Your current / planned brews

Khannie · 03-07-2012 3:00pm #1

So what have you got on the go right now? Anything planned for the near future?

Currently I have a ridiculous amount of stuff fermenting:
30L apple cider from lidl "cloudy apple juice"
18L apple and raspberry cider from lidl cloudy apple juice + blended raspberries
23L pinot grigio (for my wife)
16L pear cider from juiced pears
9L elderflower champagne
4L cherry turbo cider (got cherry juice in lidl)
4L pineapple turbo cider
4L "tropical" turbo cider

I'm planning to do a large batch of apple cider from apples when the autumn rolls around (hopefully in the 150-200L range.

Also planning to do some apple and blackberry cider when blackberry season rolls around.

Would love to hear what others have on the go or are planning. Might inspire me.

Zebra3 · 03-07-2012 3:12pm

Choc stout shortly.

Put it away then for midwinter. :cool:

TOOYOUNGTODIE · 03-07-2012 3:24pm

I went a bit mad and built a two tier system, I have brewed every weeknd since I bought it, To the extent I have the following

Primary- Weiss Beer & Blonde Ale
Secondary- German Pilsner & DoppelBock- ( both will be ready to keg in ten days)

Keg1- Weiss Beer about half left
Keg2- Yankee Lager, still full
Keg3- Belgian Blonde, 3/4 Full
Keg4- Chocolate Stout- Full

I have 40 bottles of irish Red Ale, that is majorly hoppy and needs time to mellow down, plus 80 odd misc bottles of various stuff I brewed.

I need to get more friends as I have too much beer at the minute!!!

Talk about first world problems!!

03-07-2012 3:29pm

Only recently started brewing but I've just bottled 23lL of coopers pilsner. I have a coopers wheat beer fermenting now. I'm going to do the coopers IPA when the wheat beer is bottled.

BeerNut · 03-07-2012 3:34pm

I don't usually brew during the summer but currently have a Cooper's IPA kit fementing. It's to be bottled at the brew class* on Saturday.

I have lots of Nelson Sauvin I need to use in something in the near-ish future. I also have last year's cherry crop in the freezer, with a view to doing a cherry porter.

*transparent excuse for slave labour

Khannie · 03-07-2012 3:42pm

BeerNut wrote: »

I don't usually brew during the summer

Any particular reason?

I like the slave labour. You should put that in the hassle saver thread.

BeerNut · 03-07-2012 3:50pm

Khannie wrote: »

Any particular reason?

I don't have any temperature-control tech and I don't trust my fermentarium* to stay at beer-friendly temperatures.

*spare room

Eddieken · 03-07-2012 4:28pm

Have a Kolsch in primary and a Berliner weisse. Planning on doing another Kolsch this weekend (reuse the yeast).
Have a keg of Coopers wheat beer, Pear cider kit, All grain Weisse, American wheat beer and US pale ale. Supping on the first two at the moment.
Keep finding bottles in presses as well with no markings

, just have to try them and see if i remember which beer it was;)

Khannie · 03-07-2012 4:42pm

Eddieken wrote: »

Pear cider kit

Which kit did you go with?

Grudaire · 03-07-2012 4:54pm

Haha, I'm still only getting into the whole rythem of brewing:

Currently Bubbling:

Cloudy Cider batch 1
Cloudy Cider batch 2 (trial run with finings)
Coopers Stout

Planned (Ingredients got)

Mead
Pear Cider (using a kit)

Although evertime I read a thread/blog I want to do more... :-\ I had elderflower wine last weekend, brilliant stuff, ended up having a full bottle to myself - lovely stuff! Really must try make it!

Degsy · 03-07-2012 5:31pm

I have 20 litres of elderflower champagne in bottles(less a couple for tasing).

50 litres of the same in fermentors,still bubbling after two weeks.

25 litres of alcoholic ginger beer fermenting.

10 litres of 25% neutral spirit,some in bottles with fruit,some flavoured with "gin esscence" and some waiting on my blackcurrant harvest.

Another 10 litres of the same Turbo spirit(started yesterday) for my plum harvest a little later on.

20 litres of Coopers IPA in bottles(it needs more time)

20 litres of another ale which i cant remember the name of in fermentor waiting on me to wash the bottles to put it in!

Eddieken · 03-07-2012 6:58pm

Khannie wrote: »

Which kit did you go with?

