I brewed Saturday, but forgot to take pictures of the process - I only snapped this one image of my kit steaming up the conservatory. Looks like the malty tropics in there. FWIW, I was brewing my 'Unicorn Blonde Pale Ale' for the first time. Wish me luck.

I brewed my first-ever self*-designed all-grain recipe, and of course things went off the rails a bit. Turns out I can't fit 8kg of grain into my 30l brew tank, so I mashed about 5.5kg of the grain I'd already cracked, then steeped the remaining 1.5kg in a pot on the stove. I managed to fit all...

Bottled my Sierra Nevada clone over the weekend. First go at bottling with the new set-up took forever but went relatively smoothly. I guess it's time to brew up something else while this one makes itself ready.

Thanks everybody for the informative and enlightening responses. As this is my first-ever from-scratch recipe, your collective insights have been super helpful in getting me to think about what it is I'm doing, and where I want to end up. I like malts over hops, so I'm hoping to end up with...

Ah, thanks - I noted the time incorrectly. I'll be adding that at the very end of the boil (0 minutes).

I've updated the recipe a bit to reflect these suggestions. This is the first recipe I've ever made from scratch, so being able to tap into the much broader experience of the brewers on this forum is extremely valuable to me, and very much appreciated. Thank you.

This is amazingly helpful. Thank you.

What about swapping fuggles for simcoe?

Recipe updated. Thanks, y'all.

I’ve cobbled together a recipe from some grains I was given when I picked up my brew set-up (25kg extra pale malt and 10kg Europils, all uncrushed and vacuum sealed). I figured I’d start with the extra pale and bang out a couple of ales over the late summer/early autumn before switching to a...

I'll be bottling. I used to keg pretty regularly back in the 'States, but I don't have the requisite gear just now and I picked up 4 crates of 22oz empties from a pub that was closing down, so I'm set for bottles. Just gotta scrape the labels off and jet wash the bad boys and I'm off to the races.

Knocked out my first all-grain brew this weekend. The recipe was a Sierra Nevada clone from the Malt Miller down in England (I used a recipe for my first all-grain batch just to get a feel for the process), that uses Strata hops instead of Citra. All went well apart from using a Britta pitcher...

Well, I kicked out my first brew using the new set-up (I guess I should post that to another section of the forum). I used my tiny-ass Brita pitcher to filter the water, and I will not be doing that again - took about an hour to fill the bucket with the requisite water to brew. Time to pull the...

I'll get a water report from the local council before I brew, and do plan to install a water filtration system for the house eventually. I've purchased water for brewing before, but have also had fairly good results with a Britta (kinda low-rent, I know). In any case, thanks again for the advice.

I'm using municipal water. I haven't gotten a water report from the council yet, but the water in Scotland is generally considered to be fantastic, so that's a plus.