Your current / planned brews

mayto · 25-08-2012 12:43pm

oblivious wrote: »

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

Looks nice Oblivious. What did the Apollo smell like? Its meant to be citrusy/ resiny and high bittering power @ 19.5% alpha. I have a bag in the freezer and will do an Apollo pale ale soon.

oblivious · 25-08-2012 2:56pm

mayto wrote: »

oblivious wrote: »

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

Looks nice Oblivious. What did the Apollo smell like? Its meant to be citrusy/ resiny and high bittering power @ 19.5% alpha. I have a bag in the freezer and will do an Apollo pale ale soon.

Yea citrus resiny is.probably the best description, I did not like the look of my Columbus so subbed the in

syngindub · 26-08-2012 6:15pm

oblivious wrote: »

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

that looks absolutely rotten but im sure it's gonna taste delicious.

stuchyg · 26-08-2012 6:18pm

Currently have a 5L bottle of homebrew cider fermenting in the hotpress upstairs & a cascade hopped IPA sitting in secondary to be bottled next weekend.

Planning a 10l brew of Ginger Beer next to have bottled for Xmas and maybe a Corona style lager to follow

Tube · 26-08-2012 8:09pm

Have an all-grain American pale ale style beer with lots of cascade and pilgrim in the fermenter at the moment, on lager yeast at 11C. It'll stay there for 3 weeks, before being lagered for a further 4. We'll see how it goes, but I find lager yeast really brings out the maltyness in a beer.

Next beer will be an oatmeal stout with home roasted rolled oats on Pacman yeast. It's one of Mosher's recipes, and he suggests lager yeast, which I may do if I can't revive my jar of Pacman that's been in the fridge for the last 4 months. I'll re-use my WLP830 instead.

engrish? · 26-08-2012 8:33pm

Just bottled my Brewferm Christmas. It was strange bottling with no sugar (you dont prime) but I'm exited to drink it. Hopefully it will be done by Christmas this year but I hear that it can take a very very long time to finish.

oblivious · 26-08-2012 8:38pm

syngindub wrote: »

oblivious wrote: »

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

that looks absolutely rotten but im sure it's gonna taste delicious.

Hop steep.in wort som time does not look that appealing

scrapsmac · 27-08-2012 9:27am

Quick update on my Wit beer. For those who don't know I had a bit of a crisis (that totally could have been avoided :rolleyes:) last week.

Anyway, took a reading yesterday and it's sitting at 1.011 after 7 days in the FV. It smelt very very good. Infact it smelled almost identical to a Blue Moon.

Took a cheeky taste test too. It tasted quite bitter, sharp. I'm slightly concerned but I imagine that is because it is only 7 days in the FV. I plan on giving it the full two weeks before bottling

lang · 27-08-2012 9:58am

scrapsmac wrote: »

Took a cheeky taste test too. It tasted quite bitter, sharp. I'm slightly concerned but I imagine that is because it is only 7 days in the FV. I plan on giving it the full two weeks before bottling

If the Gravity readings are the same over two straight days then you're grand and can go ahead and bottle or transfer to Secondary.

I have found that the flavours 'mellow' somewhat during bottling. I use secondary fermenter as I tend to do some dry hopping with most brews. I think (although I have nothing to compare to) that you get a 'cleaner' brew from Secondary fermentation. I understand people's reluctance at using Secondary as it increases the chances of infection, but....so far so good, I think.

BeerNut · 27-08-2012 10:20am

lang wrote: »

I think (although I have nothing to compare to) that you get a 'cleaner' brew from Secondary fermentation.

You can get the same effect with just a longer primary. That's why I'd suggest giving everything at least two weeks of fermentation time.

lang · 27-08-2012 10:23am

BeerNut wrote: »

You can get the same effect with just a longer primary. That's why I'd suggest giving everything at least two weeks of fermentation time.

Interesting....I am constantly learning!! I am loving this Brew-lark. Why did it take me nearly ten years (after it became legal for me to drink) to find Homebrewing??!! I'm sure making up for it now!! :P

oblivious · 27-08-2012 10:35am

lang wrote: »

BeerNut wrote: »

You can get the same effect with just a longer primary. That's why I'd suggest giving everything at least two weeks of fermentation time.

Interesting....I am constantly learning!! I am loving this Brew-lark. Why did it take me nearly ten years (after it became legal for me to drink) to find Homebrewing??!! I'm sure making up for it now!! :P

Haven't done a secondary in four years, 2 weeks primary does most beers , enjoy

engrish? · 27-08-2012 11:03am

oblivious wrote: »

Haven't done a secondary in four years, 2 weeks primary does most beers , enjoy

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

lang · 27-08-2012 12:43pm

engrish? wrote: »

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

scrapsmac · 27-08-2012 2:24pm

lang wrote: »

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

When I bottle I do it straight from primary with a tap and bottling wand. Primary vessels can have taps also. I also use carb drops because I am lazy

Although next weekend I will be bottling with dextrose, about 5g each bottle.

