First solo brew

hypervalve

I'm planning on getting a brew going this evening. This will be my third batch, and the first without the close supervision of an experienced friend. I think I've got a reasonable grasp of the basics, but there is much to learn. I'm wondering if any one can give some advice. Here's what I'm going to use (still have to work out the proportions)

Water
Unrefined Sugar
Malted Barley Extract
Sage (Flavour)
Yeast

The last two batches were slight variations of these ingredients, and turned out fairly well. The beer could have perhaps done with a bit more body. I have some crystal malt, would this be worth adding? I've heard that it can be good to add body.

Is there anything I could add to enhance the flavour of this brew? Or are there any fundamental problems with what I have listed there?

oblivious

hypervalve wrote: »

The last two batches were slight variations of these ingredients, and turned out fairly well. The could have perhaps done with a bit more body. I have some crystal malt, would this be worth adding? I've heard that it can be good to add body.

Is there anything I could add to enhance the flavour of this brew? Or are there any fundamental problems with what I have listed there?

5-10% crystal malt is a nice addition. For more body you could replace the sugar with malt extract, if you want to go with sugar try to keep it around 10%.

Sage your call, but coriander seeds (20grams crushed) can been a nice orangey addition
Best of luck with it

hypervalve

oblivious wrote: »

coriander seeds

Interesting, would you recommend adding coriander seeds as well as the Sage?

In my last brew was more or lass the same as above but with liquorice root (not my idea). Not being a fan of liquorice I gave it all away, but it got generally favourable reviews.

oblivious

hypervalve wrote: »

Interesting, would you recommend adding coriander seeds as well as the Sage?

You could try it, but i may be like christmas stuffing

hypervalve

Could be a good beer to accompany a Sunday roast in that case

BaZmO*

No Hops?

hypervalve

BaZmO* wrote: »

No Hops?

No I hadn't planned on it. As far as I'm aware hops are added for flavour, in this case I'll be using sage and coriander seed for that.

BaZmO*

hypervalve wrote: »

No I hadn't planned on it. As far as I'm aware hops are added for flavour, in this case I'll be using sage and coriander seed for that.

They're actually used as a preservative and a bittering agent as well as flavouring.

hypervalve

BaZmO* wrote: »

They're actually used as a preservative and a bittering agent as well as flavouring.

Yeah that's a good point about the preservative qualities, although, I had no problems with the two previous batches which were un-hopped. Having said that it was drunk fairly quick so it didn't have time to go off. I wouldn't mind making it some what bitter this time actually, any alternatives to hops for this? May clash with the coriander seed, but I can leave that out.

I recently read a book called "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" by a guy called Stephen Harrod Buhner. He's pretty against the idea of hops. He reckons that's what make's you drowsy and impedes performance in the bedroom. After drinking 6 or 7 of his rosemary ales on Christmas day, I thought it felt like a different drunk buzz (didn't get a chance to test out the latter point!). But maybe it was a bit of a placebo since I had read the book first.

BaZmO*

hypervalve wrote: »

I wouldn't mind making it some what bitter this time actually, any alternatives to hops for this? May clash with the coriander seed, but I can leave that out.

Hops are used with Coriander seeds quite regularly, in German Wheatbeers particularly.

hypervalve wrote: »

I recently read a book called "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" by a guy called Stephen Harrod Buhner. He's pretty against the idea of hops. He reckons that's what . After drinking 6 or 7 of his rosemary ales on Christmas day, I thought it felt like a different drunk buzz (didn't get a chance to test out the latter point!). But maybe it was a bit of a placebo since I had read the book first.

Nah, he's talking nonsense. It's the alcohol that "make's you drowsy and impedes performance in the bedroom"

hypervalve

BaZmO* wrote: »

Nah, he's talking nonsense. It's the alcohol that "make's you drowsy and impedes performance in the bedroom"

Well I'm not leaving out the alcohol anyway!

hypervalve

Got a bit delayed, finally got a chance to get it going last night. Here's how it played out. I may have gone about a weird way, I wasn't really following a particular recipe, so I was playing it by ear to some extent. Some of you may be able to point out where I've made catastrophic errors!

Here's the ingredients for 2.5 gallons:



Fresh sage: 2oz
Coriander seed: 0.5oz
Crystal malt: Handful
Malted Barley Extract: 2 jars
Muscovado Sugar: 1 pound
Dried Yeast: Half a sachet

I realised too late that my proportions were based on 2 gallons and not 2.5, so it may lack some flavour.

Here's the apparatus:



Nothing fancy.

I had everything on the go separately. Sugar products in the top left, crystal malt below and the herbs and spice in the big pot.



The crystal malt came out with a chocolatey consistency after 1.5hrs simmering on the hob:



After combining everything and playing around with the temperature and sugar content, I measures a specific gravity of 1050. It was ready to go so I added the yeast:



It's currently bubbling away up in my hot press. I'll let you know how it turns out!

BaZmO*

Wow.

Don't take this as rudeness, but do you know what you're doing, i.e. have you ever brewed before or even read up on it?

hypervalve

No, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm aware that this probably looks ridiculous to a seasoned brewster! I have done two batches like this before though, and they turned out ok.

Where have I gone wrong as you see it?

Kid Charlemagne

BaZmO* wrote: »

Wow.

Don't take this as rudeness, but do you know what you're doing, i.e. have you ever brewed before or even read up on it?

