Recent content by serum

Bottled this about 3 weeks ago and when drank early it's one of my best I reckon. Hopefully it won't oxidise!

Annoyingly despite a really promising start I can taste some oxidation and the colour has got a bit darker. Bummer! At least this narrows it down to bottling I think. I'm careful to avoid splashing when transferring to a bottling bucket. I batch prime and boil a sugar solution in water which...

All pilsner is a good way to start, aiming for 5-6% ABV. You can swap a third of that for wheat, rye or spelt if you want a variation. My favourite hop combination is Challenger for bittering, Goldings and Saaz for flavour and aroma. get it to about 30-35 IBU. French Saison / Belle Saison if...

It's a question of your individual situation. I've had a Braumeister for just over a year and I'm really happy with it but for specific reasons that suit me. The reasons I went for it are: Good build quality Automated step mashing which is essential for the types of beer I like Being able to do...

This has cleared quite nicely so I thought I'd test it out against something from De Ranke. I had a bottle of XXX Bitter which is basically the same as XX bitter but with another 50% extra hops. The bitterness pops out a lot more than mine and even taking the extra 50% of hops into account...

Down to 1.020 after a week and decent taste from what I can tell.

My next one will be at least another 3-4 weeks before it's ready to drink so we have time

Wow thank you Steve, I think this is better than the saison and will probably show the improvements I've made more than anything else. It certainly won't be in as good as the one you sent me! We'll do another swap once I've got this next brew bottled and ready.

Style labels always have been and always will be open to interpretation. I don't see the point in trying to keep rigid styles. The only way to know if a beer is good is to try it. For me, the Belgians and French have the right idea. Their beers are all over the place.

Traditional lagering was bunging them in a cave at whatever temperature that is but nowadays it's storing them at freezing or just under. In reality you just need to do the best you can. If 8C is the best you can get then do that. One thing I did that worked well was get a load of demijohns and...

I saw that in the Graham Wheeler book. It's an odd one because it's effectively water treatment. You might need it, you might not depending on your water.

Nothing like a decoction to keep you even busier! Hope this one goes well

Checked this morning and no bubbles from the blow off tube so far which is unlike the T-58 which got going right away. I had a quick peek under the lid and there's a small krausen so it's getting started. You need a slow and steady fermentation with these beers to keep them clean so I guess it's...

I've made loads of these but as they're on of my favourites I'm always looking at ways to improve them. It's a very simple recipe but I want to get it super clean with no oxidation. As with my last brew I've gone back to dried yeast because I'm worried about my yeast handling and want to rule...

What beers are you brewing? You have to match your ingredients and process to the styles of beers you're making. I've found many american style beers have a **** head. Belgian and German beers have much better retention and their processes and ingredients are very different. Time also affects...