG of 1.045 but instead hit 1.058 (an increase of 0.013). Now, I'm...

Mash time can be stretched out a lot. I first did an overnight mash three years ago as an experiment, and found that it works really well and doesn't impact on beer quality. It's now a regular part of my process. All I needed was a little lagging! There's the write-up of it here.