Search results

It was about £20 from Homebrew Company - so a bit of a saving compared to the regular 10g packs but not massive. For me it's the convenience, I sometimes fond that the yeasts I want are out of stock at the point I'm ready to order my next supply of grain, so a bigger pack helps out that way.

Just popping on here to say thanks for the advice, currently working my way through a 100g pack of Mangrove Jack Liberty Bell, if its still up to the task by the time I get to the end of it I may well look into the 500g options available. Cheers!

Out of interest, how do you store your yeast? I've been looking at some of the bigger packs but wasn't sure if they'd suffer from being kept once opened.

Hi, well done on your brewing, sounds like you're having fun.... I'm not expert by any means but I think that part of the sweetness may be due to your mash temperature. My understanding is that mashing at higher temps produce a higher % of un-fermentable sugars so they don't ferment quite as...

Agree that adding hops and changing yeast will give you a taste for experimentation. But I can recommend the "have a go at a simple AG" thread in the "how to" section of the forum - Clibit's simple guide strips out a lot of the mystique from all grain brewing and shows how it can be done with...

I've never bothered with cold-crashing (or gelatine) - I started with kits but now do all grain - but I've never been too worried if my beer's a little cloudy. In my experience the type of yeast and how it packs down in the bottle, along with how long you can bear to leave the stuff alone...

It looks identical to the Ace boiler that I've got which was cheaper but no longer on sale..... I biab and I'm very pleased with it; first few times I used it I checked the temperature against the display and it was pretty accurate. Once it's at mash temp the 900w element keeps it there - it...

Good luck with going AG, I'm sure you'll love it..... Both Mangrove Jacks yeasts metioned will definitely leave your beer with a bit of character, as would the Windsor. I was initially a bit surprised / disappointed when I first used the MJ Empire, but it turned out one of the tastiest beers...

I prefer the trial and error / guesswork route rather than scratching my head with too much science and measurements..... and I get similar results to this. My routine now is to mash in 18l and sparge in 10l, gets me about 20l out of a 4.5kg grain bill after the boil.

Have a go at the "Have a go at a simple AG" thread. That'll give you an idea of the processes involved - then you can make decisions about whether / what you want to invest in to suit your own ambitions and pocket. I did over 50 brews with little more than a Wilko stock pot, before...

Good luck on your AG journey, Mr Beard! I've recently invested in one of the Ace boilers after many having done many 10-12 litre stove top AG brews. So in some ways I was familiar with the process to begin with. I found it useful to do a couple of simple half length brews to get used to the...

Back to the original question; yes, the yeast will affect the flovour of your beer. Similar dried yeasts to try might include Mangrove Jacks West Coast and Crossmyloof US Pale Ale. Nottingham is a good option for a slightly different, neutral and very reliable yeast. Something like a...

+1 for the disciples of the Clibit method! If you are interested in brewing this is a great introduction and makes the processes really simple. As many others have done, I got started with the Wilko stockpot. If you've got a local hombrew shop that'll sell you a couple of kilos of crushed...

A basic syphon only costs a couple of quid..... If you really don't want to invest try a sanitized jug. The last couple of bottles would be tricky not to disturb the trub too much.

Since moving to the dark side, I've used the home brew company for my grain needs - they do 500g of chocolate malt for 70p or so. But for small amounts you are going to get hit by delivery charges unless you take the opportunity to stock up... I tend to buy a few base malts in quantity and...

An interesting thread. I make stove top AG following Clibit's "have a go...." thread, and I've made about 50 brews so far. They've all been fine, better than any kit beer and in some cases better than a lot of pub beer. Except for brew number 2 where I left the lid on - it tasted of cabbage...

I would seriously recommend you read Clibit's (formerly of this Parish) "have a go at a simple ag" post on the "how to" page. I'm sure loads of us have got into AG brewing through this guide - it is about as simple as it gets. I double up his basic recipe and do 10l brews in a 12 litre...

I've found this to be true with AG, but tbh I've yet to find a kit dark beer that hasn't benefitted from a good long rest in the bottle - before a couple of months they've always had a harshness to them. Good luck with the Chrismas brew, though!

Fermentation is the stage where the yeast is converting sugars in your wort into alcohol. Essentially, turning grain extract into beer. This takes about 2 weeks. Carbonation is making your beer fizzy. If you are bottling your beer, this means waiting until fermentation has stopped, adding a...

Hi Dan, yes, you'll need somewhere warmer than your garage for fermentation and conditioning - too cold and the yeast goes to sleep, to hot and they might get killed off. Most homebrew yeasts are happy enough between 18 - 24 degrees, and its best to keep your brew somewhere where the...