Finlandia pear cider, it's okay but I had brewbuddy pear cider before and i thought it was much better.

Ratsathome · 03-07-2012 8:09pm

Coopers Wheat Beer
Mix Fruit Wine
2 x Ginger Beer
in fermenter

Bottled today Apple Cider(10.9%) and Pineapple wine(11.6%)

On order California Connoisseur Johannisberg Riesling

Mr Benevolent · 03-07-2012 10:52pm

Vaguely planned: Mead, barley wine, gorse wine.

Brewing: Nuffin', just finished the ginger beer. Good stuff too.

Khannie · 04-07-2012 11:46am

Confab wrote: »

gorse wine.

Unusual sounding. Have you had this before? I might branch out into trying stuff like that while the option is available. Not entirely sure where I'd get gorse around here though but I'll start keeping an eye out.

Krusty_Clown · 04-07-2012 1:09pm

Currently have bottled a Munton's IPA - Higher Ranks Reserve - which should be ready for drinking in 2.5 weeks.
Toying with the idea of sticking on a Coopers Sparkling Ale pretty soon, but don't currently have the available bottles for it, so better wait a week or two, so I can get a head-start on the IPA, or start buying lots of swing-tops.

GristlyEnd · 04-07-2012 2:11pm

I have Coopers IPA in bottles and plan on a hopped to hell west coast style IPA next followed by a winter stout. Not going near bottles again, going the keg route.

TomCo · 05-07-2012 9:22am

Have a few bottles of extract wheat beer left. Nice, but not really the weiss flavour I wanted. Pity its hard to get specific strains sometimes.

The ingredients for my all grain oatmeal stout arrived yesterday.

Westwood · 05-07-2012 1:39pm

Coppers Irish stout with black treacle & brown sugar (couple of bottles left)
Coppers pilsner with saz hops and golden syrup (2 weeks matured)
23 liters of Brupaks CRAFTMAN stout extract kit (in secondary a few days)
5 liters of cherry juice concrete wine (simple yeast and sugar and water)
20 Liters of oz table red (just finished)
20 liters of oz chardonnay (5 bottles left)

25kg of maris otter arriving with 7 hop varieties to try out some smash beers in the coming months. will be all gallon batches I reckon.

Great thread got me inspired again.

we should have a favorite recipes thread (sticky) tried and tested and delicious?

Baneblade · 05-07-2012 1:57pm

bottled: porter/cider/wheat beer.
brewing: a pale ale
planning: thinking of giving all grain a shot so will start with a stout, maybe a coffee stout

oblivious · 05-07-2012 4:35pm

TomCo wrote: »

Have a few bottles of extract wheat beer left. Nice, but not really the weiss flavour I wanted. Pity its hard to get specific strains sometimes.

WLP300 is the single best commercial weiss yeast around, that or grown up some yeast from Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen like is did below

Here is a rough guide on how I cultured up the yeast

20g of spray malt boiled in 200ml water, the dregs of two bottles of kellerweis
Where added when cooled. These where chilled so as to sediment as much yeast as possible.

Yeast added and let get to work

It took around 3-4 days to see activity but it took off. This was then pitched into a step up starter (1 litre) that will be split in two, one for storage and another to produce a starter to brew with.

Starter for the week going well

Pitched and fermenting well, this actual keep going and over spilled like an number of hefe yeasts I have used before.

[/quote]

covey09 · 05-07-2012 9:08pm

After the arrival of the latest addition to the family in Jan my brews todate have been a disaster to say the least.
Cider kit and juice brewed in Jan bottled in Mar. Had little or no carbonation, I reckon the Yeat may have settled out and were not present for carbonating the bottles so I have to dump the lot- I like bubbles
Coopers Heritage Larger brewed Mar bottled in may. I decided to stir the fermented (Don’t do 2nf racking at the mo) this is currently bottled and is still very cloudy I tried one bottled and it didn’t look drinkable or very well carbonated.
At the moment I have Cooper IPA dry hopped it today and will def bottling this one next week. And one any I deas for a nice strong export type larger for kit form and willing to try other than coopers

TomCo · 05-07-2012 10:26pm

oblivious wrote: »

WLP300 is the single best commercial weiss yeast around, that or grown up some yeast from Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen

Thanks, I actually did use WLP300. It ended up almost exactly like a Schneider Weisse T7 even down to the colour!
Unfortunately I'm not a huge SW fan.