I have never tried batch priming. it is something I would be interested in but for the meantime carb drops are simples.

Also, I need some suggestions for my next brew as I am ordering ingredients and a wort chiller (woohoo) today,

At my disposal I currently have:

1.9kg Crushed Maris Otter;
500g Flaked Wheat.

Should I stick with the Wheat Beer? Maybe get a bit of Wheat Malt and go for something along the lines of an Erdinger? I was half thinking of knocking up a proper session beer also or Fizzy Yellow Beer as I have seen mentioned on other forums if I can get a second FV.

oblivious · 27-08-2012 2:49pm

engrish? wrote: »

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

lang wrote: »

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

I dry hop in the primary all the time, sometimes I will start the dry hop just fermentation is dropping of. This has the advantage of there is still fermentation and co2 been produce and it will scrub out any oxygen the hops will introduce.

Other than that I will wait a week till fermentation stop and dry hop for a week

lang wrote: »

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

I keg mostly, if I was to bottle a batch. But to make like easer I would transfer to bottling bucket with a tap so i could attach a bottling wand. They make life so easily, but not as easy as a kegging

syngindub · 27-08-2012 5:28pm

oblivious wrote: »

I dry hop in the primary all the time, sometimes I will start the dry hop just fermentation is dropping of. This has the advantage of there is still fermentation and co2 been produce and it will scrub out any oxygen the hops will introduce.

Other than that I will wait a week till fermentation stop and dry hop for a week

I keg mostly, if I was to bottle a batch. But to make like easer I would transfer to bottling bucket with a tap so i could attach a bottling wand. They make life so easily, but not as easy as a kegging

sorry for the stupid question.
What is dry hopping?
I have some hops and planning a hob tea..what's the procedure in doing this?

Tube · 27-08-2012 5:32pm

Not a fan of dry hopping as it can introduce a grassy flavour. I nearly always get this from pellets. I get it from Messrs Maguire Pale Ale too, so I'm guessing that's also dry hopped.

As hop flavour and aroma fade over time I prefer to dry hop (if I am going to) closer to serving time.

BeerNut · 27-08-2012 5:39pm

syngindub wrote: »

What is dry hopping?

Adding hops during fermentation. For a 20L batch I usually just toss 20-30g in loose, about a week before bottling.

syngindub · 27-08-2012 5:55pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Adding hops during fermentation. For a 20L batch I usually just toss 20-30g in loose, about a week before bottling.

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

stuchyg · 27-08-2012 6:03pm

scrapsmac wrote: »

Quick update on my Wit beer. For those who don't know I had a bit of a crisis (that totally could have been avoided :rolleyes:) last week.

Anyway, took a reading yesterday and it's sitting at 1.011 after 7 days in the FV. It smelt very very good. Infact it smelled almost identical to a Blue Moon.

Took a cheeky taste test too. It tasted quite bitter, sharp. I'm slightly concerned but I imagine that is because it is only 7 days in the FV. I plan on giving it the full two weeks before bottling

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

BeerNut · 27-08-2012 6:05pm

syngindub wrote: »

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

Hops are a natural preservative. They're effectively self-sanitising.

Ratsathome · 27-08-2012 6:12pm

syngindub wrote: »

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

Hops is "self sterilizing".The alpha acids have a mild antibiotic/bacteriostatic effect against bacteria :rolleyes:
If you use your own bag you can sterilize the bag.

oblivious · 27-08-2012 6:36pm

Tube wrote: »

Not a fan of dry hopping as it can introduce a grassy flavour. I nearly always get this from pellets. I get it from Messrs Maguire Pale Ale too, so I'm guessing that's also dry hopped.

As hop flavour and aroma fade over time I prefer to dry hop (if I am going to) closer to serving time.

The pelletisation proceed though the die ruptures the plants cells wall, this is hat can give grassy flavor from dry hopping with them

scrapsmac · 27-08-2012 6:46pm

stuchyg wrote: »

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

It was my first Partial Mash.

20 L batch. Approximately 2.4 kg grain bill made up of Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat and Flaked Oats. I then added Extra Light Dry Extract and Dry Wheat Extract.

Added some coriander and orange peel. It smells great, hope it tastes good too!

oblivious · 27-08-2012 6:52pm

scrapsmac wrote: »

stuchyg wrote: »

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

It was my first Partial Mash.

20 L batch. Approximately 2.4 kg grain bill made up of Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat and Flaked Oats. I then added Extra Light Dry Extract and Dry Wheat Extract.

Added some coriander and orange peel. It smells great, hope it tastes good too!

