Recent content by darrellm

Quite the opposite, they can be a right PITA to seal. I've got 3 kegs and I've given up with them, have a search on the forum to see all the issues people have with them, some people manage to use them successfully but a lot of us have just had problem after problem.

I'm glad I'm not alone. I should have qualified my statement a bit more by saying that I do use a lager yeast for lagers and Belgian yeast for the Belgians, but like you I tend to go for Gervin or S-04 for British ales, from pale to stout. I've tried others, in fact I tried a good few to try to...

I find myself asking this question often. I've been brewing 11 years with a variety of yeasts, and despite all the advice, I really can't tell the difference between them taste-wise. I tend to pick them based on how much they firm up in the bottom of bottles, just used MJ M36 Liberty Bell for...

I get gushers every year this time of year, seems to be a lot worse in the summer months. I think this could be down to storage temperature, I put my bottles in the garage and it gets a bit warm in there. But even so, something must be fermenting away to generate the CO2. I'm ultra-careful that...

Unlikely to be a problem with the brew, more likely to be what you did. Can you tell us more about your method: did you prime with sugar, how much, did you keep the bottles in the warm for 2 weeks to carb up?

Good call, I'm glad I went for a springer in the end after originally trying a compressed-air one, the latter is nicer but I just don't use it enough to justify. I bought mine second-hand from someone who was upgrading. I bought it primarily for keeping the rabbit population down but...

As you're near BrewUK, suggest picking up a Tiny Rebel Cwtch kit - a 2-can kit with added hops that knocks spots of most other kits I've tried https://www.brewuk.co.uk/tiny-rebel-cwtch-3-0kg.html

Gibson Les Paul....everyone's gotta have a Les Paul, have modded it a bit e.g. Zebra burstbucker in the bridge. Musicman Axis Charvel SoCal USA & Gibson Flying V

First sample - a bit darker than I was expecting, the real thing is almost straw-like, and I put the bottle in the fridge for a few hours as the house is hot and it's developed a bit of chill haze. But taste-wise I am very happy with this, I don't have the original for an A/B comparison but it's...

I started with 10-12L BIAB batches: easy to do on the hob in a large stockpot. I still do that today, but I usually add 1kg of DME so that I can get 18L or so in the FV. DME from Malt Miller is just over a five a kilo. I do a reduced-volume boil and top up in the FV, I compensate for this by...

Found it, this is the one we had a glass of https://secretbottleshop.co.uk/products/blenheim-superb-ice-cider-2015-37-5cl-7-abv-1 Looks like they do produce it by freezing it, not as concentrated as Applejack. In fact, at 7% it's just a (very expensive) strong cider - was nice though!

Haven't been down that way for a long time but the Blue Anchor in Helston used to have it's own brewery http://www.spingoales.com/Brewery.html

I really would check your Hydrometer, in 180+ brews I've never had an FG anywhere near 1.001: 1.010 is the norm, very occasionally 1.008. I recently bought a new hydrometer and it was out, the paper had slipped inside the glass tube.

Yes that was deliberate. I seem to get foaming bottles much more when I dry hop to when I steep, so I'm trying it without this time. I've gone off dry hopping for that reason, plus I've done a few recipes now with a steep vs dry hop and haven't been able to tell the difference, and I notice few...

If you don't mind me asking, how do you make cider wine (vs normal cider)? Had some at a local restaurant as a dessert wine last week and it was lovely, just wondering how you get it concentarted enough to make wine?