Recent content by ethics_gradient

Sounds like it, will be another 45 days or so before you're ready to bottle. I sampled some of my last batch one month in and it was definitely not ready. I've currently got 40L on, plan is to rack most of it into a carboy to let it clear and then package as Christmas presents. Has been very...

Just bottled two batches: one with ARL and one with yeast balls. Fermented at 21C for 3.5 weeks. Did not like the ARL one - cloyingly sweet and a bit chalky. Wound up pouring it down the drain. The yeast ball one was much more drinkable, though that wasn't the only variable (used less water for...

Ah, that's good to know. It's a standard ARL package, I bought it on eBay from China. I got a really nice pair of batches from Thai glutinous rice so I went out and bought a 25kg sack of it, so I'm sorta stuck with that for the near future! I will try 4 hour soak + rinse on a batch and see...

Last batch I did with yeast balls came out smelling kinda bad (no weird mould on the rice or anything though)... it was like taking the yeast balls smell and amping it up. I don't remember previous yeast ball batches smelling like that, wound up tipping it down the drain and stinking up the...

How do you all prep your glutenous rice? I am 1 for 3 with this stuff, I think due to inconsistencies making the rice.

So last month I did two batches with glutinous rice and a combination of ARL + yeast balls (because why not). One batch I boiled and messed up -- added too much water and overcooked a bit. The other I steamed in steamer baskets according to "how to cook sticky rice" instructions, which by...

Just an update: I harvested those two batches at 25 days, and took a bottle to my local homebrew (beer, really) club meeting... it was a big hit! I got about 1.2L out of two jars, only lasted a couple days. I am glad I stuck with it after my first batch was such a failure. I went to make...

The fruit's still at the top, so it'd be a bit tricky. I don't know that it ever really started properly, to be honest.

Just an update: the Fleishmann's started bubbling after a day or so, the Coles yeast is showing no airlock activity. Just gonna let them hang out at 22C until they clear!

After a year or so of use, my (secondhand) Mk1 Keg King temperature controller has bitten the dust; it will no longer switch on the "hot" side. The "heat" light comes on and I can hear the internal relay click, but heating element won't turn on. When it's supposed to be heating, it will dimly...

From what I have read, the yeast balls are made in very "rustic" conditions (sitting on bamboo in semi-open rooms), pretty much taking in whatever local beasties are about. So they would fit your bill.

That sounds like my seller (~US$12), they sell in quantities of 5, 10 or 15 packs? I'm only on my second batch, but I think I'm going to try it after 3 weeks, which is coming up this weekend. First batch I let go for 4 weeks (probably too cold, got poor conversion and what tasted like a...

Thank you again for all the helpful information, wongjau. If anyone is interested in starting a new thread, I read through most of this one and typed up a few pages of notes, as well as made a spreadsheet of people's process/results (sort of, didn't track them throughout the thread, only if...

Will do! This one is pretty reliable, I normally use it for keeping beer at temp (sanitised and immersed directly in the beer, with cord passing through a sealed bung). The threads at the top make it a bit annoying to clean, and I want to warm the whole ferm chamber now that I've added the extra...

Thanks, will try this!