And any general ale yeast

scrapsmac · 30-08-2012 7:23pm

Two 20L brews planned with BIAB method. Both shamelessly stolen from homebrewtalk. Advice welcome!

AG#1

Cream Ale

2.5kg Maris Otter
1.1kg Flaked Maize
0.5kg Minute Rice

Safale US-05

AG#2

Simple Blonde Ale

3kg Maris Otter
0.4kg Carapils
0.2kg Crystal

Safale US-04

I have some East Kent Goldings and Northern Brewer to play with. I expect both to be simple tasty brews!

stuchyg · 02-09-2012 11:57am

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

scrapsmac · 02-09-2012 2:16pm

stuchyg wrote: »

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

lang · 02-09-2012 3:33pm

scrapsmac wrote: »

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

I tried a couple of bottles from my Coopers Pilsner after about 2 weeks and I have to say it was bloody lovely. I was surprised how carbonated it was after such a short time. I'd say in a few more weeks it'll even better. Head retention wasn't too bad on it either. Had brewed it for the other half as she prefers lighter beers, but she was not made on it.

Think I'm gonna do a Mexican Cerveza for her in the coming weeks

oblivious · 02-09-2012 8:46pm

scrapsmac wrote: »

stuchyg wrote: »

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

Then start another brew

stuchyg · 03-09-2012 9:28pm

Ginger Beer to be brewed next week followed by a blue moonish clone, basically wheat beer with a bIAB of coriander and orange zest. Also have a 5 ltr turbo cider which will be bottled in 2 weeks

Fart · 03-09-2012 11:37pm

Coopers Brewmaster India Pale Ale.

Going to add the recommended 500g light spraymalt and 300g brewing sugar.
Will it do it any harm adding in 500g brewing sugar? I plan to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks, then I'll bottle it then condition it until Christmas time.

I'm hoping it will make it a great brew.

Dont be at yourself · 04-09-2012 2:22pm

Fart wrote: »

Coopers Brewmaster India Pale Ale.

Going to add the recommended 500g light spraymalt and 300g brewing sugar.
Will it do it any harm adding in 500g brewing sugar? I plan to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks, then I'll bottle it then condition it until Christmas time.

I'm hoping it will make it a great brew.

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

engrish? · 04-09-2012 2:47pm

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

It'll be a bit of a pain in the arse if you are batch priming.

Out of curiosity, what water have you been using to date? I've used the 5L bottles from Lidl and found them fine - I have had a bit of an aftertaste from my brews though which I have been thinking is either down to the water or down to my inexperience. Most likely the latter but I look forward to hearing what you think.

Dont be at yourself · 04-09-2012 2:53pm

engrish? wrote: »

It'll be a bit of a pain in the arse if you are batch priming.

Why is that? Couldn't I just add the priming sugar to each bottle as normal? I'd likely be consuming each bottle in one go (with some help!), so I wouldn't be too worried about loss of carbonation after opening.

Out of curiosity, what water have you been using to date? I've used the 5L bottles from Lidl and found them fine - I have had a bit of an aftertaste from my brews though which I have been thinking is either down to the water or down to my inexperience. Most likely the latter but I look forward to hearing what you think.

I've only done two previous brews -- both using tap water (one in Frankfurt, one in Dublin). Taste was OK, but I'm curious to know if bottled water does in fact make a difference.

engrish? · 04-09-2012 3:11pm

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Why is that? Couldn't I just add the priming sugar to each bottle as normal? I'd likely be consuming each bottle in one go (with some help!), so I wouldn't be too worried about loss of carbonation after opening.

Batch priming is adding the sugar to the fermenter before you put it in bottles, it saves you having to add carbonation drops or 5g of sugar to each 500ml bottle - I didn't think you meant that you were going to drink it straight from them!

I don't know how air tight the bottles will be so you wouldn't get good carbonation. It would also be a lot of mess if one split during carbonation!!!!

You might find a cheaper keg option?

BeerNut · 04-09-2012 3:26pm

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

It'd be handy if you're planning to split the batch and do different things with it, 5L at a time. It'd be a pain and an extra risk of infection and oxidation otherwise.

But if by "secondary fermentation" you mean conditioning, ie carbonating: don't. Still water bottles aren't designed for holding carbonated drinks at pressure.

Fart · 04-09-2012 3:43pm

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

How much were the bottles in Aldi?
I'm thinking the exact same thing

.

Dont be at yourself · 04-09-2012 3:50pm

Fart wrote: »

How much were the bottles in Aldi?
I'm thinking the exact same thing .

Around €1.50 per 5L I think...

Fart · 04-09-2012 5:37pm

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Around €1.50 per 5L I think...

Wow. That's great, thank you.

