Haha, thanks for the correction. I would say that it's probably a bith of both. I definitely have had some quieter years during those 15, but I'm also generally very rigorous with my cleanliness. That said, I'm at my highest rate of production this year. So, if problems were going to become...

Thanks for your contributions, people. I've dumped the batch now because last time this happened, I bottled it to see what would happen, and I ended up with mould at the top of each bottle. Dumping 20L from the fermentor is much less of a pain than dumping 60 individual bottles. I'll be...

Ah, that's something that hadn't occured to me. Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi all, I hope everybody's well. So, it's bottling day, and I've opened up my fermentor to find this... There seem to be white spots on the sediment around the edges, so I suspect it's mould. I just wanted to ask for more learned opinions because the last time I bottled something that looked a...

I hope it's at least provided everyone with some light entertainment. This was how I was working, but something that didn't cross my mind (and which in hindsight, should have been obvious) was that I would need to use a different conversion once fermentation has finished. This is actually...

Ladies and Gentlemen, you'll be delighted to hear that the problem has been identified, and you're all going to laugh heartily. In the end, the most relevant comment was from @Megary when they told me to put away the refractometer... Basically, I bought a refractometer because I find it more...

I don't add extra yeast when bottling and (so far) there's been no problem with carbonation.

Morning all! I wasn't expecting such a great response, but thanks to all of you for your contributions. There's a lot to go at here, so I think I'm going to have to note it all down and try things one step at a time. I don't really have enough equipment to do a full factorial design, and I...

Hi @Craigerrr and thanks for your contribution! It's interesting that you raise pH, because it was actually something that I really wrestled with when I first started brewing over here in Spain. I grew up in the Cotswolds in the UK, where the water is, well, hard. But nothing could prepare me...

I just use the SafAle-04 sachets. I haven't harvested yeast yet, though obviously it's something I'm interested in.

Hey @Bigbre04 ! Thanks for your suggestions. I think trying a lower-temperature mash might be the first thing to try. I'll have a look into yeast nutrients, but at least for the next two batches I'll try a lower mash temperature and see what happens. If I try too much at once, I might draw the...

Hey Minbari, thanks for a swift reply! So, I'm going to make a new batch of porter on Sunday. I'll try mashing a little lower and see what happens. As for your other questions, I use dry yeast and rehydrate it during the brew stage so it's ready once the wort is chilled, but I don't make a...

Good evening all, long-time reader, first-time poster. I have been brewing on and off for the last 15 years or so, but in the last two years, I've been brewing probably every two weeks or so, and we have stopped buying beer at home. Everything is made at home now (much to the delight of my...