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I have managed to track down and talk to the guys that actually developed the 'Old calculator' Martin (Eskimobob) did all the coding, and a lot of the background was provided by Tony (Aleman). It was decided to make something really simple to use using what was readily available, hence the CRS...

Or do several mashes with 100g of your grist with different alkalinities, and see which one has the mash pH you are looking for, after all you only need to mash them for 15 minutes, so it doesn't take a long time. Half a dozen 500ml beakers, and an oven set to 154F. That is why Burton brewed...

No, Make a note of the treatment you used, the pH obtained, and adjust it appropriately the next time you brew. Adding acids and alkalis to teh mash will end up with you chasing your tail in circles too low, too high too low too high . . . get the picture ;) If you measure the alkalinity of the...

We were lucky to have Dr Clayton Cone the guy who ran Danstar yeast labs give a talk at the club, and he stated that in all the tests they did, they saw as much as a 50% drop in viability between yeast "Just bunged in" and yeast rehydrated properly. They also did the experiments to determine...

Boiling water is 'ok' but 150-180C is past the annealing point of glass. . . and anyway, unless you are putting the bottles in a pot of boiling water they are not going to be at 'boiling' point ;)

One thing that you ought to be aware of, is that beer bottles are generally toughened, when you heat and cool them slowly you are putting them through an annealing process, which weakens them. Just something to be aware of over time and multiple cycles. it's not that important for Jams...

Those that are having difficulty with water treatment should have a look at this post http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=432580, as I feel it contains a lot of information (if you can get through the appalling formatting), it's completely different from what we get in the US, and...

His hardness is 305, the alkalinity is anybodies guess, they are not the same thing, and despite what you may see in books you can only use a formula to convert the two in a very limited number of circumstance.

Those are traditional, but as the OP asked for hops from the Geterbrewed competition, I would suggest the Savinjski Goldings and the Styrian Bobek. Depending on what sort of lager you are looking to brew you could go from anything like a Helles at 22-25IBU up to a Czech pilsner at up to 40IBU...

As you measure mah pH after 10 minutes why actually make a batch of beer to find out what treatments do what for your mash pH? Despite what John Palmer and others imply, I don't think their methods work for all waters type and all grist compositions, What I eventually had to do was a series of...

Don't! It's a good way to kill a probe, and apart from that does not give a representative reading of pH. Mash pH must be measured at room temperature, that is what all the literature references, so If you see a mash pH quoted as being between 5.2 and 5.7 they mean that is what it was...

Hardness is not the same as alkalinity which is what you have to worry about., although with your calcium and magnesium levels your alkalinity is going to be pretty low. For pale beers with little crystal malt ( <5%) all you really need to do is add a level tsp of calcium sulfate to the grist...

Diacetyl production is strain dependant, some throw huge amounts (like the Fullers Yeast), others don't, and it's not related to fermentation temperature either. In the early phase of fermentation when the yeast are actively dividing then they produce all sorts of by products, some are...

I may be a bit too late to the party but this recipe seems to have a lot of fans (if you search for Effin Oatmeal Stout) . . . I may just do it myself although looking at the brewing thread, he seemed to have a bit of trouble :D

Yeah, around that Mark. Of course 3.5oz of hops in 2 gallons of wort is close on oz in 5 Gallons which by my rough calculations with a 2 hour boil should have produced something like 150IBU . . . So yes you are correct an excessive amount of hops

Just really hot water with some laundry oxi will shift it. I take it you guys use a 'one step' cleanser/steriliser, if that is the case then RDWHAHB as that will have cleared it

Oh Man, Never, ever, ever use anything with soap in it to clean ANYTHING related to brewing!!! The surfactants in the soap will destroy any head retention, plus they are designed not to be easily rinsed away. Clean your bottles with plain unscented percarbonate cleaner, I use PBW but you can...

As smiley says its the alpha acids from the hops that contribute most bitterness, although straight alpha acids are not bitter, during teh boil they become isomerised and iso alpha acids are bitter. The 'strongest' hop with the highest Alphas is probably currently apollo at 19.5% (and the...

I clean with hot water and a microfibre cloth, this shifts pretty much everything. If something is being stubborn or in my carboys I use PBW., and sanitise with starsan, Remember that you only need to coat the surface with sanitiser you don't need to fill you FV and keg. Also remember that...

No because you are still adding wort to the pot, If you were topping up with water then yes it would