Pretty rude in my opinion. needless sniping. the guy has gone to the hassle of sharing pics and method. basic manners could be expected.

BaZmO*

hypervalve wrote: »

No, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm aware that this probably looks ridiculous to a seasoned brewster! I have done two batches like this before though, and they turned out ok.

Where have I gone wrong as you see it?

Well the main problem I would see is that you haven’t used Hops, but we covered that earlier so no point labouring a point!

The Crystal Malt needs to be steeped, not boiled. Crystal is used to add body, flavour and colour to a beer. It doesn’t add much to the fermentables count. More details here on the correct way to Steep.

I’ve never seen jars of Malted Barley Extract being used as the main fermentable but I’d assume it’s the same as using Liquid Malt Extract that you get in kits? How much are you using? 1 kg?

Putting all that into a calculator works out at an OG of 1.050 so it does seem right.

You should probably use the whole packet of yeast and in future it’s best to rehydrate it first.

Kid Charlemagne wrote: »

Pretty rude in my opinion. needless sniping. the guy has gone to the hassle of sharing pics and method. basic manners could be expected.

And sorry, what exactly have you added to help the OP?

hypervalve

BaZmO* wrote: »

Well the main problem I would see is that you haven’t used Hops, but we covered that earlier so no point labouring a point!

But hops aren't an essential ingredient are they? What I have read on the subject is mainly about gruit ales which use alternative herbs for flavour for example sage, rosemary or yarrow. The idea of brewing and experimenting without hops appeals to me. Hops may be a natural preservative but I have yet to encounter any problems with the beer fouling.

Good call on the steeping, I had no idea that's how it's supposed to be done. Although a bit of research would have helped! In my defence though, I only had it simmering, but still. It shouldn't cause too many serious problems should it?

BaZmO* wrote: »

I’ve never seen jars of Malted Barley Extract being used as the main fermentable but I’d assume it’s the same as using Liquid Malt Extract that you get in kits? How much are you using? 1 kg?

Yeah it seems to do the trick all right. I used 1kg. In the end I had to add a lot more sugar to bring the OG up to 1050.

In adding the yeast I was going by the instructions on the packet. I didn't think that the quantity would matter too much as once it gets established, doesn't it just reproduce anyway?

BaZmO*

hypervalve wrote: »

But hops aren't an essential ingredient are they? What I have read on the subject is mainly about gruit ales which use alternative herbs for flavour for example sage, rosemary or yarrow. The idea of brewing and experimenting without hops appeals to me. Hops may be a natural preservative but I have yet to encounter any problems with the beer fouling.

Absolutely nothing wrong with experiment whatsoever. Some fantastic beers have been created as a result of experimentation. Although personally, I’m a big believer in getting the basics nailed down first and then experimenting. But that’s just a personal thing.

hypervalve wrote: »

Good call on the steeping, I had no idea that's how it's supposed to be done. Although a bit of research would have helped! In my defence though, I only had it simmering, but still. It shouldn't cause too many serious problems should it?

Tbh, that was the bit that made be go “Wow” at first. I’ve never seen it been done like that and it seemed mad. Ha.

I don’t know what the difference may be, although it’s possible that it may add an astringency of bitterness to the beer.

hypervalve wrote: »

In adding the yeast I was going by the instructions on the packet. I didn't think that the quantity would matter too much as once it gets established, doesn't it just reproduce anyway?

Yeah it does reproduce, but rehydrating it gives it a head start. You want to yeast to get going as quick as possible.

fenderlvr

Boiling the crystal might actually help the flavor in your recipe.

They say you shouldn't boil because, like BaZmO* said, you can get bitter flavors from the barley husks. But if you're not using hops, getting some bitterness out of the barley probably helps your recipe.

Definitely an interesting brew, let us know how it turns out.

hypervalve

fenderlvr wrote: »

Boiling the crystal might actually help the flavor in your recipe.

This could be a nice side effect of my lack of experience.

fenderlvr wrote: »

Definitely an interesting brew, let us know how it turns out

Yup, will do.

Degsy

hypervalve wrote: »

use alternative herbs for flavour for example sage, rosemary or yarrow.

I have tons of this if anybody want some to try in a brew.

hypervalve

Degsy wrote: »

I have tons of this if anybody want some to try in a brew.

The rosemary ale me and my friend brewed came out really nice. Quite expensive when you're buying small quantities, found it surprisingly difficult to get too. I ended up having to go to a couple of different places to get 2.5oz together. I think I'll start growing my own this year as one it gets established a rosemary plant can get quite big and bushy.

hypervalve

Well is been a week and the hydrometer stabilised at around 1010 so I bottled it tonight. Had a taste and it definitely hasn't spoiled, seems to be quite pleasant but I'll wait until it's ready to drink before I declare it a success.

Quite a dark brown colour. Sterilised Grolsch bottles at the ready in the background



I primed each bottle with about a tea spoon of unrefined cane sugar



Ready for syphoning



And back in the hot press they go. Twenty-two 450mm bottles



I'll probably crack one open in about a week and a half and see what it's like. How long would you normally keep them in the bottles before drinking?

Also, like the previous two batches, this one was a little cloudy. Is this normal or could I have done something different to avoid this? Not that it bothers me all that much, but still.

Martyn1989

Any word on how this turned out?

merc230ce

Yep, I'd be interested to know too - it seems to certainly be a bit different to most of the other brews I've read about!