Recent content by briantrousers

Interesting that you mention the "sour" taste. I have this as well. I've had mine in the pressure barrel for at least 7 weeks now and it's showing no signs of mellowing since it completed secondary. Not unpleasant to be honest and a mate was very impressed although he agreed re the sour taste...

Nico Don't 3/4 fill your bottles. This is likely to leave too much oxygen in contact with the beer which will make it go off quickly even after carbonation. You should only leave an inch or so of clear space at the top of each bottle.

Update. Now nearly ten weeks in since bottling. Still a faint hint of maltiness and HBT but it has turned out to be a good drinkable bitter. Perhaps the initial problem was to do with it not fermenting out fully hence needing longer to condition(?) Agree with Maffa in that it's not overly...

Before I start I'm going to come clean and admit that this was only my second kit so please forgive any naivety. I previously had a disastrous Razorback IPA which ended up down the sink. Nothing wrong with the kit, I suspect it ended up acrid having brewed it at 28-30 degrees in the heatwave...

It was still techincally drinkable but even if it was the only beer left in the house I'd still give the aftershave a go first.

Had my mate round who'd brewed a batch just before me so was well placed to compare. We decided that mine had brewed at too high a temperature in the heat wave which was causing the off flavours. Still technically drinkable but not great! Have now chucked the whole lot down the sink. On the...

First one was chilled in fridge but second one straight out of the box in the garage. I did wonder if something had gone wrong as it fermented during the heatwave so the temps in the room were 28-30 ish. Didn't notice any sour taste though and even the tester I had whilst botttling was really...

Have I done something wrong as mine is incredibly bitter? To be fair I put the hop pellets in after five days but left it in the FV for two weeks so it was hopped for 12 days before bottling. Lovely peach aroma but I was hoping for something a bit special. It's so bitter it's getting towards...

Thanks for all the welcomes! I'll start basic and see how I go on. Cheers to one and all.

Hi As a tight *rsed Yorkshireman who can't stomach paying £3.50 for a pint in the local anymore, I've decided to take the plunge into homebrewing. I was thinking of one of the Festival kits as they seem to be very well thought of and would welcome any advice on what equipment I need. I was...