Recent content by Avocado Fruit

I do bottle prime and my method stays consistent: Weigh out sugar using BF priming calculater -- dissolve in boiling water -- add solution to bottling bucket -- siphon beer from fermenter into bucket -- stir gently then bottle!

Hi guys, Not really looking for a solution here, just general thoughts. I have brewed a few sweet stouts now using lactose and I never really get on with it. The brews have generally contained around 5-10% oats so this this could easily be the culprit - or the combination of the two. I always...

Did you take gravity readings at all? This can tell you a lot about how healthy the yeast is. Quite often, Wilko kits will not be stored in ideal conditions that enable adequate yeast health. If this is the case, there is a chance that your yeast has went dormant before it's had a chance to...

Update! I was going to try a different approach with my current bucket-in-a-bucket mash tun before going ahead with the cooler conversion. After all your useful responses, I was going to simply use a fine BIAB bag inside the inner bucket (the one with the holes in), in an attempt to stop any...

Ahhh that makes sense. Well in that case, maybe keep the inner bucket with the holes and put the BIAB bag around that in order to keep the false bottom and eliminate the need to suspend the bag during sparging. Nice ideas here.

Sounds like a great, simple idea. I must say though, I do love the convenience of a tap on my mash tun. My bucket-in-a-bucket mash tun did have one, although it was plastic and leaky at times.

Thanks for the prompt replies guys! Some useful info here. Does this approach not get messy or fiddly? The fermenter is 30L, so I imagine I would need a pretty large bag. Either this or use a brew-in-a-bag lining.

Hi guys, I'm upgrading my setup by replacing my trusty bucket-in-a-bucket mash tun with a picnic cooler style mash tun. My current tun consists of two identical plastic fermenters - the outside vessel wrapped with several layers of insulation, the inside vessel drilled with lots of tiny holes...

I have sampled the beer since and it does taste sweet, although not too sweet. I was going for a Jet Black Heart kind of sweetness and I think it's pretty much there! I do believe that I used the the correct amount, it's likely that I have miscalculated though. I get a very strong head...

Thanks again for the tips guys. All have been taken on board! I have a few 1L measuring jugs lying round somewhere so I will be sure to fish them out. I was hoping to fix the issue in the bottle in order to look the part at my brewers meeting next week haha ;). Since I posted this I have had...

I'm working with small batches. If I remember correctly, I estimated 12l and ended up with around 8L.

Cheers for the reply. The gravity was stable for about a week - it was bottled after secondary. I did use a calculator, but I overestimated the amount of beer to be bottled. I totally understand why it's overcarbed (my bad), just trying to find a solution.

Hi guys. A simple question I'm sure for all the experienced folk on here. I have researched fixes for over-carbed bottled beer - the solution being to slowly vent the bottles periodically. This seems to only work with crown bottled caps, as the swing tops always have that initial sudden pop...

Hi guys. Just thought I would drop in and give everyone an update on this (fwiw). The FG did come out at 1036, even after re-pitching, keeping the beer in a warm place, and occasionally swirling the fermenter. I'm putting this down to a miscalculation with the lactose on my part. The stout has...

Thanks for the handy replies guys. This is my first time with lactose and I think maybe I am relying to heavily on the software numbers. I have been tasting the samples and it is a tasty beer, not overly sweet. Will give it a few days to see if it drops anymore points, but would you agree that...