I'd kill for some Wyeast 3068, might culture some from a Weihenstephaner hefe.

Where did you get the Erlenmeyer flask btw?

oblivious · 05-07-2012 10:34pm

TomCo wrote: »

Thanks, I actually did use WLP300. It ended up almost exactly like a Schneider Weisse T7 even down to the colour!
Unfortunately I'm not a huge SW fan.

I'd kill for some Wyeast 3068, might culture some from a Weihenstephaner hefe.

Where did you get the Erlenmeyer flask btw?

WLP300 and Wyeast 3068 are both Weihenstephan 68 strain, a single culture of S. delbrueckii, just different producers

I got the erlenmeyer flask from Hop and grape i believe http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/catalog.asp

TomCo · 06-07-2012 1:12am

oblivious wrote: »

WLP300 and Wyeast 3068 are both Weihenstephan 68 strain, a single culture of S. delbrueckii, just different producers

Really? That's interesting.
I might try fermenting a few deg lower next time, I had a fairly steady 18c last time.

sharingan · 08-07-2012 3:31pm

TOOYOUNGTODIE wrote: »

I need to get more friends as I have too much beer at the minute!!!

Talk about first world problems!!

Let people know you have too much beer, the problem tends to solve itself.

IME industrious brewers never want for company.

Khannie · 09-07-2012 4:43pm

Degsy wrote: »

I have 20 litres of elderflower champagne in bottles(less a couple for tasing).

50 litres of the same in fermentors,still bubbling after two weeks.

This has been poking me in the brain since I saw it. 70L!!! I only have about 8-9 on the go but I'm a first timer. I'm wondering should I make more while there are still flowers around. Is it that amazing?

Degsy · 10-07-2012 11:29am

Khannie wrote: »

This has been poking me in the brain since I saw it. 70L!!! I only have about 8-9 on the go but I'm a first timer. I'm wondering should I make more while there are still flowers around. Is it that amazing?

I think the lowers are pretty much finished now..you may still see some but the main flush is over with.

I made loads of the stuff because its very much a seasonal summer drink..i love it although some of my friends dont agree.

Lars · 12-07-2012 6:25pm

TomCo wrote: »

Where did you get the Erlenmeyer flask btw?/QUOTE]
Homebrewwest will get you an erlenmeyer from the brouwland website at brouwland prices

fobster · 13-07-2012 6:43pm

Going to do 20L of amber ale hopped with Brewer's Gold and Centennial hops, will be my first dry hop, 1 oz of each of them.

TomCo · 14-07-2012 2:06am

Started making my manifold tonight.
Hopefully I have everything complete to start brewing on Sunday!

fobster · 16-07-2012 6:57pm

Well managed to get the brew done on Friday night though I had to leave it over night before pitching the yeast... had to fish out the thermometer with my hand when it fell to the bottom, arm had been in the sanitising bucket long enough getting stuff out... so I should be fine. This infection business is overblown I think.

sharingan · 16-07-2012 10:34pm

fobster wrote: »

Well managed to get the brew done on Friday night though I had to leave it over night before pitching the yeast... had to fish out the thermometer with my hand when it fell to the bottom, arm had been in the sanitising bucket long enough getting stuff out... so I should be fine. This infection business is overblown I think.

Wait until it is finished brewing.

In my experience I see the most infection trouble when you are re-using a fermenter that has not been properly cleaned from the last brew. Happened to me once or twice when I was improvising carboys out of 19L water coolers.

People using special yeasts, or doing yeast control (limiting the yeast growth to limit the flavour impact) to replicate a particular style, are often very scrupulous. These yeasts are often not as competitive.

Yeast is massively dominant when food is plentiful, so most contamination issues can be avoided by using clean kit, and letting the yeast get started properly. Then don't make any silly mistakes at bottling time (like use dirty taps or siphons) and bottle condition and you should have few problems.

sharingan · 16-07-2012 10:41pm

Khannie wrote: »

This has been poking me in the brain since I saw it. 70L!!! I only have about 8-9 on the go but I'm a first timer. I'm wondering should I make more while there are still flowers around. Is it that amazing?

I made about the same amount last year. Like Degsy said, its a seasonal/one time crop. I managed to get a late may and a early july brew in. Still have some left.

