Do You Brew?

[Macca81]

I spent some time over the weekend (between brewing beer)

off topic, but a fellow brewer huh? what do you have down atm?

[Son of a Beach]

I spent some time over the weekend (between brewing beer)

off topic, but a fellow brewer huh? what do you have down atm?

On the weekend, my next door neighbour and I started a Coopers Stout (for him), a Mexican Cerveza (Brewcraft, who use Muntons - for my wife) and a double barrell of Pilsner (Muntons Connoisseur - for both of my neighbour and I, half to go into a keg, half into bottles). We've started brewing together, and doing two brews each at the same time. Makes for a much more efficient process - twice the beer for about much the same effort, and get to have some company while at it.

The other one I often do is Muntons Nut Brown Ale (I've still got about 10 bottles of this left on the shelf from the previous brew-fest). So my three favourites are the Nut Brown Ale, Pilser (not their Export Pilsner, which I don't think is as good) and Cerveza (I buy the Brewcraft one for this, which is apparently repackaged Muntons, with the added 'dry' enzyme sachet and cheaper). I occasionally try others, but I always end up coming back to these three. The Nut Brown has the best flavour for me, but the Pilser and Cerveza are more palatable to my wife and to some guests. The Cerveza is very good for hot summer days - BBQ lunches, etc.

Which brews do you usually use?

[Macca81]

Im a dark beer fan myself, so the coopers stout gets a good bashing fairly often (if your neighbour like his stouts, try putting about 5-8l of lemonade and half a bottle of liquorice essence in per 21-23l brew, *&%$#! beaut! its something that can be drunk regardless of the occasion)
currently finishing off an irish cream ale which makes for a great breakfast beer, and the muntons amber ale is a favourite also.

got a ginger beer down atm, using a coopers kit base with an addition of fresh ginger, chilli, honey, cinnamon, lemon juice etc, looking forward to that as a nice refreshing summer drink (kinda a reminder of my youth not that my youth is actually that far in the past...)
looking at a small mead batch going down in the next week or 2, which will be totally experimental (never even tried something like a mead, this will be my first venture away from anything with the word 'beer' in the name), will hopefully start that when i get back from a walk up lake st claire this weekend.

the next beer i am looking at making a James Squires Porter rip off, im looking to try and impart the coffee flavour into it (im a barista so getting anything coffee flavoured is not an issue for me ), im still unsure what kit base to use for it however.

looking to start moving away from kits and into partials, hope to get into full blown grain in the next 12 months (really i need to move out of home again and get somewhere with a big shed!)

[Son of a Beach]

I've not tried experimenting much and just stuck to the kits. The most adventurous I got was the Brewcraft Heinekin kit with som extra hops. Worked really well for a keg at a party.

I'd like to try mead one day, though. Apparently it needs to be in the fermented for a very long time though.

[Macca81]

yes, it looks like fermentation can go for between 6 weeks and 6 months, depending on the amount of fermentables (ill be using a yeast nutrient to kick things along a little), but then once fermented it can take upto 18 months to condition apparently (i think it depends on how its done). im just going for a small 4 or 5 litre batch to start with, and im hoping to have a nice mead for the next winter

experiments are just starting to start for me, i like to tinker so i may end up with some very dodgy beers on occasion now

[Son of a Beach]

I thought I'd get into more raw brewing at some stage, but I've found that I'm just not that dedicated. Partly I'm lazy, but also I just don't have time for anything other than what's absolutely necessary. And of course using the kits is fairly reliable (but not always - clean, clean, clean!!!).

I use the Northern Home Brew shop and always ask them which mix of fermentables to use with each kit. The guys there know what they're doing, and make their own mixes, and so I just use whatever they recommend, which works well so far. He even asks me how long I'm going to leave it conditioning in the bottles, and advises a mix with a different amount of malt depending on my answer. By the way, I usually try to leave it in the bottles for 8 weeks before drinking. I find that's about when it starts to get really good. But I often can't wait that long, if I've run out of all the previous brews.

On the weekend, I was sterilising the big 60 litre double fermenter, when I noticed that there was a large crack in the side at the bottom, and a slow leak. Bummer. So it was a quick trip to the shop before it closed for a new 60 litre fermenter. So that brew is going to end up being a very expensive one!

[tasadam]

Well you know what they say...
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder...

[corvus]

Gees!! what sort of Brew cracks a fermenter
c

[Macca81]

must be a cracking good drop

gaffa tape woulda fixed it im sure!


you think your lazy? i went 2 years without starting a new brew, cause i couldnt be bothered getting the fermenter out when i moved house! i only started again a little while ago cause my stocks are almost out! mind you, the last one i put down prior to that was a 120l barrel, so that takes a little while to get through... first week of 2009 that went down, damn it just kept getting better with age!

[Son of a Beach]

120 litres? Nice work.

Yeah, I wen't for a little over a year without brewing until earlier this year. Missed it a lot. The commercial beers are just not the same.

The cracks? The same thing happened to my 30 litre fermenter on my previous brew-fest. I used to leave them outside full of water after bottling, and I think the UV had made all the plastic brittle. I'll be taking better care of them now.

