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I've used both versions, and currently brew on a Gen 4. Both make lovely beer, but the Gen 4 has a few improvements that help the brew day go a little more smoothly: - Extra perforations around the bottom of the malt pipe mean I've never had a stuck sparge (which I did on the Gen 3) -...

Replumbing makes a lot of sense. I switched over my Gen 4 after suffering a blocked pump (hops) on my first brew and then struggling to drain through the tap. Haven't looked back. There doesn't seem to be any great advantage in having the pump in line with the tap. I've since found it works...

Looks like you're not the first person on here to have the same issue: Muntons Flagship Milk Stout Looking at the instructions for this kit, there's 500g of lactose in there, so, like MrRook says, that's probably pushing up the FG and won't ferment out. 1.014 is about normal for a kit with no...

For what it's worth, I don't bother with rice hulls, but I stir after 10 mins and run the pump at about 35%. Seems to work OK.

A couple of years ago I noticed a smoky flavour creeping into my brews. It was quite subtle to begin with, and not unpleasant, but it got worse with each batch, to the point the beer became completely undrinkable. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was causing it, until eventually I...

Interesting! I've just taken delivery of the Bluetooth thermometer and HED myself, but I was planning to use the BT thermometer to control the mash temperature, as per the advice from Kegland. Any reason you're doing it the other way round? I've also got one of these on the way via Aliexpress...

Amazing work! That definitely sounds plausible, based on my hazy memory of O-level chemistry. Even if it's not spot on, it gives me something to put into the calculator for now, and it looks like I'm probably OK for magnesium without adding Epsom salts. Many thanks, peebee!

Back in my kit brewing days I had good results from dry hopping (adding hops directly to the fermenter after a few days, once the main fermentation is complete). You're only looking to get flavour/aroma from the hops, not bitterness, as the tins already have plenty of that. So it would be best...

Just started dabbling in all this. I’ve read through the whole thread, absorbed maybe 15% of it, and got as far as buying a Salifert KH/Alkalinity test and a big bottle of CRS. The test gives my tap water’s alkalinity as a mighty 265 ppm. I tested again after adding 1.3ml of CRS to 1 litre of...

You certainly can. Squeeze the air out of the foil packs, make them as airtight as you can with tape, and they'll keep fine in the freezer for a few weeks or months.

Ah, didn't realise you wanted to keep the freezer running as normal. That is indeed unlikely to work, then - presumably both the fridge and the freezer are running off the same plug, so every time the Inkbird switched off the fridge, you'd lose the freezer too (along with all that tasty...

The Inkbird monitors the temperature, and switches on either the heater or the fridge as necessary. You just need to turn the fridge up to the maximum setting so that, when it comes on, it stays on rather than cutting in and out.

I use a reptile tank heater similar to this: Finest-Filters Reptile Heat Cable for Vivarium It's thin enough to pass through the drain hole along with the Inkbird probe - no need for drilling or dangling things out of the door.

Some great recommendations above. The Star is my favourite pub in Bath (serves the perfect pint of Bass, of all things) closely followed by The Old Green Tree (especially if they still do Pitchfork). Both are well worth a visit if you're a pub traditionalist. For craft beer as opposed to real...

The same thing happened with my last brew, so I topped it up with a couple of litres of tap water just before bottling. That was a couple of weeks ago, and an early sample last weekend (I can never resist...) had an overpowering smoky taste, to the point of being undrinkable. A bit of Googling...

I seem to remember something similar back in the 1970s on an educational kids' TV program about milk bottles. (Suddenly feels very old...) It won't help you this time, but I find it's massively quicker to rinse bottles out straight after pouring, before the sediment has a chance to dry and...

Hi NiamhManners. Congrats on your upcoming big day! I've made elderflower champers a few times using a recipe very similar to yours and it's come out great. The latest batch went on at the weekend. The differences in mine are: - No tea (but could be worth a go?) - Only 2kg of sugar for 16...

Yes, this one's excellent on tap - a completely different beer to the nondescript bottled version from supermarkets.

2 x 2.4kW sounds like overkill to me. I use 2 x 1.5kW (cheapo ones from eBay), and it takes a while to get up to temperature but gives a mighty rolling boil once it's there. Plus it works fine off the standard double socket in our back porch. A single 2.4kW would also be fine I'd have thought.

I'm with terrym: The taps I've tried dismantling have generally leaked afterwards. One dumped a quarter of a barrel of mild into the cupboard under the stairs. I've stopped taking the risk and just live with the gunge. It might look bad but it's unlikely to be on the bits that come into contact...