Home Brew Beer

[Daz 330 Cs]

No stab at all, I wondered if you meant "lager"

[Sam]

Ah yes, my crap iPhone typing skillz!

[Sam]

Woah, last post back in Feb!

Well, we decided to give it an other bash. We went all out and got the stuff to do a prober boil.

I'm a lot more knowledgable now, still nothing compared to the forum members, but our first brew is a great success! A light ale, just under 4% but comparable to any bottles ale, so good infact we've just brewed a second batch.

I've spent a bit more money on a big pot, and better equipment for bottling. But we are getting better.

I really suggest you give it an other go, but go for a full home made brew, not a mix packet. If you want my recipe and tips, let me know.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Sam

[Sam]

Photos.

[simonlpearce]

Ah ok so you went for a proper mash. Do you just cook it up in the pot then put into an FV like the ready made kits and leave it?

I am waiting for my latest bottled batch to be ready. It is around 7.5% and is like a beer called Duval, a strong belgian beer.

By all means send over your recipe and any bit i will need to buy, wouldn't mind having a proper go at it.

[Sam]

So you're still doing it?

Yea, decided if we were going to do it, to do it properly. Boil the grain to make a 'tea', then add the malt and hops, boil in stages, then cool. Into the FV and add yeast. It's not hard, just time consuming. 2

hours a brew.

This is the recipe we used: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/all-amarillo-ipa-28517/

We've used 'light' malt, rather than 'extra light' on this batch, as it was very light on batch 1. I'd also suggest less hops and less boil time, our current drinking batch is super hoppy.

You also need to boil up 1.5 gallons of liquid, so we got a large stock pot from ebay (here - 19Litres). Don't put the grain or hops in a bag, just let them float in the water, and filter the brew before the next item. So remove all grains before adding malt and hops. We just use a sieve into the FV and transfer back, at this stage it doesn't need sterilising, as its going to boil for an hour later on.

I'm looking to get a top notch sieve/filter system, as thats the hardest part, someone holding a sieve over a FV whilst the other pours boiling water at them! Looking for something I can fix to the FV and just pour.

1x Yeast

1x hops

7x Spraymalt

1x grain

[simonlpearce]

Yep still plugging away at it, think i am on brew 5 or 6 now. The kits certainly get a lot better to longer you leave them. I had one of my first batch a few weeks back which must be getting on for 6 months or so and it tasted good. I have been keeping a couple from each batch to see how they go after some time.

Thanks for the info though, i will make some notes and get buying. I would like to do a proper mash as there is a certain kit taste which apparently you will never get rid of.

BTW - Worcester beer festival this weekend, im going to get s**tfaced

[Sam]

Ah, the "kit taste" I keep banging on about this to my dad, who just keeps drinking the ale. There is defiantly a 'taste' that is not very nice, in my head I've put it down to them adding finings , which are the work of the devil, hence I hate it even more when drinking.

Knowing what goes into the ales is great. The first batch of that recipe was in the FV for 4 weeks! Not sure why though. Hoping the second is a little quicker.

The most important thing for me, is filtering the liquid, When bottling as well, as you'll get rid of some of the sediment meaning its clearer and you can drink more!

I do like a good beer festival, enjoy.

[simonlpearce]

Interesting as i have never used finings and still get that kit taste, although as i say its much better the longer you leave it.

Agree on filtering though. I left my latest batch for 4 weeks in the primary then i think another 3 or 4 in the secondary in the hope it would clear down some more. I also tried not to move the secondary to bottle it as this would stir up the crap at the bottom.

[Sam]

Are you still using kits? I meant that the kits have finings in the "syrup" already. Where as I now have a choice if I add them.

Do you use 2 FV's? I'd like to get an other, but we struggle keeping 1 about for 4 weeks at a time. It'd mean we could double up on brews though.

We move the FV 2 days or so before bottling, so it settles, but we also put some muslin over the end of the pipe, so that caught most of the sediment towards the end.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Sam

[simonlpearce]

Yep still using kits, didn't realise they had finings in already.

