Recent content by jebrug

I have been using the FV in a tub with fish tank heater (£8 for a 200w heater)for several years and it is pretty foolproof, especially as the heater normally has its own built in thermostat. So just set it and leave. My outer tub is only 50mm larger all round than the FV so its not a lot of...

I have exactly the same problem, both with my cider and home brew bitter. I am using Youngs crown caps on "Nukie Brown" bottles and about 30% of the bottles are losing pressure. The beer is drinking OK but with greatly reduced head. I am now going to try PET bottles as an alternative. (from...

Thanks for the compliments men, I could admit to being quite pleased with my chiller effort. With regard to the saw horses, I have had them for something like 50 years, and they were second hand then. The workmates you see in the photo's were inherited from my 94 year old father who passed away...

I have just constructed a twin coil chiller by following instructions on this forum, and found it a quite straightforward task, although one problem arose when trying to find a suitable former for the outer coil. Ended up using a redundant cherry tree which I chopped off 4 ft from the ground :D...

Burco turned up today, very satisfied. Filled it up and did a test boil which resulted in a good rolling boil, not over violent but OK. So I think I will rest content with the kit.

I hunted high and low for a decent sized stockpot, the biggest I could find was 24 Lit. Although I did get some elements that I tried out in a plastic bucket and they worked fine, but I got a bit nervous with the plastic softening around the element holes :whistle: However, the elements were...

I am just starting up beer brewing again after a long lay off, the price of beer is starting to squeeze the pension. Whilst the cider has turned out great, you can't beat a decent pint of draught. However, I digress. Having investigated the stockpot boiler route and all the messing about...

My advice would be to use any wood you fancy as long as it has not been treated. But make sure the elements that come into contact with the juice are of plastic. My own press has a collection tray made from the base of a plastic cold water tank just chopped off 4" high, and the cheese separators...

Well the fermenting and all the alchemy is over and the first pint of the 2010 cider brew is in the glass. The attached photo shows that it springs out of the bottle with some vigour and the taste is super, medium dry and about 7% alcohol and as clear as a bell. This first 5 gallons of this brew...

In my humble opinion, the only thing missing from your recipe is "Time". It may be unreasonable to expect cider to ferment out and clear down over a 3 to 4 week period. I believe the finings were unnecessary at such an early stage. It is usual for cider to start a secondary fermentation after...

Its my experience over several years that natural fermented cider is less accident prone than the cultivated sort. And, there is no need to worry about contamination by airborne yeast etc because they are the very beasties that are doing the work. Just concentrate on keeping the vinegar fly away...

Not being given to messing about with fancy recipes etc; I just mulched and pressed the apples, poured the juice into a selection of containers ranging from DJ's to 7g barrels a total of 25 gals, fitted the airlocks and let nature take its course. About 5 gallons of the resulting brew was...

It may interest you to know that I have just bought 2 new 1 Kw electric kettle elements on Ebay for the princely sum of £2.50 each + £1.50 postage. Just search for "kettle elements"

Thanks for all your kind remarks, as you can see I adopt a "waste not want not" policy, although perhaps a lick of paint or a quick rub down with sand paper may improve the visual impression. However, as the kit is about to be dismantled and stored away for next year, it seems hardly worth the...

After reading the method of uploading photo's to the forum, I thought I would try myself by uploading some shots of my own cider press which was cobbled together using the lower part of a plastic water tank, Also my apple mincer which was constructed using the armature from a washing machine...