Recent content by tomdhuggon

@Ezza ruddy marvellous! Learnings below from this which was brew number 2: 1) I think the high OG was a result of the water/malt not being properly homogenised - I might have taken the reading too early. FG finished up at 1.006 2) Pellets are messy but so far the best way of extracting hop...

I've just started with the homebrewing lark (thankfully missed the heatwave last week...) with a few kits bit already know that I'd like to move to an all-grain system in the near future. It seems you can spend a "tun" of money on equipment (pun intended) for which I neither have the funds or...

Welcome Stophel Would be keen to hear of any local homebrew shops you know of in South East London (I'm SW but willing to travel). I've popped into "waterintobeer" a couple of times (Brockley). Any other recommendations?

@Horners yeah sorry not the best quality pic but the water level is sat between 1.004 and 1.006. The water level was on 1 for the water.

UPDATE So, for anyone still interested I took @terrym 's advice and decided not to add any additional sugar and see how it played out. I dry hopped with the 50g Cascade as planned. After 15 days in the FV, I went to bottle. To my surprise the hydrometer reading was 1.005. (Attached photo.) I...

Hi @Wynne , I'm inclined to agree. Will update on here in a few weeks to let you know how it went down! Should be perfect for a hot summer evening.

Thanks for your resposes! Really appreciate the input - will definitely check out Crossmyloof and pay more attention to attenuation in future. My final question for this thread - it looks like I'm looking at a slightly weaker than preferable brew at this stage - maybe between 3.6% and 3.8%...

Thanks @MickDundee that's really helpful to know. I've located my most local HBS in South London, but going to have to make a list as it's about a 45 minute cycle away so can't forget anything! I'm aiming for 3/4 kit brews then moving to extract, but want to get a rough handle on the...

Hmmm this is interesting. Maybe the heavier extract was still on the bottom and meant my reading was a bit off? I tested the hydrometer just before and it gave a reading of bang on 1 for just water, but I did take a reading quite soon after I added the water. Either way, assuming 1.037 OG and...

Hi @MickDundee , thanks for the quick and insightful answer! That's really great information. What factors affect attenuation? I imagine different yeasts have different ranges. But does volume of yeast also make a difference? If you doubled the amount of yeast, would you reach a higher %...

Hi all, quick intro - first post, second brew, umpteenth time on the site, infinite appreciation of your brewing wisdom. Thanks - you've helped so much already. With my head spinning with all the variables and slightly giddy (read- tipsy) from the success of my first kit brew - a 23L NZ pale...