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I agree, be patient. I've had 'fresh' vials that took a couple of days to show the first signs of activity. You might have to feed them again with fresh wort, if growth looks small. Remove the bung and use tin foil instead. Did you aerate/shake the starter wort?

I find cold steeping enhances the roastiness of black malt. You still get the acidity and bitterness. It's just a little smoother and allows a hint of dark fruit to come through. But, yes, keeping the black malt separate from the mash is the trick.

Ideally, you'd use beverage grade CO2 (e.g. 'pub', 'bar', 'cellar' gas) stored in a cylinder fit for the purpose. All the major gas suppliers provide this grade of CO2. In the mean time, use a sodastream CO2 cylinder and prime your kegs with sugar.

For some reason I thought you were brewing in Scotland :oops: That amount of black malt is going make a nice stout. It might drop the mash pH too much, though, even if your water is slightly hard. You can add precipitated chalk to the mash to bring the pH back up, but you need a means of...

Give it a go. You might get better brewing water from the tap, if you preboil it. I used to add a tsp of calcium sulphate to the mash water the following day. Sounds counterintuitive, but it worked. If you do preboil, you'll notice lots of precipitated material on the bottom of the pot the...

Have you tried preboiling your brewing water for 30min or so the evening before brew day, Halfacrem? That should help with any pH issues you might have in your mash when using Hampshire water.

If, like me, you’re in a soft water area, it’s a good idea to add some gypsum (calcium sulphate) and/or calcium chloride to your brewing water. The calcium helps achieve a good mash pH, promotes enzyme (amylase) activity and it’s good for the yeast too. Stouts, depending on...

Another use for my pressure cooker?

It was messy :-? Fury upped his game, though. Didn't expect that. Good result for British boxing. Klitschko wasn't himself. Hopefully, there won't be any dodging a rematch...

Yeah, I reckon Klitschko will hurt him round 1 and finish him in the 2nd.

Place your bets gentlemen. My prediction(s): Klitschko round 2, but something's saying Fury round 6 or 7, after a decent battle.

Slap.......

Tides.......

Vigorously mix the slurry into the glycerol solution.

It would be great to see a serious BBC doc about a big home brew competition. They could follow at least some of the previous years’ winners and runner uppers prior to the competition. I might even put the TV on for a change :lol:

Run the gas line through the side without any electrics (left?) about 15-20cm above the top of the kegs. If you keep the regulator outside too, one of the lines could be split into 2 once inside the fridge. When you drill the hole(s) in the metal fridge covering it will probably leave a very...

Which brand is it? Got mine off amazon too, an 'Elitech'. Seems good quality. It's been working nonstop for a while now.

Starter wort at about 30*C, drop in the yeast ice cube... :idea: You could do a test run with water to see how much the ice drops the water 'starter' temperature?

Sorry, didn't mean to scare you :lol: Honestly, the same good results are achieved by different procedures all the time. Whether flash freezing or slow freezing makes a noticeable difference in the end product, who knows? It's nice to think there is a concrete reason why we do something a...

Stove....... am I getting old :lol: