Discussion
wormburner said:
Except, disaster of all disasters, whilst I was filling up with water I have splashed wine juice up the wall. I've never been to Berserk, but that is where the Keeper of All Information is going to go when she learns this innocent little nugget of domestic happenstance.
Looks good. Just tried a Coopers Australian lager, it's only been in the bottle a couple of weeks but it's pretty good. Still got a slightly yeasty taste but nice and light. Should be a good BBQ beer if the weather ever clears up!
wormburner said:
Thanks. I've got some spraymalt for the beer. Would using that be the stupidest thing one could imagine?
Other than that, I've not got any brewing sugar, only the devil's processed white demerera?
I wouldn't use spraymalt in wine, it'd give it a really ale-y taste and is better to use in all grain brewing really.Other than that, I've not got any brewing sugar, only the devil's processed white demerera?
As above, glucose is great, or good ol' Tate & Lyle's will do you proud in a vino. Honey is another option as it can give a slightly 'softer' end taste, but you usually swap it gram for gram with sugar, so if you need 1kg extra, sugar will be £2 or honey will be closer to £20! (I think, not entirely sure how much honey is now!!!!)
Jonboy_t said:
...With priming sugar measurements, you do need to be quite careful - usually about one teaspoon of sugar per pint will be enough for a pretty heavy carbonation. I generally use about half a teaspoon per ale bottle and within 2 weeks (probably double that for carbonating in a keg), I get a nice, lightly bubbling brew!
I usually use a teaspoon per 700ml bottle - works well and does not create too much pressure. If you over sugar there is a danger of too much yeast in the bottle and yeast in the beer when you pour it into a glass as the pressure froths the yeast when the cap is released.Bob the Planner said:
a picture of my Hastings Stout. Its based on David Line's Guiness recipe but turned out at a gravity of 1066 - pity ot to reference the Norman invasion !
It is a but sweeter than the Guiness but goes down just as well. A perfect winter ale !
It is a but sweeter than the Guiness but goes down just as well. A perfect winter ale !
Looks delicious! Was that kit or extract?
Light malt extract for the majority of the sugar with flaked barley and black malt and northern brewer hop pellets. The original recipe (page 32 of ISBN 0900841516) calles for 7lb of crushed pale malt, however 3kg of dry malt extract gave a much higher OG than the 1045 target. All the flavour is there but with a bit more of a headache the day after ! Anything over 1060 should be dispenced in half pint measures.
Bob the Planner said:
Light malt extract for the majority of the sugar with flaked barley and black malt and northern brewer hop pellets. The original recipe (page 32 of ISBN 0900841516) calles for 7lb of crushed pale malt, however 3kg of dry malt extract gave a much higher OG than the 1045 target. All the flavour is there but with a bit more of a headache the day after ! Anything over 1060 should be dispenced in half pint measures.
Ha ha, quitter 
Looks really good, might have a crack at that. I like very strong beer, especially a stout style so that looks ideal!
dharte said:
I've been brewing beer for a few months now. I did try a couple of lagers at first but they weren't great, I've had a lot more luck with Ale.
My latest one is Woodforde's Wherry (as mentioned above) and it's definetly the best one yet. Prior to that I have tried Nelson's Revenge (also Woodforde's) and Munton's Highland Heavy Ale which was quite similar to Guinnes.
I've been using a pressure barrel rather than bottles. I might try putting half in bottles next time to see if if makes a difference.
+1 on the Woodfordes Ales. I've brewed the Admirals Reserve a couple of times and am now getting on with the darker Nog Ale. I'm using a pressure barrel rather than decanting into bottles. Advice I've been given is that once you've used about 1/3 to 1/2 of the barrel, inject CO2 in the top and it helps keep the oxygen off the beer, therefore preserving it's barrel life.My latest one is Woodforde's Wherry (as mentioned above) and it's definetly the best one yet. Prior to that I have tried Nelson's Revenge (also Woodforde's) and Munton's Highland Heavy Ale which was quite similar to Guinnes.
I've been using a pressure barrel rather than bottles. I might try putting half in bottles next time to see if if makes a difference.
Day 8 in the Big Boozer House, and wormburner is awake...
...and doing stage 2 of the big Merlot adventure. Not difficult, just a syphon from one vessel into another, clean the sediment out of the first vessel (lovely stuff this time, smells fantastic) and syphon back again.
I snuck (sp?) a quick taste. Bloody awful. Thin, bitter and acidic. Fingers crossed for good progress over the 12 days until the next stage.
...and doing stage 2 of the big Merlot adventure. Not difficult, just a syphon from one vessel into another, clean the sediment out of the first vessel (lovely stuff this time, smells fantastic) and syphon back again.
