homebrewandbeer.com

Merry Christmas to you all - many thanks for your help.

The lager and the brown ale I've started drinking are brilliant - couldn't have done it without the help from this forum.

Has anyone got a checklist I could use when tasting my brews. I've got 9 bottled now and I am writing in my brew log whether the beer is good, bad or indifferent, but I'm thinking that I need something more detailed so I can refer back to it at a later date. I suppose things like clarity, colour ...

Have a look here - http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=3538 - you will find a photo I posted in there and plenty of discussion on the subject.

Try out the search function - works exactly like it should. Type in "fridgemate" and you will find this in amongst the posts

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=6918

I wired mine up on the weekend - should have bought one earlier - dial in the temperature and ...

Go onto the mashmaster site and order one. I got mine in 3 days - too easy.

Thanks Biggles - I'll give it a go tonight.

I got my fridgemate yesterday - excellent service from Mashmaster. Did you have any problems wiring yours up?

One of my old fermenters has heaps of scratches in it - not deep gouges but big enough to see and feel. I've read about scratches being a good source for getting bugs in the brew.

Is it too risky to use, or will a good soak in napisan followed by a hit with Morgans Sanitize make it ok?

I've got two brews bottled about 6 weeks ago that taste okay but have no fizz at all. I think the problem is that I put in level teaspoons of dextrose that I now know weighed about 2-3 grams.

Has anyone tried the method of fixing under carbonation as described here http://www.picobrewery.com ...

Thanks for that Chris - exactly what I was looking for.

I was cleaning my fermenter & tap for another brew today and noticed some colour between the turning bit and the body. Is this a problem with bugs??

Can you get the turning part of the tap fermenter out of the body of the tap without wrecking it?

Seems like the fridgemate is the way to go - will get one when funds allow.

We got up to 37deg here today - and its pretty warm in the garage where the spare fridge is. The internal fridge temp is ranging from 6 to 16 deg - I've got the fridge turned up as far as it will go.

Does this mean that ...

Put my first lager down yesterday - have a spare fridge in the garage so it's in there. Turned the fridge down (up?) as far as it would go and the temperature is running between 6.3 and 12.6 deg. C.

The Saflager S-23 data sheet recommends 9-15C so I'm 3C out at both ends.

Do I need to put a ...

Thanks for the replies - you're both right. 24deg and hadn't stirred it up yet.

I put a Coopers Heritage Lager in today with 1.5kg malt. Topped up to 21 litres (read somewhere that you get a better brew with a bit less water). Checked the SG before putting in the yeast and the hydrometer read 1080. Thought this was a bit much so I put in another 2 litres and ended up with SG ...

Thanks for the advice. It was one of the kits the kids gave me for fathers day so I was hoping it would be okay.

I put a Newcastle Brown Ale in last week. Added the can to 2l water + 1.5kg malt + 20g hops and simmered for 20 minutes. Added this to 21l water and used Safale S04 yeast.

Tasted it this morning when I checked the SG (SG now=1016, started at 1040) and its too bitter. I am going to rack this one in ...

I got 3 hb kits from the kids for fathers day, then yesterday found an old bottle dump and got over 100 roll top long necks mostly dated 1951-1960 and there's heaps more left. Does it get any better than this??

I found this recipe on this site and put one together a while ago. 1 Can of coopers pale ale 1.7kg (the GREEN can)
1 can Morgans Lager malt extract 1 kg
200grams of English Crystal malt .

It's been in the bottle three weeks now so I tried one yesterday and it wasn't too bad, just a bit too sweet ...