Recent content by darrellm

No, because it has no bitterness: it's different from pre-hopped LME you buy as kits, this is just LME. You're effectively short-cutting the grain mash stage of AG by using LME/DME, you still have to do a hop boil to extract bitterness, and can do further late hop additions. It's a good way to...

My initial reaction to your post is that you're over-analysing it too much, but I guess with the advent of brewing software these days there's so many more variables to play with. I always tend to go with the "suck it and see" approach. 1. LME is LME, don't worry about the brand, just the...

The problem with trying to work out recipes is that the actual AA of hops can vary a lot. I've just received some Fuggles that were a disappointing 3.3% AA when my last batch from the same supplier was nearly 7%. Looking at Hallertau Hersbrucker, they can be in the range 2-5% which again is...

Challenger is almost certainly the bittering hop. The way they've listed it with 2 mentions of Hallertau and Bobek suggests they've taken this from the instructions and just removed the timings, so I would suggest: 18.5g Challenger - 60min boil 21.5g Hallertau Hersbrucker - 60min boil 9.5g...

I've been using a mixture of brown and clear bottles for over 10 years, they're stored in clear plastic crates in the garage which does have some windows so a bit of light in there: never experienced "skunking". Clear bottles do appear to be a bit weaker, they're usually the first to pop if I...

The term "malt" is generic i.e you can get pale and extra pale versions of Maris Otter, and other malts of you choose. MO is a great base malt and the one many of us choose, there is a colour difference: I accidentally ordered extra-pale last time instead of pale, it wasn't an issue because I...

I've recently bought a Dark Farm 10L so looked into this, these were the right solution for me. Pros: portable, lightweight, simpler solution, take up less room, use CO2 cartridges so don't need a gas bottle, look better. Cons: more expensive, less volume, doesn't fit in the fridge so will be...

I've got 3 of them and they're all the same, they also hold pressure so unlikely to have a split. I've just moved over to those 10L mini kegs and they are way better, or cornies if you have the space for a full setup.

I buy crushed grain about 3 times year, it's bagged and sealed with clips then stored in plastic crates in the spare room wardrobe. It seems to keep fresh. A stock of Maris Otter is good for topping up kits, and is the base malt I use most of the time. I've never bothered with AG kits, I just...

I've got the same problem and I just can't get to the bottom of it. Happens every time I use the plastic keg, whilst the bottles are fine. I posted a thread on this a few weeks ago as I had one last go at using the keg and sure enough, the beer in there developed a TCP taste whilst the bottles...

Just split one packet in two, 5g in each 10L brew: you don't need 1 packet per brew if only 10L. I've used half a packet, taped the packet back up and stored it in the fridge before now for months, and it was fine.

I've got one of the Dark Farm ones, 10L version with fixed flow-control tap not the disconnect. Yes they are expensive but then so are a lot of things: mobile phones, road tax, fuel, etc. Why do some homebrewers seem to be obsessed with price compared to other things they spend money on in...

My last encounter with it was circa 1984 when most of it ended up on the pavement outside the pub....one and only time I've actually been sick on "beer".

I've got one of those portable 10L kegs fed with 16g CO2 bulbs, Dark Farm as it happens, but they seem generic with many different brandings, and well-made. I've just put my 2nd brew in it. All the instructions I've read say to set at 5psi for serving or 20psi for force cabonating, indicating...

It's not fake news, the Watneys name has been bought up and is now being used again by a small craft brewery. Gawd know why they thought that was a good idea, it's an entirely different beer thankfully, but it'll put the fear of dread into any of us who remember the original. The new one is just...