Recent content by MikeBusby

I have just made a Belgian saison using Lallemand’s Belle Saison yeast. I fermented at 28C rising to 31C. I am now bottling. Is it going to be OK with the bottle fermentation happening at about 20C do you think? Do I need to give it more than my standard week before putting the bottles in a...

I will shortly be brewing a Czech style lager. I have full temperature control so I was going to ferment at around 12C for a couple of weeks, then raise the temperature for a diacetyl rest for a couple of days, and then cold crash/lager at 1-2C for a while in the FV before bottling. Is that the...

That sounds like a good idea, Druncan. At what point do you add this ‘tea’?

Thanks, Baron. I wasn’t planning on removing the hops as, although I could put the hops in a bag, I can’t think of an easy way to remove the bag without potentially introducing a lot of oxygen. Any thoughts on that?

I have just brewed a hoppy golden ale which requires dry hopping. At the moment, my fermentation schedule is 7 days @ 18C, then increasing the temp one degree C per day over 3 days, then cold crashing for 2-3 days. Total 13 days. I understand that you should not keep the hops in the beer for...

Thanks, Matt. I have a variety of different size bags here, so I will try a quite large one first. There is a drawstring at the top so I can hook that over the circulation tube to keep the bag off the bottom. Just a little concerned that the holes in my mesh appear to be a lot larger than yours!

My hop spider keeps getting clogged up and there is little throughput of wort to get to the hops. As a result I am looking at other options. I have bought a few 100% cotton bags with drawstrings. The holes do look a bit large and some hop matter will probably get out, but I will give them a...

I am new to using CO2 in beer making. I have used my snub nose for the first time with a golden ale, but because my CO2 had not arrived in time, the fermentation was done at ambient pressure. Fermentation has now finished and I want to force carb and cold crash. As an ale, what should I set the...

Thanks again. As I am in the process of getting the CO2 bottle and necessary bits for getting the beer out, I don’t think I have a gas ball lock connector at the moment. The fermentation is about 20 hours in at the moment. What is the next best way release the CO2?

Thanks for your reply. The guy at B2B told me that I don’t need an airlock/blow off tube as the 10psi PRV will release the CO2. Why do you think that it is necessary?

I am brewing a golden ale today and will be using my Snub Nose Gen 3 fermenter for the first time. I am not using bottled CO2, but want to force carb in it. I have put a 10psi PRV in place as recommended by B2B. I have read that the first couple of days should not be done under pressure in...

Does anybody know whether it is possible to serve hefeweizen cask conditioned using a hand pump?

Any news on the items I was interested in?

I am just about to upgrade to kegging, so I would be interested in 2 of the cornies, the gas cylinder, plus all the regulators, taps, connectors, etc. I may be interested in the counter chiller too. I could collect either today or tomorrow. A price for all that?

I am looking to improve my fermentation process. My set up currently is a Brewster Beacon 40, a plastic FV with a tap at the bottom, and a standard Ferminator. I currently transfer to bottles, but kegging is an option in the future. I want to get a better FV. So, on my checklist is: Fits...