Hi guys, The water is way too hot where I live so I have been cubing my wort and let it cool overnight then I place it in the Fridge to finish it off. It saves water, does not spoil my beers and I don't waste time trying to cool it down with water that won't do the job. Anyway cubing works well...

So obviously you kept it in your primary fermenter. Did you split the vanilla bean open to extract the flavour inside or you just kept it as it?

G'day guys, I'm thinking about brewing a vanilla stout with some coconut in it. I think it would work. Has any of you experimented with vanilla beans in the secondary? How many pods should I use in a 5 gallon batch and for how long? I'm after a hint of vanilla but not too full on. Cheers

Thanks everyone for the replies. Secondary it is then! I will give it a go and mildly pasteurise them. In the end it will be beer.....I hope. Oh and thanks for the cluster hop tip. Sounds like an interesting experiment.

Hi guys, I'm gonna do a pale ale soon and I want to add blueberries to it. I'm thinking about adding the berries to the boil. How much should I add for a 5 gallon batch? Perhaps you have some other suggestions. I'm trying to stay away from berries in the secondary but I'm happy to entertain the...

Thanks Ebonhawk. If you get to it that would be great. I definitely understand that you are busy! Why are we so busy?????? But never too busy to brew though :-)

Yeah thats what I thought. Some people are suggesting that the alpha acids are all leeked into the wort and then that it doesnt matter if the hop is there or not because the alpha acid is already in the wort ready to be isomerized to iso alpha acid for bittering. Thanks for the feedback mate!

Hi guys. Quick question. If I have a 60 min hop addition and I remove it at 30 min before the end of the boil it would absolutely affect my hop utilisation right? thanks in advance!!!