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wow, you made light work out of that

thanks for the comments. I managed to find some French Oak blocks. I've cut these into staves of different sizes. I toasted this at 130c for 2 hours in the oven for a light toast. I then left 50% in and upped the temp to 195 for another hour. I've added this direct to 45% alcohol for a direct...

oh I plan to be adding oak chips freshly charred, as I'm sure the barrell itself will be pretty depleted. I'll have to settle for a glass bottle. thanks

thanks for the reply. not quite what I was looking for. hoping for more of a show piece for the house.

hi all, does anyone know where I can purchase small oak barrels for aging whiskey? I'm talking any size less than say 5L? or suggestions on alternative vessels for aging in and using wood chips. I also plan to condition a dark ale in a barrel to replicate a burbon barrel aged ale. or should...

nice harvest. unfortunately my entire crop is now rotting in a mush of potatoe soup due to a water leak that's affected my allotments. it's been 3 months since I first noticed and reported. makes you wonder how our water companies can allow such a waste of water to go unrepaired for so long...

I had a kit ferment to 1010 in 2 days on my 4th brew. I thought it had stuck or I hadn't aired it enough. Until I checked the hydrometer ! That was good beer

Yes you are right. I should have said "never settle for 2nd best"

One of the first things I learned on here when I started brewing: Ignore the instructions times! Second thing: Get a hydrometer! Every kit I brew I go by the 2/2/2 method. 2 weeks fermenting, 2 weeks carbonating & 2 weeks (minimum) clearing. Darker ales definitely longer to clear, but...

Sorry for my slow reply. yes once you add the hops keep going as you started. Maintain a constant temp and try to minimise any fluctuation. As you brew more you will find your own flow and get a better idea of what works best for your setup. It's a continuous learning cycle. Id recommend...

Five days sounds about right. I've had it ranging from about 4-7. I like to keep mine at 22c. But I do leave for the full 2 weeks. I find this clears pretty fast too.

It you get down to 1.010 & it's stable, go ahead and bottle it. I've done this kit 3 times and haven't ever got it lower than 1.009. I often forget to take a sample b4 adding the yeast. After checking I can never see any difference in the OG. I also keep the sample near the FB as this gives me...

Do a gravity check and see where it is. I've had a kit get down to 1.012 in two days (still left it for two weeks). 18c is the lower end to where you want to brew. So yeah try and raise the temperature. If your fermentation is stuck, it will probably pick up once temp is up. Hopefully you gave...

All good. Ive done three of these and they always finish really quick. I add hops after about 7-9 days as long as gravity is good. My latest one i swapped out half the hops for 25g of Azakka hops and left in for about 5 days. It was drinkable after 2 weeks carbonating then a week in garage...

Brew it a little longer, say to 24l. Before you add any extra sugar, check your gravity, then use your alcohol converter to work out what your OG needs to be to get to your required abv. I get mine to about 1.050, as this ferments down to about 1.008 I know this gives me an abv of about 5.5%...

Personally, I'd dilute it in hot water and add to your bottling bucket

Cool, the less times you open the lid the better. As a rule, only to add hops. After Ive pitched the yeast, I fill the trial jar, then I always leave my trial jar with the FV, so it gives me a very rough indicator as to what's going on with fermentation. Other than that I leave for the 1st...

Hi Phil,. My volume came out at 4.2% which is exactly where I wanted it. I'm drinking the beer now and it's delicious. The 20ml of vanilla extract wasnt enough but the 200g of lactose and 100ml of pure chocolate extract has worked really well. If I made again I would probably triple the...

Get yourself a tap on your fv and get a bottling wand. You can check gravity without opening lid and when it's bottling time it's so much easier and cleaner. Leaves the perfect head space too.

I recommend the mangrove jack's pink grapefruit IPA, it's as close to breeding Elvis juice as you can get. I'm on my third batch. This time I added 25g of Azakka hops to it. Doesn't need it, I just wanted to add something extra. I add less sugar and brew to 24 litres so I get my alcohol at 5%...