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I have a favourite Leffe clone recipe that calls for 500g of clear candi rocks or syrup 15 mins before the end of the boil. It's out of stock generally. I have read you can substitute ordinary table sugar (sucrose) as long as this is included in the boil so it doesn't add a cidery flavour ...

Thanks. I do stir the mash in the bag, but could probably do this more often. I haven't stirred the grain in the sparge before, just lowered the bag into about 8L of hot water at 77° and left it for 10 minutes. I will start adding a stir to the sparge. I also drain the bag well after both mash...

I don't use expensive kit, simply a BIAB grain bag, a 23L kettle and a dunk sparge vessel (the bin that will be later used as the FV). However, I am struggling to get my efficiency above 57%. I recognise that BIAB is less efficient, and I have started using a 10 minute dunk sparge at 77°. This...

Yes, but in the UK it's all much the same, about £10 for 1.5kg

John Palmer's book How to Brew has really clear instructions on extract brewing, including what he calls 'the Palmer method' of adding half the DME/LME at the end of the boil. He also gives you the conversion formulas for all grain to DME and LME. I am now doing mostly all grain, simply because...

Thank you to everyone for all your help and tips. In the end, I added 600g of Youngs beer enhancer (light malt extract and dextrose) to a saucepan in 2 litres of water and boiled for a couple of minutes. Cooled and added to the FV. This increased gravity by 9 points so I calculate the true OG to...

Many thanks

Plus I find or easier to have two or three buckets. When bottling you can then rack off into a second sanitised bucket into which you mix the correct total amount of priming sugar, gently mixed in (you don't want too much oxygen at this stage). You then bottle from this bucket.

No rinse sanitiser changed my life! So easy. I don't know why 23L became a standard - smaller batches are easier to handle and keeps variety as it takes me a long time to drink that much. When you have developed confidence consider going down the extract brewing route - it's the stepping stone...

Thanks. Have already added the balance of the candy sugar syrup left in the bottle, which has added about 1 SG point. Shall I add say 500g of light DME and stir it in (with a sanitised spoon of course)?

Thanks @Sandimas . Well, that was an eye-opener! I did as you suggested and adjusted the efficiency %. Adjusting the hydrometer reading for the temperature my OG was c. 1.046. I plugged all the values in and adjusted the efficiency until 1.046 appeared, and it was 55% with an OG of 1.046, FG of...

Great thanks. I think this is what a mate of mine does so I will talk through it with him as well.

So does dunk sparging mean re submerge the bag, squeeze it, dunk it again etc?

Thanks. It clearly needs more research on my part. Next time I will work on efficiency and try a smaller batch again, 15L to make it easier to handle. Can you post a link to the software you mention please?

Good tip thanks

Thanks for your interest. No the temperature was still about 28 degrees when I took the 1.045 reading, using both a standard hydrometer and my ISpindel. I accept that this makes the true gravity nearer 1.047, but still way off target. I calculated that I needed 22 litres for the strike water, as...

Yes I did end up with 17L after the boil - the calculations seemed spot on. The grain bill was 4,031g and crushed - not sure what difference a no-sparge grain bill makes - I just adjusted down the Malt Miller kit from23 litres. I didn't squeeze the bag simply because the John Palmer book said...

Thanks so much. Learning a lot here.

My first attempt at all grain using boil in the bag method. According to John Palmer's book this requires no sparge. Ordered the Malt Miller Leffe clone recipe, precisely scaled down to achieve a final volume of 17 litres (only have a 23L kettle). Used a large bag which fits around the rim...

If you have already been to Brugge, then Gent is a good subsequent visit. We went for three days in late October. You will see everything in that time and it is less touristy, but full of historic Flemish charm. The Belfort is a must, and the museum of Gent is brilliant - a little further out of...