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I've started writing a beer diary documenting my homebrew ramblings and beer related tales. I'd call it a blog, but blog sounds too millennial. If you have a spare few minutes, please give it a go. It's all in reverse chronological order, as is the nature of these things, but because the posts...

Do all Brett strains munch remaining sugars till the beer becomes bone dry? Beersmith isn't adjusting the fg when I include Brett so I'm questioning what I thought I knew!

Just checking I understand this correctly: if I pitch S04 and add Brett Claussenii once the S04 has finished, the Brett will chew away on the sugar until it has reached its full potential? Also, does this contribute to the alcohol? It seems obvious to me that this is a yes, but Beersmith is...

Can someone explain to me why I need less sugar to prime a keg compared to priming bottles?

As Co2 dissolves into the liquid, does it change the pressure in the keg? I applied X psi to my keg and left it at 2.2°c for a day. When I reattached my gasline, the regulator showed a drop of 5 psi. I can't find any leaks and have used two different spear heads so I'm ruling out a leak. Thanks.

What would be the problem if I added cocoa nibs to my wort at the start of fermentation? I ask because I've never seen it suggested but I'd prefer to do it this way. I never open the fermenter once it's finished for oxidation reasons (bottling being the only time).

Firstly, I can control how hot it gets... Are Heat mats any good? I mean, do they piss off the yeast at the bottom of the bucket? I don't want the yeast taking any revenge. I've heard nothing negative so far except the obvious stuff about optimal temp ranges. I suppose I just want some...

This yeast has confused me a lot, raising various questions (covered in a different thread). The pitch rate is 1g per litre which was confirmed in an email to one of their technical team. Now, 1g per litre gives a minimum of 1 billion cells per gram. The beer I'm making is 12.5 litres with an OG...

How big is the pack?! I'm trying to input cell count for Lallemand's New England yeast strain but can't because I'm missing vital information. Also, when they say medium to high attenuation, how does that correlate (roughly) to min/max attenuation?

My beer is clearly contaminated, but my question is: As it tastes clean (it's a very pale ale and I can't pick out funky or sour flavours, it just tastes like I intended it), is it safe to bottle? I don't think it's giving off gases as the airlock hasn't bubbled for weeks and the bucket is airtight.

Simply put, will this convert? And how far could I push it (I want to replace some Maris with carapils) Or even better, how can I calculate this myself? Maris Otter 65% (120 Lintner) Munich Malt 15% (72 Lintner) Brown Malt 5% (0 Lintner) Smoked Malt 15% (0 Lintner) Thank you.

I've read about how over pitching doesn't allow the yeast to produce some fruity esters, but I was wondering if it also takes away some of the maltiness? The beer I'm making is clean tasting but is lacking some of the beeriness of commercial beer. I've stupidly been pitching whole packets of dry...

The thing I don't understand: PH readings need to be taken when the wort has cooled, and the reason we adjust the PH is to reduce the amount of bad stuff we extract while mashing (I could be wrong here). The mash converts the starch to sugar within the first 20ish minutes; surely, if the PH is...

Can anyone suggest a target water profile for brewing an Old Ale? Will it just be the Burton water profile?

I'm a tad confused after reading my water report and was wondering if someone could help decipher the contents? It's not showing the minerals the same way as my EZ water spreadsheet does do I can't find what I'm looking for. It's a big ask, but if you think you can help, and have the time, my...

How do I dial in flaked oats or flaked corn? Should I just put it in as a base grain?

I recently bought a Youngs 15 litre bucket to reduce headspace when fermenting. Long story short... the bucket wasn't sealed properly so no airlock activity was showing (it was fermenting). I contacted the seller and they claim that I shouldn't worry. Now I'm stuck in an argument about it. What...

If I add all my salts to the Mash it brings down the ph to a level I'm happier with. If I split them with sparge water the Mash ph is nearer the top end of ideal range. Would it be a problem if I sparge with untreated water which will be at a higher ph level?

On my Brupaks Calcium chloride, magnesium sulphate, and my calcium sulphate, they all suggest adding to the dry grist. The EZ water spreadsheet suggests also treating my sparge water. Do I bung it all in with the grist or do I separate it and treat my sparge water separately? If I do it...

In short, my wort has been yeastless for roughly 48 hours as I was going to pitch tonight. The problem is that my airlock has started to bubble :-/ I knew that I couldn't pitch straight away so I added some hops in the hope that they'd utilise their antibacterial properties to avoid infection...