Its an acquired taste. This year, I am making it with honey, so that I have a more rounded flavour.

When you have been brewing a while, you naturally tend to pick up a second fermenter, and perhaps a third. This lets you have multiple batches on the go, and a second fermenter can give you a lot of useful options with workflow, like racking to reduce sediment, or batch priming.

After a while you tend to juggle them. Between 6 Demi Johns and 2 large fermenters, there is about 90L of stuff brewing around the house. Its easy for cheap brews like elderflower to fill all available capacity.

Khannie · 16-07-2012 10:50pm

I recently had about 70L of stuff on the go which was a new high.

I forgot about racking / priming so there was some messing involved to sort that.

I have two 33L brew buckets, a ~20L bucket that used to contain vegetable oil. A ~16L bucket that used to contain whey and a ~10L bucket that used to contain hard boiled eggs.

(the oil / eggs ones were from a chef friend). If I like this elderflower brew I can see myself doing a large batch next year. I have high hopes for a > 100L batch when apple season rolls around too. Secretly my goal is around the 200L mark, though I'll need to get quite a few more brew buckets for that.

Is your honey brew all honey or some sugar? I cheaped out and went with table sugar.

Degsy · 17-07-2012 11:58am

Khannie wrote: »

. A ~16L bucket that used to contain whey .

i have loads of these..they're great for small or experimantal brews or for stuf like turbo spirit plus tehy dont take up much room.

I also have a number of buckets from here..much cheaper than buying proper fermentors.

sharingan · 17-07-2012 12:07pm

Khannie wrote: »

I have high hopes for a > 100L batch when apple season rolls around too. Secretly my goal is around the 200L mark, though I'll need to get quite a few more brew buckets for that.

Is your honey brew all honey or some sugar? I cheaped out and went with table sugar.

Having large practical fermenters (easy clean/easy rack or siphon) makes things a lot simpler. I am now at the stage where there is a bottle shortage.

The honey brew is all honey, except for the last demijohn, which I topped up with 1L Apple Juice and 1L grape juice. The honey itself is cheap (iceland). High sucrose ferments are starting to disagree with my brewing style, its worth the 10-20 quid more to use better fermentables.

DeadSkin · 17-07-2012 6:27pm

Just kicked off a Coopers Stout kit today, I had mixed everything bar the yeast, was leaving the head/suds to settle before I could add more water to bring it to the 23 litre mark & add the yeast. Something came up and I had to go, I didn't get to add the yeast for at least 90 minutes later - can this cause any problems, it's just that the instructions state that it's vital to add the yeast as early as possible?

The Scratcher · 17-07-2012 7:38pm

DeadSkin wrote: »

Just kicked off a Coopers Stout kit today, I had mixed everything bar the yeast, was leaving the head/suds to settle before I could add more water to bring it to the 23 litre mark & add the yeast. Something came up and I had to go, I didn't get to add the yeast for at least 90 minutes later - can this cause any problems, it's just that the instructions state that it's vital to add the yeast as early as possible?

I've recently bottled a batch of this kit. I added in 15 shots of espresso into the wort before I pitched the yeast. There was no action on the airlock for about a day but then it went wild for about 2 days and settled again. I think the lid on the bucket doesn't seal well because there was no bubbles in the airlock after about day 2/3. Anyway it tasted okay before I bottled it, gonna give it another 2-3 weeks before I crack one open though. I've used this kit before a few times before without adding anything other than Spray malt and dextrose and it's quite nice once left at least 3 weeks in the bottle.

Re adding the yeast, did you throw a lid on the mix while it cooled? I'm only a novice yet, so I can't be sure.

fobster · 17-07-2012 7:44pm

For my last brew I had the yeast re-hydrated and covered, but the wort was still too warm. So I put the lid on the fermenter and left it overnight and pitched the following morning. She's going grand now. So you should be fine.

DeadSkin · 17-07-2012 8:15pm

Yup, I left the lid on before I added the yeast - cheers folks.

sharingan · 17-07-2012 11:38pm

DeadSkin wrote: »

Yup, I left the lid on before I added the yeast - cheers folks.

Having a bucket full of aerated sugar solution (i.e. wort) is always a risk.

The quicker you can get your yeast in there the better. Most nasties are aerobic which is why yeast is such a magical microflora. It uses oxygen to grow and multiply, but will happily metabolise sugar anaerobically. This means that yeast will transform a sealed container into something that is inhospitable to undesirable micro-organisms.

