Recent content by Didge

Feel free to experiment with fruits, however I would suggest you lightly boil the fruit puree for a few minutes before adding it. I have had a few successes, although I have also lost a batch of beer due to a so-called "ready-pasteurised" pouch of puree introducing an infection.

I've been brewing on and off for about 30 years. Setup is pretty basic with 2 buckets for doing kits.

I'm in Market Deeping, so not too far from Pboro. I haven't heard about any local brewing clubs, but then I'm married so socialising is a thing of the past :-)

I've just followed a link from their website to their TwitFace page and it does appear that they have closed :-( Considering there are no updates on either page from the management, I would not consider it safe to place an order with them. I did enjoy my chats with Richard but then I'm as...

I'm not sure about their physical shop as I haven't visited them since lockdown, but their website appears to be working.

You could always try the MJ range but without adding the extra pouch of LME.

Never trust the timings in the instructions, they're nearly always over ambitious. A good guide is 2 weeks fermenting, 2 weeks carbonating & 2 weeks conditioning. Almost invariably, my plastic bottles firm-up in 3 or 4 days in the warm, and then go on to get super firm at 2 weeks. My last...

50g of hops are unlikely to give you a big hop hit. 150-200g will get closer to the popular hoppy bottled beers. The juicy IPA still holds its own though, due mainly to its fruit juice content.

I have one of these kits waiting, (plus one of their Nirvana) so I will be following your experiences closely. I love their Presidents Sierra and Golden Rocket, so I have high hopes. These kits have a generous 20g of yeast, so they take-off very well. I have a 30 litre FV and I usually start...

Although tins and pasteurised sachets should be sterile, I would suggest heating the contents at a gentle rolling boil for a few minutes before adding them to your beer. Last year I added a pasteurised bag of cherry pulp to a beer which introduced an infection within a day or two. Sadly the lot...

Challenger & styrian goldings, are you planning on brewing some "Whitstable Bay"?

A week of beautiful weather has really helped my hops, both are approximately 1.5 metres tall now. I chopped back my Cascade to 3 stems, and felt like a baby murderer. My Centennial is too tangled to chop, so I shall leave it alone to do its own thing. New leaves appear identical but the older...

All of the above reasons are valid, as exposure to oxygen can introduce an undesireable taste of damp cardboard. The tactile firming of a PET bottle gives a certain reassurance that carbonation is actually happening. Flicking a tight bottle and hearing it ring like a bell is a good feeling (or...

Sorry, I missed that question. I can't be too specific regarding the colour of the leaves as Im red/green colour blind. Initially the Cascade had lighter leaves and started a little earlier. The Centennial definately had darker leaves for a few weeks, however they are now growing and looking...

I experimented with some ekuanot in a lemon & ginger ale, it seemed like a good idea at the time but sadly the flavours didn't work together. Im not sure if the off flavour was down to the hops or the simply ginger beer that I had pimped. Based upon other peoples reactions to my brews, I can...