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Did you use candi sugar crystals or candi sugar syrup? The syrup contains much less actual sugar by weight and could result in a lower OG like this. I did exactly this with a Brewferm Grand Cru for my second ever homebrew. I added 525g of syrup as the instructions say to add 5% if using candi...

I know some people who rarely ever drink anything other than one or perhaps two beers. I've always liked plenty of variety in what I drink so I've found myself brewing similarly. The reviews section is a great way to find the best performing kits but there are many to choose from. If you like...

This was my second ever kit and had a bit of a cock-up on the fermentable front by not grasping the difference between candi sugar and candi sugar syrup. I used the latter and ended up with a relatively low ABV. It was still 7% so not a big problem. Unfortunately, I also primed with candi syrup...

Now that I've built up a decent supply of bottles, I'm not prepared to put in much effort. I chuck them in hot soapy water and leave overnight. A lot of labels just float off or leave glue that comes off easily with the rough side of a washing-up sponge. Anything more than that and I recycle...

I've not done this kit but recently did the 12 litre Framboos that Brewferm make. Used a 15 litre FV for that one and there was plenty of space for the krausen. I don't think it matters if you use something bigger but I find a smaller FV easier to handle when it comes to racking so I use one...

Thanks, it's nice to see a positive opinion of the kit. I've not seen much about it, though what I have seen has been encouraging. Did you stick to the instructions or fool around with it?

I'm in a similar boat - new enough that there wasn't time to get a Christmas brew on for this year. I've bought the Beers of the World Belgian Christmas Ale to brew in February for next December. It'll reach 4.5 to 5% ABV with a 10 litre brew length. I'm going to add Belgian candi syrup to boost...

Stuck this in a bucket yesterday. Full 12 litres with candi syrup for the extra fermentables. Didn't quite have enough syrup to achieve the 1.053 OG but I did get 1.050 so close enough. Looking to give it 3 weeks before racking for 2 weeks cold storage before bottling. Thought I'd bump this...

Bottling day for this today. Was having one of those mornings but now have 38 bottles safely put away in the warm. Should end up at about 5.2% once bottle conditioned. I've read that Porters can need a bit longer to condition. I was thinking of leaving mine for the usual 2 weeks indoors plus...

This will be my second brew to become ready to sample. One more week to go!

Tried my first bottle of Wherry (also my first bottle of home brew beer) at the weekend and was fairly pleased with it. It had been in the bottle indoors for 2 weeks then 4 weeks in the shed. The taste was pretty good but it wasn't as clear as I had expected. I expect this will improve after a...

I did a Wherry as my first brew recently and was quite puzzled by this. I was getting an airlock blip every 20 seconds even after three weeks. I trusted in my hydrometer, which remained constant between 14 and 21 days. I've not had any bottle bombs and they've been conditioning for 5 weeks now.

Got my Festival Porter in the FV this morning. Have done it slightly short at 22 litres, using my hydrometer as a guide to aim for around 5% ABV. Am thinking I'll leave this in primary for 2 weeks then rack to secondary before bunging in the hops for 5 days.

Thanks Riddo. I've got this kit waiting to go so it's interesting to read how your brew is developing. Think I'll get mine going next week.

I also keep a notebook of the brew details and write on the bottle cap with a fine permanent marker (brew number, ABV, bottling date). I'm sort of colour coding beer styles a bit as well but I'm only on my fourth brew so it doesn't really qualify as a system yet!

another vote for the one in post #2. £28 is relatively inexpensive for the benefits of such a device.

As a beery newbie, this is an interesting question. I've only done kits but imagine there's a lot of satisfaction brewing from scratch, similar to cooking from raw ingredients rather than buying a cooking sauce (albeit a very good one). There must also be much more scope for experimentation and...

Bottled mine this morning after 3 weeks in FV, racked halfway through. Batch primed with some leftover candi syrup and bottled in 330ml Duvel steinies plus a 250ml clear PET tester. I conspired to brew this a little long so have ended up with 6.9% prior to conditioning. Not a disaster but a...

+1 on getting a bench capper. Makes life so much easier and you can cap pretty much anything. Some bottles are shaped a little awkwardly for a hand capper. I bought a little bottler from the start and was so impressed. Such a simple and cheap device as well.

One week in FV and this is down from 1.063 to 1.014 so nearly there. Am contemplating racking to a secondary FV this weekend to let it finish and clear itself up a bit. Would then give it two more weeks before bottling. Anyone got any advice to offer? This is my second ever brew so any tips...