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Hi Ciaran, yes it's just 5 gallon plastic buckets, but I do try to lag as best I can with towels (when SWMBO is out! :laugh8:). My mash temp varies as well with how big the brew is. big brews, i.e. 5 gallons holds the temp much better, at 23l batch I'm mashing 10lbs of malt with 10-12l of water...

Ooops! I should say "Some folks change the temp during the mash phase" - not brew phase.

Hi folks, I hope my brewing terms are about right, and wondered if someone could point me in the right direction here, please? I am doing my Christmas stuff today, a brown ale and a golden ale. I batch brew, so I have a mash tun (30l plastic jobby) and a second plastic jobby to catch the (batch)...

@Clint That's the stuff, Clint. Get it from aquarium shops, and the dilution is about 1:1000 for yeast, that way you get a vital stain which gives about 15 minutes of use. Now, the brew using CML Real Ale Yeast, it's still popping and now down to 1007 after 10 days - no idea when it'll stop...

Hi folks, This years seems to be a bumper for sloes and I'm planning on a foray in the next couple of days. I've been hunting around trying to find an old Cornish recipe for sloe wine; I heard this on a radio show many years ago, but can't remember the details. I make sloe gin/vodka sometimes...

A scanning electron microscope, but ... failing that, well, I'd be happy with a happy Christmas, me mates round for a few pints and a bottle or two of nice wine, the food goes without question - and a break from living behind a steering wheel and staring at a clock! Bring it on. Seriously...

Just a quick note following that cell count. I made the samples up in 100ml batches. I checked back just now - going to clean up and wash out the beakers. the water batch had settled out and there was no action at all. Just plain old water with a sludge of yeast in the bottom. The sample in the...

@Drunkula thanks for the link, that site is brilliant, never seen it before on my travels, but I can see where his research has come from. I'll post my cell count images, but to be honest, those stats of his are about right. I did a 1 hour test of 1g of CML real ale yeast in 100ml water and 1g...

@Honk that's interesting, and I just done a bit of reading around t'internet and you are quite right, water apparently is better than wort, I was going down the road of a sort of starter to get things going, and that it certainly did 'cos this brew went off like a rocket. But from what I've...

I'm only a newbie brewer, but I have used their Real Ale Yeast with excellent results, I followed the instructions on the packet, except I re-hydrated in wort for 1 hour at 1038 SG and 24 DegC. rather than water. At 20 DegC. my ale started to bubble within 6 hours and has fermented out in 5 days...

@strange-steve acheers. I like that idea and will definitely give it a try, it seems more useful than trying to detect starch when you flipping well know it's there right from the start! But being able to predict what I should be getting before-hand, then a simple check of the gravity seems a...

Well, I don't have a cycle, and I find all these funny stories really, well, funny and I though you might like a funny story from the world of truck driving. Very ironic because while it appears funny at first, think of the devastation a 44 tonne truck can cause at 56 mph, it takes a lot of...

I've tried this iodine test - I use Lugol's iodine in some microscope work (staining bacteria) so I always have some kicking about on a shelf. It seems a bit hit and miss to me, cos Lugol's will turn starch black if the starch is within about 2 miles of the stuff! I mash for 60 mins, take a few...

Hmmmm! Just come home from the H........ parliament, held every Saturday. We are of the opinion that anyone who can take offense at "Man sized tissues" should be shot at dawn - along with supporters of delivery companies called HERmes (should be Theirmes), along with adverts for sanitary towels...

I'd rather like to revive some thoughts on home smoking malt. I like history and was reading that all beer brewed: ' ... way back when' used smoked malt because that was about all there was due to the processes of the day. Now, I can imagine it tasting pretty rough, but I smoke stuff at home...

Well, thanks folks for all your input. I have taken on board the comments above and just completed a dark mild all grain brew. One problem I had is where the boiler was located, which was away from the sink/taps (faucets). So rapid chilling was a bit of a problem, hence transferring to FV to...

20L bitter 10L dark mild Total 11641

@Dutto I have those protofloc tablets, but never used them, they are a recent addition to my growing chemical laboratory! Now you have given me ideas, and it looks a lot simpler to do than the messing around I have been doing. It'll need a bit of extra engineering - if that's what 6 feet of...

Hi GerriT and JonBrew, The system I use is really simple, it has to be 'cos it has to be packed away after brew day in a small cupboard - otherwise I get SWMBO really upset!!! So I have my Peco set up under the cooker hood with the fan on. I boil the wort and hop additions then it comes to...

FWIW, there is a bit on a. n. other forum about sterilising... ... that, as Nicks90 suggests, a quite weak solution made up of cheap supermarket thin bleach (NOT the thick jelly-like sticky stuff), simply Sodium Hypochlorite solution, and white vinegar is one of the best cold sterilizers. Mix...