If you manage to keep your wort safe, by sealing when it is too hot, you minimise the risk of an infection taking hold prior to introducing your yeast.

You *minimise* it. I wouldn't make a habit of it, but you can get away with it.

syngindub · 16-08-2012 9:16pm

Currently Bottled an Australian Pale Ale..4 Weeks and Counting....
First taste 15th September.

My next brew will be a St.Peter's Ruby Red Ale.

Heard a few good reports about this one. What are people's experiences with brewing this one, what do you suggest i use instead of my default 1KG Dextrose. Thinking 500g Malt Extract and 400g Dextrose & possibly throw in some aroma hop tea..

Shiny · 16-08-2012 10:37pm

syngindub wrote: »

Currently Bottled an Australian Pale Ale..4 Weeks and Counting....
First taste 15th September.

My next brew will be a St.Peter's Ruby Red Ale.

Heard a few good reports about this one. What are people's experiences with brewing this one, what do you suggest i use instead of my default 1KG Dextrose. Thinking 500g Malt Extract and 400g Dextrose & possibly throw in some aroma hop tea..

Do you need anything with the St. Peters Kit? If I remember correctly it has 2 cans included and that is all you need. If you are looking to bump the alcohol level then some malt extract will do that for you.

lang · 16-08-2012 11:13pm

Think my next brew will be a John Bull London Porter with Light LME. Think I might make a hop tea with some East Kent Goldings, but not sure...Gonna sleep on it and get the Brew on tomorrow.

I'm gonna be bottling my Thomas Coopers Selection Pilsner tomorrow too. It was brewed using Extra Light Spraymalt (1kg). It was brewed on 06/06/12 and was transferred to secondary on 23/06/12. So should be well ready for bottling now. I'm hoping it'll be ready for drinking by early October this year. That'll be about 6 weeks in the bottle so thinking it should be all good.

17-08-2012 10:38pm

I'm doing another coopers wheat beer, using wlp300 yeast. To say the fermentation is vigorous is an understatement. Came home to find the lid and krausen collar on my coopers fermenter had been blown off!

joeKel73 · 18-08-2012 10:18pm

Bottled
~10 bottles Coffee Chocolate Stout (Coopers Brewmaster Irish Stout + LME + Coffee and Cocoa)
41 bottles Golden Pale Ale (this with 3kg Amber DME)

Fermenter
23L Bavarian Hefe Weizen (this using BIAB method)

Planned
23L Little Creatures Pale Ale BIAB clone

lang · 20-08-2012 10:29am

lang wrote: »

Think my next brew will be a John Bull London Porter with Light LME. Think I might make a hop tea with some East Kent Goldings, but not sure...Gonna sleep on it and get the Brew on tomorrow.

I'm gonna be bottling my Thomas Coopers Selection Pilsner tomorrow too. It was brewed using Extra Light Spraymalt (1kg). It was brewed on 06/06/12 and was transferred to secondary on 23/06/12. So should be well ready for bottling now. I'm hoping it'll be ready for drinking by early October this year. That'll be about 6 weeks in the bottle so thinking it should be all good.

Well, I brewed the John Bull London Porter with a can of Light LME and 300g of Dextrose. In the end I went with a hop tea of 25g EKG for 8.5 mins of a boil. Added some yeast nutrient to the wort also because I've had a few stuck fermentations in last brews. I used Nottingham yeast.

I got 39 bottles of the Pilsner when I bottled on Friday. Will start trying them in about 5-6 weeks.

engrish? · 20-08-2012 7:32pm

Fermenting
7L Brewferm Christmas
13L Brewferm Gallia
12L Degseys Ginger Ale recipe!

Bottled
Better Brew - Pilsner
Milestone IPA

oblivious · 22-08-2012 2:06pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm doing another coopers wheat beer, using wlp300 yeast. To say the fermentation is vigorous is an understatement. Came home to find the lid and krausen collar on my coopers fermenter had been blown off!

Yep its very active, but really really worth it , enjoy

Here is a pic of mine from a few years ago

oblivious · 25-08-2012 12:30pm

Got a brewday yesterday and this is a big hop steep (30 minutes) of summit, apollo and cascade for Pliny the toddler

Your current / planned brews

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