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  1. Sandimas

    Muntons Smugglers: kit vs AG

    Been brewing AG for 9 years but illness last year forced me to step back from my usual schedule, so I thought I'd try one of the kits I rated the most back when I started: Muntons Smugglers. It's a 2-can kit and the first thing I noticed is that Muntons is still miserly with their kit yeast...
  2. Sandimas

    Crushed Maris Otter supplies

    Need some crushed Maris Otter but not a 25kg sack, more like 10-12kg: just that and maybe a few more grains but not enough to qualify for free postage from the main suppliers. Got loads of hops and others grains that need using up, hence just needing the base malt. Need to run down my stocks as...
  3. Sandimas

    Men over 50 read on....

    If you are a man over 50 or know a man over 50, this thread might just save your life. Being blokes, we don't like talkiing about these things. 2 months ago I entered an alternative reality full of people I previously thought of as healthy, but with health issues. Yesterday that journey...
  4. Sandimas

    Mild: roasted barley or not?

    Must be the CAMRA influence, but around this time of year I always brew a Dark Mild. Been scanning through a few recipes and wanted to try a new one this time, a few have Roasted Barley in them: I always thought Roasted Barley was primarily for Stouts, but what do you think? I have some, but use...
  5. Sandimas

    So who's growing chillies 2023?

    I tried Bulgarian Carrot a few years running but never got very good cropping, unlike all the other plants which were prolific. I think one Carrot plant produced a single chill, strange.
  6. Sandimas

    That sinking feeling

    ....when you take the lid off the FV ready to bottle and see this asad1 Slight smell of phenol too. Took a sample from the bottom and it tasted OK, so bottled anyway. Will keep an eye on them. Suppose it had to happen sometime, got away with it for 230 brews.
  7. Sandimas

    Mosaic recipe

    Anyone got a good recipe using Mosaic hops? Some sort of easy-drinking beer 4.5-5% rather than a full-blown strong IPA. I rushed through a brew order and meant to get Galaxy to make Dennis King's Galaxy Delight but ordered Mosaic instead. Happy to bitter with a general-purpose hop like Magnum...
  8. Sandimas

    Lager vs ale malt mash efficiency

    A follow-up to my recent posting about lager yeast. I brewed my Bohemian Pilsner yesterday and way overshot the OG. I usually get 68% mash efficiency BIAB with Maris Otter ale malt, it's been consistent in over 100 brews, and this is what I used to construct my Pilsner recipe. However using...
  9. Sandimas

    Lager yeast start temp

    Been a good few years since I brewed a lager, what temp do you start a lager yeast (10-15C ferment temp) at: the usual low ferment temp or is it OK to pitch higher say 18C and let it naturally drop?
  10. Sandimas

    Thanks for 10 years

    If you look at my sig you'll see I joined the forum 10 years ago today: 27 December 2011. I just wanted to say thanks for all the inspiration, ideas, challenge and camaraderie, homebrewing is such a great hobby and I still learn something every time I brew, I think that's why I've stuck with...
  11. Sandimas

    Bottle vs keg: same batch

    I often half-bottle and half-keg batches, although some beers I bottle the lot, usually hoppy IPAs so I can store them in the fridge (I have no temp control with the kegs). So until now I haven't had a hoppy beer in the keg, I usually put my ales in there. I recently half-bottled half-kegged a...
  12. Sandimas

    Gushers again

    It seems that I post a thread on this every summer: my bottled brews are gushing again. But there's a difference this time: I've kept back some bottles from earlier in the year and it's only the beer brewed in summer that is gushing, a brew from January is perfectly fine still. And it's only...
  13. Sandimas

    Salcombe Devon Amber

    Down in Devon at the moment and happened upon Salcombe Devon Amber, a fantastic ale that to me seemed 100% British hops like Fuggle, although I'm no expert. So I was surprised when I looked on their website and saw they used Bramling Cross and Cascade. I brew a lot with Cascade, even grow my...
  14. Sandimas

    Homegrown hop storage

    I've been growing hops for 5 or 6 years now, I watch the crop like a hawk in Sept and pick at the best point, then dry them in a warm garage spread out on large plastic trays for 3/4 days before processing. I usually store them in the freezer in bags with as much air sucked out as possible. I...
  15. Sandimas

    Bittering hops impact

    I've read of several people using a generic bittering hop for their beers, a high AA hop such as Magnum. I'm just wondering how much impact the bittering hop has on the flavour of a beer: it is just the case that it produces bitterness, or would you notice the difference if you bittered with...
  16. Sandimas

    Portable keg CO2 absorbtion

    I've got one of those portable 10L kegs fed with 16g CO2 bulbs, Dark Farm as it happens, but they seem generic with many different brandings, and well-made. I've just put my 2nd brew in it. All the instructions I've read say to set at 5psi for serving or 20psi for force cabonating, indicating...
  17. Sandimas

    Keg woes: TCP taste

    I've posted before on this, but now have a stainless-steel minikeg in addition to 3 plastic kegs which has further perpelexed me! My plastic-kegged beer develops a TCP-taste after a few weeks in the keg. In all 3 kegs, 2 budget bottom-tap kegs and a top-tap Rotokeg. It's not the beer: I often...
  18. Sandimas

    M15 Empire Ale Yeast

    Just wondering what people's experiences of MJ M15 Empire Ale yeast are? Used it a few times in the past and, being a medium-attenuating yeast, it always finishes a bit high. But just bottled a Porter and FG was 1025 (OG1051). So my expected 5% beer has turned out a measly 3.4% with a yeast...
  19. Sandimas

    Bitterness & English Ales

    I've always played it safe with IBUs for my British ales and usually plump for a figure around 30, less for darker/brown ales, a bit more for pale ales. Never gone beyond 35 IBU and feel there's something missing from my brews. Bought some commercial pale ale for Christmas from a local brewery...
  20. Sandimas

    S-04 under-attenuating for dark beers

    I've just bottled my 3rd dark beer in succession and got a higher FG than expected: not stuck, just a bit high. The OGs weren't particularly high 1046-1050 and from my notes the yeast attenuation with Safale S-04 has been 68%, 62% and 67%. In comparison, golden/amber beers with the same yeast...
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