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That's the yeast I used, and I don't think it went anywhere near that (26° at absolute most, but nearer 23° for the first 48 hours) so that's a relief for my situation!

I'm far from an expert, but I may be in a similar position to you with this brew. I should have waited longer before pitching, but I was too impatient! My beer has a harsh alcohol flavour after a week which I suspect may be down to this (I've read a few things suggesting it may be). I'm going...

I'm slightly concerned it may have been a bit warm at the start which could be the cause of the alcohol harshness. I'll have to try the damp towel trick next time. I think it was about 24° at the start, when the pack says optimum temperature was 18-22. Maybe I should leave it a bit longer in...

Taken my first reading after 7 days and it's down to 1.008. Probably as far as it'll go, but I'll check again tomorrow before hopefully dry hopping. There's some harshness from the alcohol (it's 7% so perhaps understandable) that will hopefully mellow with time when I bottle it. But it's tasting...

I had a quick look in the FV after 24 hours and again after 48 (I know, I know, I'm impatient!) and it's more lively than I've ever seen. There's at least a couple of inches of kraussen (perhaps because of the added easily fermentable sugar perhaps?) and it smells great. I'm keeping my paws of...

That's a smart idea. Cheers for the tip! The gravity is higher than expected, though the volume is lower so I've topped up to 12l. I'm just waiting for it to cool from 30° to nearer 20 before adding my yeast (I compensated for temperature on my gravity readings). I was tempted to leave it...

Had a bit of a brainwave while doing this one. I have a BIAB setup, so I mash in the bag and then put a colander on top for sparging. For my last brews I had a problem where the bag ended up below the level of the wort, but I realised I could put my pizza tray (circular, with holes) on top of...

I've done one extract kit, two AG kits (with detailed instructions) and today's my first attempt at doing something a bit more on my own. Doing a recipe from a book still (with a modification by necessity because my shop ran out of amarillo hops, and scaled down to hopefully about 12 litres)...

I had one but I accidentally trod on it the afternoon I bought it. Oops! The syringe is also useful for starting the siphoning going. I think I've sorted it by adding some Vaseline to the rubber seal and it works fine. I'm also *very* careful to only pull the beer out, and not push anything back...

Interesting, thanks! There are definite hints of lime in the taste. I've bottled it just now. I named it Cats Are Still Running The World, as I decided to do a beer for each of my cats. This is named for my Jarvis, and the name came from his song Running The World. A fortnight until I'll...

Just done my first reading after six days. Gravity of 1016 which is probably nearly there. Hopefully I can bottle on Thursday, otherwise it'll be another ten days in the FV (Though if I can bottle on Thursday I can get on with another brew!). I nearly had a disaster taking some beer from the...

I'll race you! Ha. I'm intrigued by the spiced stout one, but I really think I should try doing something from scratch. Even if I use a recipe from a book or online, at least I'll know what's going in to my brew. I had a look and a smell after 24 hours (I know, I know...) and it's definitely...

Ten minutes to go of the boil. Then it's going in a deep bath to cool. I hate using that much water but I'll only be chilling the bottom 20cm of my pot if I put it in the sink.

What a wonderful day outside, so I'm spending a few hours in my kitchen brewing. A grain kit from my local (ish) brewing shop, found here. Not totally sure what's in it, but it's mashing right now. I suppose I should go and heat up my sparge water in a moment...

Brew day was the 12th May. I don't normally have this much patience but real life got in the way so it stayed a few days longer in the FV. It's a rosehip saison, an AG kit from Brewstore.co.uk. Started off at 1053, ended up at 1001 (it has a Belgian ale yeast which I gather can go down that...

Great, thanks! I pitched far too cold (my thermometer broke during chilling of the wort) but the next day I raised the temperature, and it's definitely very active. I took a look yesterday and it smells very interesting. Very rich smelling.

Okay, the threat topic makes sense in my head! I'm brewing a rosehip saison with Mangrove Jacks m27 Belgian ale yeast. The packet says it's best at 28-32°C. That's not going to happen, even in my relatively warm kitchen, which is about 22° most of the time. I warmed the FV up to...

I've done a kit brew and I've got on with a stove top AG brew while waiting for the kit to clear in the bottles! (Though I did open one last night). My local brew shop (Brewstore.co.uk) do all grain kits, so they supply you with the grains, hops and yeast for a brew. That means you don't have...

Thanks for the reassurances! I'm already planning my next one (I'll stick with a pre packaged recipe for now). I've got a notebook for my brews, so I can remember what I did wrong and can improve next time.

I'm fermenting with M27 Belgian yeast that likes a warmer temperature than the fairly constant 18°C that it would otherwise be in my flat. I've warmed the bucket up in a sink of warm water and wrapped it in a blanket to at least try and maintain some of the warmth. Inadvertently I've...