[1iron]

Also into brewing mainly using extracts. Brew day is Friday, brew number 28 for the year. Following Friday is a non brew day as I'll be Bushwalking.

Currently have 12 by 23 litre brews conditioning.

Hope you guys check out the AHB forum

[Son of a Beach]

Wow... I think you must drink a LOT more beer than me!!! (or maybe you've just got a lot more friends ).

[optdyl]

I brewed for a couple of years, but haven't for the last 12 months. I've got an English Ale kit waiting to be thrown down, but just need to find the motivation to do it.

AHB is an excellent forum for brewing tips and ideas!

dyl

[Macca81]

agreed, AHB is my main place for info on all things brewing.

does anyone else find that after drinking home brew for a while, if they have a night on commercial beer you find yourself much much more drunk and have a hangover the next morning? homebrew NEVER gives me a hangover...

[Son of a Beach]

Yeah, hang overs are certainly more likely with commercial beers and wines. Anyone know why?

[walkinTas]

I think the number one reason for hangovers is dehydration caused by ethanol. However, I have heard that added preservatives etc increase the problem, so maybe that has something to do with it.

I was told a long time ago that the best way to avoid a hangover was to consume a largish dose of vitamin B before drinking. Apparently drinking alcohol depletes the bodies vitamin B levels and this causes hangovers. Now I know some yeasts are high in vitamin B, so maybe home brewing somehow produces beer with higher levels of vitamin B. Ok, wild guess and all!

[Macca81]

i think its the preservatives. it has been proven that preservatives mess with your body, so perhaps its just that the added preservs in comercial booze adds to the sensation of hangovers.

i know the total ethanol content i consume is higher when on homebrew, so its more than just that lol

[Liamy77]

Ginger beer, Perry and cider mostly for me.... but do the ocasional stout and larger for guests.... especially like adding a bit of leatherwood honey here n there - strong flavour goes well with a brew...

[Bill P]

Hi,

I havent made a batch for a while, but I used PET lemonade bottles when my supplies of lipped glass bottles ran out. PET bottles are practical: easy to clean, you can squeeze them to check when the secondary fermentation has occurred , they are resealable and you can stick 'em in your pack for a refreshing ale at the end of a days walk.

I found the 1.25l ones more manageble then the 2l ones, but your mileage may vary...

Bill P

[Son of a Beach]

My brother always used those.

I use the brown PET beer bottles for the same reasons (especially the squeeze/pressure test!) and the brown colouring make sure those harmful rays that can make beer taste like cardboard don't get in (not a problem if you keep them stored in a dark place, of course).

[optdyl]

i think its the preservatives. it has been proven that preservatives mess with your body, so perhaps its just that the added preservs in comercial booze adds to the sensation of hangovers.

A book I have "Beer: A Gauge for Enthusiasts" has a list of additives (adjuncts - anything not in the bavarian purity law) that go into beer. These include: propylene glycol alginate (an emulsifying product used in things from icecream to sexual lubricant; it helps for foam and head retention), amyloglucosidase (turns non-fermentable sugars into fermentables), ammonia caramel (colouring, similar to what is put in Coke), silicone (anti-foam device used during fermentation so you can fit more in the fermenter) and sulphur dioxide (used to maintain colour and stop oxidisation).

There are a few more in the list, but general speaking they have scientific sounding names and they play around with the chemistry of the brew. With so many in your standard commercial beer (unless following bavarian purity law), there's little wonder that all these chemicals make you feel a little funny...

[optdyl]

I used PET lemonade bottles when my supplies of lipped glass bottles ran out. PET bottles are practical: easy to clean, you can squeeze them to check when the secondary fermentation has occurred , they are resealable and you can stick 'em in your pack for a refreshing ale at the end of a days walk.

I used these with my first brew from one of the Coopers starter kits, but never used them again. I'll have to give them a shot next time I brew, although it did feel "funny", necking a beer from a plastic bottle.

[Liamy77]

i find it doesnt keep quite as long in the PET bottles .... but i use em too

[Bill P]

i find it doesnt keep quite as long in the PET bottles ....

Oh No!! Help!! The beer might be going to go off! What can we do???/! Anyone?!!


Bill P

[Liamy77]

it's a good story to stick to huh!?
but i find it can slowly lose some of its carbination - but we're talking over months here...

[1iron]

it's a good story to stick to huh!?
but i find it can slowly lose some of its carbination - but we're talking over months here...

I have some beer that has been in Coopers PET bottles for 18 months, carbonation was still good after 12 months but at 18 months it has lost some carbonation.

[Macca81]

i simply cant convince myself that it is a good idea to put beer into plastic... its like drinking beer from a plastic cup... it just doesnt sit right for me... glass all the way (or those nice handy cans, the 55l ones hehe)

[Liamy77]

it works well for my ginger and leatherwood beer... less exploded bottles as you can let some pressure off from batch to batch (it varies as i brew it all from scratch) but it's glass for the larger n stouts....