Recent content by Twopan

@hoppyscotty speaks the truth of course. These devices are never bang on and you can go mad trying to get them that way. I have found they are right on the OG or the FG, but never both! I have used the online tool to tweak the calibration from actual readings which improved it somewhat. My...

Yes, we love Astrid. A brave idea for a series. The plots are really quite secondary to the interplay between Commander Coste and Astrid, and the meetings of the support group, discussing the 'neurotypicals', are enlightening and amusing, without being exploitative in my view. Often, the UK...

Actually it was a new keg designed for home brewing, but as you say, the pressure that seeped out of the so-called non-return valve was obviously too much for it. Brewing in batches, I carbonate a Saison to 2.4 volumes, as any less than that in the remaining bottles wouldn't be enough. Hey-ho.

I have been trying using 5L mini-kegs. Recently got hold of a Salter chilled dispenser, which is exactly the same as a Daewoo one I borrowed and inserted my Saison, which is carbonated to 2.4 volumes. Anyone got any tips on tapping the keg with the big tube thingy? In this case the air inlet cap...

Try Golden Hour on Netflix. Dutch terrorist thriller. Real edge-of-the-seat stuff. Also Public Enemy on Netflix which is Southern Belgian so in French not Flemish. Really draws you in. Plus there have been so many excellent non-UK dramas on C4 in the Walter Presents section like, When the dust...

Calculating efficiency can be done with a recipe calculator as @Agentgonzo says. I use the recipe templates in Brewer's Friend. It is useful as you know how much ABV your brew will produce. There is quite a difference between 60% and 75% efficiency. If you have undershot you can add some extra...

Loving these replies. I made the move from kits to extract brewing and then BIAB a couple of years ago. It is simple but does take time; if you rush it you will lose efficiency. Allow most of a day for brewing and cleaning up as you go. Yes, there are periods of doing nowt but you can brew...

Agree - my son bought me that book and it's what got me established in techniques. And nipping across to Belgium for beer supplies would be good, staying in the Eurozone.

@Agentgonzo is right. I have calibrated my ISpindel several times using the sugar solution method. The OG is usually right to +/- 0.001 but the FG reading is always far lower than the true hydrometer reading. They are great for monitoring fermentation progress and particularly, checking readings...

I bottle all my Belgians at 2.2 volumes. Tastes right to me, although feedback I received on my dubbel in the dark beers competition, was that it was slightly over carbonated for a dubbel. I usually bottle when FG has been stable for 2+ days but don't know whether I'm getting some residual...

Thanks - what do you mean by a plasticky break please? I am amazed that it seems to have had the opposite effect on the fermented beer i.e. made it look grim.

Used Brewbite for the first time. Added 4g to the boil with protofloc and it just clumped into several blobs and refused to dissolve. When I bottled the brew looked different in the FV with lots of floating bits and it is very cloudy in the bottles still after a week; normally it clears down...

What dried yeast would you recommend as an easier yeast for a classic Belgian Blond flavour?

Yes, we drank two last night. I would say they are very slightly clearer. Not quite the soup it started as! It's weird because it was bottled on 7th July.

Definitely no film on the top. It may well have been hazy when it went into the bottle. Brews are normally a little hazy when I bottle, but it always drops out after secondary fermentation - you can normally see it clearing from the neck downwards after two days and it clears completely after a...