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  1. Bill_g

    Excessive bottle carbonation - what am I doing wrong?

    ... . I find all this constant racking from one FV to a secondary FV and then into a bottling bucket a bit of a faff! mmm ... 'a bit of a faf' sums up brewing really. If you don't get to enjoy the 'faf' and take to cutting corners then you are going to be in trouble. Not trying to be unpleasant...
  2. Bill_g

    Who uses Star San

    Careful here ... the correct dilution rates are important and are as follows: Star San: 1 fluid oz to 5 US gallons (29.6ml to 18.9 litres) i.e. 1.56 ml to 1 litre Chemsan: 10ml to 5 litres i.e. 2ml to 1 litre Both manufacturers officially answer that the diluted product should be used within a...
  3. Bill_g

    Hello from the sunny south coast

    I like 'CAMRA'S Brew your own British Real Ale' by Graham Wheeler. Another favorite is 'Home Brew Beer' by Greg Hughes. Both have a lot of good recipes to start you off assuming British beer styles are what you are looking for. It's also worth downloading the DIY Dog recipe book from Brew Dog...
  4. Bill_g

    Hello from the sunny south coast

    My advice (which is where I started) is to have a good read of John Palmer's 'How to Brew' it's free on-line or available in paper form, about a tenner I think. What you need to do is build a mental filter to allow you to read this forum and filter out all the baloney from the good stuff! 🙂 And...
  5. Bill_g

    When is a Corny Keg empty?

    I have 3 cheap tallymeters & count each half pint, so 64 = empty. Works for me but of course useless for parties. I thought of making a keg weighing scales as I'm a retired electronics engineer but I don't have the head room in my fridge. There is at least one commercial version too (PLAATO...
  6. Bill_g

    What are you drinking tonight 2021?

    The pressure in a CO2 cylinder containing liquid CO2 is around 860 psi. Once the liquid has all gone pressure will drop very rapidly, so the pressure guage essentially can't read how full the tank is, it's more a go/no-go indication. The best way I've found to guage content is to use a bathroom...
  7. Bill_g

    Stir plate

    Yes, true, but the 'shake not stirred' method aims to provide a lot more dissolved oxygen just prior to yeast pitch and then avoids the physical stress on the yeast caused by the stir rod & vortex. Having not yet tried it I can't shout its praises but the potential is that a decent sized large...
  8. Bill_g

    Corny keg floating ball system

    I simply cut 20mm off the bottom of all my dip tubes when I got my kegs. It leaves a bit of space at the bottom of the keg for the sediment but very little beer is lost, maybe half a pint. I pull off about the first quarter pint to flush the tube but more often than not the beer then runs clear...
  9. Bill_g

    Stir plate

    ok, lots of good stuff there but on a quick scan through it's not a comparison of the shake method vs a stir plate, if it's there I missed it.
  10. Bill_g

    Stir plate

    I have a home made stir plate which works fine. Very similar to description of diy version described above. However I'm intrigued by the 'shaken not stirred' method (Shaken, not Stirred: The Stir Plate Myth Buster | Experimental Homebrewing) and have bought a large jar to try this out next time...
  11. Bill_g

    Persistent Off flavour/aroma driving me insane!

    I have used welding CO2 to prime my Corny kegs with no hint of off flavours. It's a bit naughty & can't be recommended but I bet the source is the same but with more checks along the way for food grade. Nevertheless, I don't think that it's something that I shall keep on doing once the cylinder...
  12. Bill_g

    Persistent Off flavour/aroma driving me insane!

    My suspicion would focus on those things in your process which make physical contact with the beer. Microbes don't have legs and they can't fly, but can move around on dust, utensils, your hands etc. Sounds like you are making some head way so good luck for the next batch. I have the feeling...
  13. Bill_g

    How long will beer keep in a keg?

    Sounds great, I don't think that you will be dissapointed in the results. If you haven't got your kegs & CO2 equipment already it would be worth searching this forum for the various posts on CO2 pressure regulation. I found that my pressure regulator was a heap of junk & not able to regulate to...
  14. Bill_g

    How long will beer keep in a keg?

    If I have a couple of Corny kegs on the go then I've fairly routinely kept beer under CO2 for a couple of months. More often than not the last pint is the best, so certainly I'd agree that the lifetime is at least several months. I'd also agree that the lifetime is most likely longer than it...
  15. Bill_g

    Boiler query and recommendations for new equipment

    Really just to endorse what's been said above. Seems to me no need to buy a newe boiler at this stage if you don't want to. Bypassing the thermostat & using a power controler is the way to go and is not an expensive option. All I'd add is to be careful with earthing continuity and make sure that...
  16. Bill_g

    Chemsan neutralised by tap water?

    ok, can't dispute that. However a lot of homebrewers like to save money by hanging on to pre-mixed sanitiser. Both Chemsan and Star San recommend the product is used within a few hours of mixing. Also listen to the Charlie Talley interviews I linked in a previous post. I've made my mind up, you...
  17. Bill_g

    Chemsan neutralised by tap water?

    I do much the same checking both pH and clarity. I think that this is fairly common practice but not what's officially recommended by either the Star San or Chemsan manufacturers. The best & most relevant information that I have heard came from a couple of interviews with Charlie Talley...
  18. Bill_g

    Chemsan neutralised by tap water?

    Based on information from the Chemsan data sheet and from comments made by Charlie Talley who invented this type of acid/surfactant mix steriliser then what you are saying is incorrect. If the steriliser mix is not crystal clear then it's an indication that its effectiveness will be degraded...
  19. Bill_g

    Poured 29 bottles down the sink today.

    I'd second that. Time can be a great healer for bottled homebrew and it's also interesting to see how some beers improve with age. If it's clearly infected then chuck, otherwise just get more bottles!
  20. Bill_g

    Chemsan neutralised by tap water?

    It's up to others what they do, their money, their choice. If their tap water is extremely hard then Chemsan (or Starsan) will go instantly cloudy. The product data sheets states that cloudiness means degraded sanitisation efficiency.
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