Yep i use 2 FV's. One to do the initial brew in, then once the fermenting is over i transfer it to another which has a little bottler attachment. I then leave it in there a couple of weeks and then bottle.

Never thought about muslin thats a good idea actually!

[Sam]

I went muslin mental, trying to find the right thing. I've ended up with about 8 different ones.

I do have a little bottler as well, but we forgot to put it on the FV before starting the brew, so next time I'll do it, then to a water test to ensure we don't lose beer! Bottling is one of the boring parts, washing 40 bottles, then drying, then using the slowest filler, then adding sugar, then capping ARGH!

You're best off using something fairly course when transferring between FV1 and FV2, just to get the big bits out, then using something finer for bottling. Otherwise the muslin gets all clogged up. We now sieve the grain, then use muslin to put it back into the pan for a boil. 2 stage filtering, but much quicker.

[simonlpearce]

See i was lucky on the bottling part as the mrs family bought me a bottle washer and bottle tree for xmas. Its great as you just chuck some steriliser in the solution and push the bottles on top then hang them on the tree. Once your done with the steriliser just repeat with normal water and job done.

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Bottle_Drainer_Rinser.html

[Sam]

Yes, I almost got one. But its an other £30, and before testing this brew, I wasn't sure we'd keep doing it, as I didn't like the kits.

I'll probably buy the bottle drier with the next batch of beer, then the rinser with the next, but this hobby isn't cheap! Well over £1.20 a bottle cost at the minute.

Someone at work gave me a old keg and bits to go with it. I think I'm going to give it a damn good clean and try it out, saves bottling, and should keep it nice and fresh.

ETA: How long do you hold it down on the bottler for? Sterilising is advised at 15 minutes soak time, surely you only want to do 5-10 seconds on the washer thing.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Sam

[simonlpearce]

I just give each bottle 5 or 6 pushes on it. You can't hold it down as it works under the pressure from your push but comes out at force. Im fairly confident they are clean by the time its done its thing.

Agree though it is more expensive then you think. I am probably on about the same £1.20-£1.30 per bottle, but it is getting cheaper the more you go as things slowly start to pay for themselves.

[Chimp Choker]

Drool, not fair

[Sam]

Get brewing then CC!

[Sam]

It's a shame as my dads away, and I've got a key to his place with all of the beers in. I might make a secret batch to replace them all!

Turns out I was being mental and made the brew thinking the recipe was in UK gallons not US, so its not quite as it should be. But still DAMN fine.

Going to test the new one tonight, whilst stealing a few for consumption. Defiantly going to get the next batch on ASAP, while dads away, he can help me bottle it when hes back.

[simonlpearce]

My latest one is bottled but has another 6 weeks before i can drink .

Need to get another one going really so its continuous

[Sam]

That's our aim, it doesn't help that dads away for 3 weeks! I ideally want 2 FV's on the go, one ready to bottle, one just made, 1 evening every fortnight, we move it all along 1 step. It is time consuming though.

We've probably got 100 bottles now, after adding retail ones, and I'm working on adding more. I think ideally 120 is enough. That's good for 2 batches (we're now doing 27litre batches, not 23).

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sam

[Sam]

Thought I'd pop my head in for an update.

The brew we've now made 3 times is just outstanding. The first was a little hoppy, so we reduced the amount which yielded better results in batch 2. Batch 3 we changed up the spraymalt and grain to try and make a darker beer, and it's looking great. The small tasters we've had (from OG readings) are great, so looking forward to cracking 1 open this weekend to try.

We're going for 2 more batches of beer in the next few weeks, to be ready for Christmas. Then, my dad wants to do a vino. So that should be interesting. We also snuck in a Wilkos kit. While its not as good as ours, it isn't bad for 40p a bottle. The longer we're leaving them the better they get. I also recommend pouring it and leaving it 10 minutes.

We have also kept 2-4 bottles of each brew to do a taste test at Christmas. Looking forward to that tremendously as the older beers will have aged well.

[simonlpearce]

I will expect one in the post then as payment for the many many years free modding i have been doing

[Sam]

Ha. You'll need to let it settle after!