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Hi all, I am planning to start brewing my first batch of elderberry wine today. I'd appreciate any comments you all have, particularly on the use of lactic acid, bottled water and Wilko's yeast! In the past I think the pH of my tap water has ruined my beers so for this wine I have gone out and...

There's still hope for the flavour then! :]

Thank you all for the comments so far. You've definitely given me a lot to look into! I managed to get an OG of 1047 out of this in the end and reckon my efficiency was actually okay at around 70%. It's bubbling away pretty ferociously already this morning.

Yeah looking at other posts people haven't said great things about that stuff. I just checked my water supplier's report, apparently hardness here is at 286ppm.

Yes, the water round here is really hard so I guess it's to somewhat be expected. This being the first time I've measured the pH though it was just a suspicion that I might be a way off before. I'll have to look into it some more for my next batch.

Hey all, tonight I brewed a Saison and for the first time I measured the pH of my mash. Unfortunately it turned out to be around 6.2 which is way too high. My questions are: -What will this do to this particular brew? -Does this explain some off flavours I've had with darker beer brews? -Also...

For those interested I bottled this today after 3 weeks in primary. It tasted nice, very malty in flavour, not overly dry and pouring on to the sugar water for carbonation it seemed to form bubbles easily which makes me think it'll have a nice head when carbonated. FG was about 1007 once I'd...

Yeah not so well. I left it another week and a half and then cracked a bottle. Its carbonated up and is drier but I've got some nasty off taste. It's a fairly alcoholic spicy tobaccoey flavour, not that pleasant. I had this before with another dark ale I did. Prime suspect is the fact I've used...

For those interested brew day was yesterday and I learnt two things: 1) I haven't been paying enough attention to the mash temperature (I previously assumed I would be in the correct region by having the strike temperature at 75C) but I needed to add 750mL of boiling water yesterday to get to...

What's your thinking behind the prediction of a higher FG out of curiosity?

:) Excellent, validation from a forumite. That's a definite go then. I tend to bottle. Not sure I have enough at the moment but I guess I can find a way of acquiring some over Christmas :beer1:.

Right brew day is tomorrow. I think I might replace the carapils with flaked oats. I realise 16% is a fair bit but I've brewed with 20% before and it seemed to work out. Leftovers Original Gravity (OG): 1.048 (°P): 11.9 Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1 Alcohol (ABV): 4.72 %...

Excellent. I'll warm it up to 14oC and leave it another two weeks and see how it goes, hopefully it'll be drinkable in time for Christmas. Thanks for all your help.

Hmmm okay, do you think I've buggered it or do you think the yeast'll wake up with a bit of warmth and finish the job?

Yeah I just chose 3oC as this was what my book recommended. Im suprised you both say you bottle condition at higher temperature, does this not affect the flavour (I thought this cold conditioning was an important part of making lager)? I realise 2 weeks is not enough time for the yeast to eat up...

Hey all, I wondering if somebody could give me a little advice? My lager is not bottle conditioning and tastes a little sweet and is not that carbonated. I've brewed a Bock and moved to bottle conditioning after two weeks in primary fermentation. I batch spiked with sugar, bottled and brought...

Thanks Dutto, I've had some disasters in my time so am keen not to repeat. I'll have a go at looking at the style guidelines, sounds like a good idea. :)

Thank you all for the great detailed replies, all very helpful. I'll have a little think about the recipe and will try and post again when I get time to make this. So great that this forum exists.

The technique I'm using means I don't have great control over the mash temperature. I generally get to 75oc with my mash water and place my bag o' grain in this. Normally this drops to below 70oc and then I wrap the pan in thick towels for an hour.

What's the thinking behind the lower mash temperature?