I snuck (sp?) a quick taste. Bloody awful. Thin, bitter and acidic. Fingers crossed for good progress over the 12 days until the next stage.
Is anyone in/around the Southampton area? I'm going to try to get hold of some grain in the next couple of weeks to do an Old Thumper type ale, but it's cheaper in bigger quantities.
If anyone else is interested, I know a guy that does 25 and 50 kilo bags so we could split the cost and all get some money off!!
If anyone else is interested, I know a guy that does 25 and 50 kilo bags so we could split the cost and all get some money off!!
Don't know if this is of any interest to anyone or not, but I did a beer yesterday and documented it as a step by step picture guide on how to brew for a friend who's just starting, so thought I'd share it here too! I have absolutely no idea how the beer will taste as I did it without a recipe, but I will update in about 3 or 4 weeks!
Here is the recipe:
170 grams of Caramel Crystal malt
1.5KG sugar
1.1KG Extra Pale Spraymalt
18 Grams Challenger hops
14 Grams Golding hops
1 teaspoon Irish Moss
Start by bringing 1 gallon of water up to 165 degree's farenheit
Drop in your 'tea bag' of 170g Caramel crystal malt. In a different recipe, you'd just put all your grains in like this (malt, wheat, barley etc). This is just a pair of old tights, but you can get brew bags, they all do the same thing really. You can just dump the grain in, you'll just have to filter it out somehow later on.
Now keep an eye on the temperature of the water. You need to keep it at a steady 160-170 farenheit for 20 minutes. Don't let it drop too much below this as you'll get a rough taste and too far above this, you'll get cloudy beer. One it's steeped in that water for 20 minutes (some brews need longer), the water should be roughly the same colour as the final beer will be, give or take. Now take the 'tea bag' out of the water, put it in a seive and pour another gallon of 160-170 degree Farenheit water over it to remove as much of the colour and sugars out of the grain as possible.
Now bring that all to the boil. Once it's boiled, you'll have a load of bubbles on top, turn off the gas and wait for these to go down a bit. Then measure out your Spraymalt and 14 grams of Challenger hops:
Add these to your boiling liquid making sure that you stir it well to dissolve the spray malt. A little tip I learned was not to pour the spraymalt straight out of the bag as it clumps together from the steam coming off the boil, just put it in a bowl first or something! Don't worry about the hops being clumped together, they'll separate when you put them in the boil. Now cover it, turn the gas back on and let it boil for 45 minutes.
After that 45 minutes is up, add your 4 grams of Challenger hops and your Irish Moss
Then boil it for another 15 minutes.
Once the final 15 minutes is up, you need to add your final lot of hops (14 grams Goldings) and your 1.5KG of sugar. You need to make sure it's stirred really well and try to get it done as quick as possible so you can cool the liquid quicker (this stops any bacteria growing). To cool it, I usually put the kettle in the sink full of cold water and put some frozen ice packs in, do this twice and it's at a point that it doesn't burn you anymore!
Now you effectively have the same thing you get when you buy a normal beer kit, but you've made it your way and to your own recipe! Just pop it in the fermenting bin I gave you, fill it to the 5 gallon marker with cold water and start sorting your yeast out.
To sort the yeast out, you can just chuck the sachet of it in the brew, but I prefer giving it a headstart first. Put in a bowl or glass or something, add about 100ml warm tap water and a couple of teaspoons of sugar/spraymalt. Then stir it and leave it on the radiator for ten minutes. This means it'll be started before you put it in your brew. Now put the whole of this liquid in to your brew and stir it in.
Now just cover it, put one of those airlocks on and keep it warm for a week or so until the bubbles have stopped for 3 or 4 days. The blue thing around it is a heating element out of an old water bed. It's ideal if you can get hold of one from somewhere as it's the perfect size and has a thermostat on it to keep it at a regular temperature.
Here is the recipe:
170 grams of Caramel Crystal malt
1.5KG sugar
1.1KG Extra Pale Spraymalt
18 Grams Challenger hops
14 Grams Golding hops
1 teaspoon Irish Moss
Start by bringing 1 gallon of water up to 165 degree's farenheit
Drop in your 'tea bag' of 170g Caramel crystal malt. In a different recipe, you'd just put all your grains in like this (malt, wheat, barley etc). This is just a pair of old tights, but you can get brew bags, they all do the same thing really. You can just dump the grain in, you'll just have to filter it out somehow later on.
Now keep an eye on the temperature of the water. You need to keep it at a steady 160-170 farenheit for 20 minutes. Don't let it drop too much below this as you'll get a rough taste and too far above this, you'll get cloudy beer. One it's steeped in that water for 20 minutes (some brews need longer), the water should be roughly the same colour as the final beer will be, give or take. Now take the 'tea bag' out of the water, put it in a seive and pour another gallon of 160-170 degree Farenheit water over it to remove as much of the colour and sugars out of the grain as possible.
