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For the disconnect ends I find it easiest to fill a jug or something with water, hold the end of the disconnect under the water and look for bubbles. (also holding a pressurised keg underwater in a pool or bath). You would still need to try soapy water when the keg is actually connected to the disco...

I've always wondered how hardy yeast is.. When I'm pouring litres of yeast cake down the drain tube I wonder how long it lives down there.. A couple of times I have left some soft drink contains of open wort outside and they have started fermenting and smelt and tasted ok when they finished which ma...

I would use it in conjunction with a hydrometer for FG readings until you are fairly confident in the readings/conversion.
(I use my refractometer after mash and boil when the wort is hot, but use hydrometer to double check OG once wort is cool and for the FG reading)

I'd rather go dry - certainly based on the last 2 weekends - but for things like Abbey beers or Wit, there's not too many options. Have always had success with Fermentis, but not sure if their T-58 or S-33 would suit a wit bier. Brewferm Blanche sounds luke a decent option but that means binning th...

Does the wort change from the top half and bottom half drained from the kettle much? (I can see maybe a bit more break material from the second half but do other things change also?) Reason I ask is I recently saw a picture someplace of a person with a Y splitter on a kettle tap to drain into 2 cube...

All the HDPE containers I have seen have had the 2 in the triangle symbol.. but I do not know wether this means all plastics with the symbol are HDPE or food safe. I would assume if it actually has the HDPE underneath like the pictured image that it would have to be HDPE at least. Sorry I am not an ...

After reading a bit about Hot Side Aeration etc I dont beleive everything the experts say. But I was always a bit wary about pitching onto the yeast cake for some reason. I think I will have to take the 'bag by the seams' and try a few pitches onto yeast cakes to find out for myself if I can detect ...

I think I read someplace that overpitching can be bad in the fact you dont get the flavours/esters (I think that was the term) from the yeast multiplying? What kind of differences do you notice between beers that are put directly onto a yeast cake with a very high number of cells (and I guess some d...

I have a 40l Birko urn and put as much strike water as I can in (34 L) without getting it too close to the top with grain in.
Then I usually have about 31 or 32 litres after draining the bag and about 27L post boil (90 minutes) and lose about 4 or 5L to trub.

I have a yellow plastic ended paint stirrer (the rod to the end is steel) which has served me well.. I have no idea if the plastic is food grade but I haven't noticed any issues and it works very well. (I think I saw beachbum using the same one someplace)

Thanks for all the help/info brewers. I think I might chuck in a bit of gypsum in the next few brews (assuming they are light in colour brews) and also take readings just to get more of a feel for it. PistolPatch, I seem to remember reading in one of your posts a while ago that you had some ph 5.2 s...

On my last brew I stuffed around with trying a few different ways to do refractometer readings (unfortunately I didnt bother to put the values/methods into a spreadsheet). I used the same grainbill and volumes for a brew I had done recently (I recorded 10.6 brix for the previous brew which I think I...

1. I did calibrate it (with 2 solutions) and the test strips seemed to corroborate (i think thats a word.. or an indigenous dance) the results (I dont suppose you know how long the test solutions last? I stuck them in the fridge in the hope I could use them again.) 2. I tried both, it didnt seem to ...

Ph, Tannins, Ferulic Acid?

Just wondering if anyone here can explain to me the effects of high (I think this is the right term?) ph? I took a couple of readings with a cheapo ph meter and some strips on my last brew, results as follows: filtered water for brew 7.8 ph 6.0 ph at start of mash 5.8 after draining bag, 5.7ph at 38...

I often wonder how much evaporation/temperature etc throw out peoples refractometer readings. In videos I have seen a lot of people just dripping the hot wort over the glass and leaving it open for a while before shutting it to take the reading, I may try to experiment next brew and take one sample ...

Made a witbier recently with 41% wheat and 59% pils 20 ibu of hallertau at 60 mins Chucked the following in at 5 minutes Meyer Lemon zest (didnt have any oranges) Coriander seed Chamomile teabags (I read these are good here: http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/1679-...

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