Khannie · 04-09-2012 6:42pm

Supervalu and lidl also have them for the same price. 1.29.

stuchyg · 04-09-2012 9:49pm

Was on the coopers web site last night and they have a guide to brewing a few different type beers including a hob goblin clone and a couple of different fruit beers and the like.Here Ya Go with the linky link I hope http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild

lang · 08-09-2012 3:41pm

Put on a Brew this afternoon which I called "Ball and Chain" owing to the fact that I will be drinking this when I am a married man.

Kit: Coopers Original Real Ale
Extract: Cooper Light LME and 300g extra Dextrose
Hop Tea: 25g Cascade (12 mins boil), 15g EKG (7min boil) in 1L w/ dextrose.
Yeast: 11.5g Safale S-04 pitched at 23-24C, left for 10 mins and then stirred in.
Original Gravity: 1.056 when corrected for temp.

Will leave to do it's thing for about a week and then check it. Will be racking to secondary and may do some Dry Hopping (depends on taste-tests along the way)...Will prob leave in for about 2-3 weeks, all depends on how ferementation goes and if the Wedding gets in the way might just leave it til I come back from Honeymoon.

Ratsathome · 08-09-2012 4:25pm

Did yesterday my first All Grain (15L) "Dark Smokey Ale". Bubbling away like crazy.Got a "Nut Brown Ale" and a "Mild Ale" for the next two weeks.Will do one a week. Have a Ribena wine going as well.Still another 20 days left of fermentation.

loyatemu · 09-09-2012 11:56pm

Threw on a "Better Brew" IPA kit tonight, using 1kg of light DME for the sugars.

Currently drinking Woodforde's "Sundew" all-malt kit - whilst this is undoubtedly a good quality kit, I'm not that sold on the beer itself (its vaguely reminiscent of Leffe).

KAGY · 10-09-2012 12:27am

Currently drinking nothing (homebrewed) cause a christening cleared me out :-(.
Just finished brewing brewferm grand cru with 375g dextrose and 150g golden syrup. Didn't use spraymalt as general advise for that type of beer was to have a dry finish. SG of 1.069 so should end up about 7.9 abv
Coopers wheatbeer with 500 dextrose 500 wheat spray malt conditioning in 2 tap-a-draft mini kegs and bottles.
Future brews
Finlandia winter ale
Coopers stout
St Peter s golden ale ( impressed by their Ruby red)
Youngs Barley wine
Bramble wine ( first attempt, need to collect 10kg of blackberry first)
The gingerbeer that someone posted a while back
only the one fermenter so that will keep me going for a while

Khannie · 10-09-2012 10:38am

I have 3 brews waiting for bottling at the moment:

Bog standard turbo apple cider made with lidl cloudy apple juice. Added a smidge of honey to this one and intend to prime with a mixture of apple juice and honey to see how it turns out. It's been in primary for about 3 weeks now.

Total experiment that seems to have worked out OK: I bought 20L of lidl fizzy orange and threw it into a bucket. Put some yeast in. It stopped brewing at one point but a good stir seemed to revive it and now it has fully fermented (total time was about a month to fully ferment). I tasted it last night (with some added sweetener to bring it back up to the fizzy orange level of sweetness) and it tasted very similar to orange bacardi breezer. If this works out it will be at around the 45c per half litre mark which is incredible really.

Finally, I may have destroyed my elderflower champagnge as it is still in primary about 2 months on. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

Krusty_Clown · 10-09-2012 1:21pm

Current brew: Hoppy Sparkling Ale
My last brew was a spectacular success. In fact it was too damn successful (it's nearly all gone now.

).
Coopers Sparkling Ale + 1Kg Light Spray Malt +Goldings Hop tea. Dry-hopped after a week, with 50g Fuggles pellets. It resulted in a light sparkling ale, with a strong hop aroma. The OH was well impressed too.

Now brewing: Blue Moon Clone
Coopers Wheat Beer + 500g Wheat Spraymalt + 500g Light Spraymalt + 25g Coriander seeds + 25g Orange peel
Boiled the Spraymalt with the crushed coriander seeds and orange peel for 15 minutes. Only got this into the fermenter on Friday. Plan is to dry-hop with 50g Cascade hop pellets towards the end of this week. I thought I might have over-done it with the coriander, as the aroma was very strong, however, having had a pint of Blue Moon last night, I was amazed by just how strong the flavour of coriander is. I'm off the demon drink from now until after Dublin marathon (28th October), So this brew is perfectly timed, for my return.

stuchyg · 10-09-2012 1:22pm

Just about to try the Ginger Beer recipe thats floating around, have my turbo cider in the press upstairs.

Next up will be a fruit beer using Coopers Canadian Blonde which will be followed by an attempt at a Blue Moon rip off.

Is there anyway to make a Christmas Brew using a kit with some extras added in to give it a little something different

Your current / planned brews

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