Now bring that all to the boil. Once it's boiled, you'll have a load of bubbles on top, turn off the gas and wait for these to go down a bit. Then measure out your Spraymalt and 14 grams of Challenger hops:
Add these to your boiling liquid making sure that you stir it well to dissolve the spray malt. A little tip I learned was not to pour the spraymalt straight out of the bag as it clumps together from the steam coming off the boil, just put it in a bowl first or something! Don't worry about the hops being clumped together, they'll separate when you put them in the boil. Now cover it, turn the gas back on and let it boil for 45 minutes.
After that 45 minutes is up, add your 4 grams of Challenger hops and your Irish Moss
Then boil it for another 15 minutes.
Once the final 15 minutes is up, you need to add your final lot of hops (14 grams Goldings) and your 1.5KG of sugar. You need to make sure it's stirred really well and try to get it done as quick as possible so you can cool the liquid quicker (this stops any bacteria growing). To cool it, I usually put the kettle in the sink full of cold water and put some frozen ice packs in, do this twice and it's at a point that it doesn't burn you anymore!
Now you effectively have the same thing you get when you buy a normal beer kit, but you've made it your way and to your own recipe! Just pop it in the fermenting bin I gave you, fill it to the 5 gallon marker with cold water and start sorting your yeast out.
To sort the yeast out, you can just chuck the sachet of it in the brew, but I prefer giving it a headstart first. Put in a bowl or glass or something, add about 100ml warm tap water and a couple of teaspoons of sugar/spraymalt. Then stir it and leave it on the radiator for ten minutes. This means it'll be started before you put it in your brew. Now put the whole of this liquid in to your brew and stir it in.
Now just cover it, put one of those airlocks on and keep it warm for a week or so until the bubbles have stopped for 3 or 4 days. The blue thing around it is a heating element out of an old water bed. It's ideal if you can get hold of one from somewhere as it's the perfect size and has a thermostat on it to keep it at a regular temperature.
Edited by Jonboy_t on Sunday 22 July 13:34
If you keep it gassed, it'll go for a few months in a keg. Temperature and light might affect it a bit, but if you leave it in a cool, dark place, I'd say 6 months. I'd struggle to make it last that long though!!!
If you transport it, the sediment will be disturbed, but leave it 24-48 hours and it should be relatively clear again. If its been stored cold, the sediment will be denser anyway so would sink to the bottom a bit quicker.
If you transport it, the sediment will be disturbed, but leave it 24-48 hours and it should be relatively clear again. If its been stored cold, the sediment will be denser anyway so would sink to the bottom a bit quicker.
Balls.
Got home tonight and thought I could smell beer. (not wishfull thinking !)
Just checked and found one of my King Kegs has bloody split at the bottom and lost half a new batch of IPA. Luckily I had another empty, so have transferred it to this.
Google seems to point to this being a regular thing, so Im kind of reluctant to buy another KK.
Cornies seem to be the in thing, anyone here use them and got any pointers ?
Im aware of Norman on ebay as a possible source, but interested in your views.
Got home tonight and thought I could smell beer. (not wishfull thinking !)
Just checked and found one of my King Kegs has bloody split at the bottom and lost half a new batch of IPA. Luckily I had another empty, so have transferred it to this.
Google seems to point to this being a regular thing, so Im kind of reluctant to buy another KK.
Cornies seem to be the in thing, anyone here use them and got any pointers ?
Im aware of Norman on ebay as a possible source, but interested in your views.
Jonboy_t said:
Don't know if this is of any interest to anyone or not, but I did a beer yesterday and documented it as a step by step picture guide on how to brew for a friend who's just starting, so thought I'd share it here too!
Thanks for this, going to try it out for our next brew.Been a while since we got anything done, so started the St. Peters Ruby Red and John Bull IPA yesterday. For the IPA we made a hop tea from 30g goldings hops and 2 litres water for 45 mins... No idea how that's going to turn out, but fancied experimenting!
Our Wherry is now tasting really good, so it's needed a good 3-4 months to full mature in the bottle. The lager is still a little yeasty tasting, and the honey lager isn't as "honeyish" as I would've liked but it's definitely there on the nose.
Going to try one of the ciders at some point this week!
I just set my first all grain brew off a couple of nights ago. I’m aiming for a dark ale/stout type thing. I think I got the wrong base malt and keeping the mash temperature consistent was rather tricky but it seems to be bubbling away happily now. I’m only doing 5 litre batches due to the limitations I have with the equipment available to me but really enjoyed making it. It’s far more exciting than a kit and as I designed the recipe myself I’m really interested to find out what it tastes like. I wish time moved faster!
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