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Before my first brew I did tons of on-line research about all aspects of home brewing despite this I still made several serious newbie blunders, and it made me realize just how much bad advice and 'myth-information' is out there. My first four brews - 160 pints of beer! - are ruined because so...

Sorry for the long post but something has gone badly wrong with my first three brews and if anyone can help you'll need all relevant information. I'm especially interested if the exact symptoms are familiar to anyone. The kits, in order of starting them off are: Bulldog Brews Evil Dog IPA...

I've just spent hours googling this and with so many contradictory opinions I gave up, it's just frustrating. But by most accounts, dry hopping adds aroma while hop tea - steeping in hot but not boiling water - will impart flavour, and boiling will add bitterness. Logically then, adding a hop...

My first brews are just reaching 'drinkable', including the John Bull IPA to which I added an extra kilo of fermentables. It's still way too green after just 5 weeks bottled but I've run out of shop-bought and it seems somehow wrong to buy more when I've over 150 bottles of my own. Anyway...

Quick question: why do so many brewers toss the trial jar contents? If we take four readings (one for OG and three consecutive FG to ensure activity has ceased) that adds up to 400ml, geting on for a bottle full. Surely if we sanitise the jar, the hydrometer and the turkey baster it could just...

Hi lads Has anyone ever added lactose to a brew for added body and sweetness? I'm about to start my second batch of ginger beer, as per 'rickthebrew's' recipe. My first one was extremely thin, even more so than pure water if that's possible, and also unpalatably dry. I've read that lactose...

My John Bull IPA is about ready for bottling. I added 2kg of malt and sugar so OG was 1060. FG is down to 1006, indicating a projected abv of just under 8% :drunk: (can that be right? I double checked but it seems very high..) Anyway it got me thinking. What's the furthest to which you've ever...

I boosted an old thread with this question but no answer so I'll start afresh. Does anyone routinely add yeast nutrient to a regular one (or two) can beer kit brew? If not, why not? And if yes, did you notice a difference/? Might this not be a good failsafe practice to adopt an the basis of...

I'm about to start my second Coopers Stout and looking for the best taste/abv/cost tweak. Many posts suggest adding '1.5kg Coopers Extra Dark LME' but this comes in at £9.50 which is almost the sane price as the kit! Can anyone tell me of a cheaper way to produce a suitable alternative malt...

I have three brews coming to the end of their fermentation. I want to bottle asap in the hope that at least one might be drinkable for Christmas but I keep reading advice to leave it in the fv for a while to allow the yeasties to 'clean up after themselves'. Does this mean in the primary fv, or...

Hi lads I've read a lot here on how most brews improve with age but I need to ask if there's a limit to this, a 'Best Before' date after which beer turns a corner and starts to deteriorate? I know the usual difficulty is actually keeping it in the bottles long enough to reach optimum condition...

Hi all Does anyone know how to stop getting email notifications of new posts? I've tried 'No email notificaation' option but they still keep coming..

Hey lads I botttled my first brew two nights ago, a Coopers Stout. It wasn't the first kit I'd started but due to the short fermentation period it was the first to finish. The instructions are to store the filled bottles "..above 18 degrees.." But the Evil Dog kit instructions stipulate to...

Hi Lads I'm getting my next order listed and on it was Woodforde's Headcracker. "Rich, strong Suffolk ale, ABV 7 %.+" Lovely. Just my style.. But then I realized that it only makes 24 pints. At a shade under £20 that makes it 83p a pint, likely ABV 7+ %.. Still terrific value over pub...

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/counter-top-capper-coloured-suits-26mm-and-29mm-crown-caps-p-2187.html I'm tempted but does anyone recognise this model? Or know the make? Or own it...? £22 is a good price but if it's not a good tool then it'sstill money down the pan..

This is my "useful tips for other newbies" post no.1 (Old Timers already know what I'm still finding out). Before starting my first brew I put in at least the equivalent of a 40 hr week doing my research with books, blogs and old forum threads. And it's surprising just how much I still didn't...

That there's a quicker, less tedious way to bulk sanitise empties prior to bottling? I've just done it and boy, what a chore. For a start all my fvs were in use so I had to fill the bath (with mains water from the electric shower). I guestimated the amount of thin bleach and vinegar to add and...

Another day, another mystery.. I'm now on my fourth brew which has just been mixed in the fv. It's a John Bull IPA kit to which I added the requisite 1kg brew enhancer. I then added an additional 750g dextrose plus 250 LME, making a total of 2kg. However, despite all the added fermentables, the...

Hi lads last summer, before I was even thinking about home brewing, I noticed an unusually high number of fruit flies around my fruit bowl. I've no particular problem with insects and wasn't overly bothered, but now I've just started home brewing and all the reading I've done suggests that just...

Hi Lads I Finally got my first brew on this afternoon, the Bulldog 'Evil Dog Double IPA' kit. Thought I'd been clever buying used fermenting buckets cheap on the auction site but realized too late why they were so cheap. I did everything by the HBF book, especially sterilization, but.... The...