# Nick's Brewhouse



## NikZak (28/9/15)

Hey folks. 

Welcome to Nick's Brewhouse. This is the place where I'll be updating you all with the future ferments I do in my brew closet 

Subscribe, follow this thread and stay tuned for more to come


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## NikZak (28/9/15)

Ok folks, with a couple of brews under my belt it's time to share one

This is an American Pale Ale, extract kit

Ingredients are 

500g Crystal Malt 
2kg light dry malt extract
80g Cascade hops (30g @60mins 25g @10mins 25g @dryhop)
500g dextrose
Yeast nutrient
US-05 yeast

Some photos below
1. Before we begin, everything laid out ready to go
2. Grains steeped for an hour, now coming to the boil
3. Malt extract added, again back to the boil for first hop addition
4. Second hop addition, 10 min to go
5. Cooling the whole shebang down
6. And it's in the fermenter (blue) with the dry hop and yeast pitched
7. Didn't take long for activity to start up here


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## NikZak (28/9/15)

So that's my first full dry extract brew with steeped grains. Now the wait begins.


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## NikZak (28/9/15)

Planning my next partial extract brew with the very handy Brewsmith app and want to know what you more seasoned brewers think:

Hoping for a Blonde or some kind of light colored style beer out of this, something light to look at but with a bit more flavor than your usual megaswill

500g Crystal Malt grains
100g 2 Row pale malt grains
2.0Kg Light DME
30g Cascade hops at 60mins
750g Dextrose after the boil
15g Galaxy hops as a dry hop in the fermenter

Made up to 23L should give me a 1.044 OG with a light and easy to drink 17.9 IBU and still only about 13.7 EBC so shouldn't be dark at all

Thoughts?


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## Mattrox (28/9/15)

Great idea for a thread.

Have you tried 500g of crystal before with this hop addition? Might have a bit of sweetness.

Maybe 200g or 250g of crystal.

And the pale malt needs a mash to extract the goodness. Instead try steeping 50 or 100g of carapils....


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## NikZak (28/9/15)

Ah cool suggestion Mattrox, I was looking at carapils but honestly at this point (being as new as I am at this hobby) I'm kind of still experimenting and learning. I might go 350 crystal (Don't mind a little sweetness, makes it more 'mate'-friendly) but may balance it with some extra Cascade and galaxy hops and add the 100g of carapils


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## Tr0yza (29/9/15)

NikZak said:


> Ok folks, with a couple of brews under my belt it's time to share one
> 
> This is an American Pale Ale, extract kit
> 
> ...


Did the exact same extract I got from keg king. One of the best beers I've made  hope you enjoy it!


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## NikZak (29/9/15)

Tr0yza said:


> Did the exact same extract I got from keg king. One of the best beers I've made  hope you enjoy it!


Yep, got the kit from KegKing too... Will be back there now with the extra confidence from doing that brew to do a custom one or two and pick up some bits and pieces to start experimenting


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

Hey followers of Nick's Brewhouse. I'm putting down a toucan this Thursday evening after work and want some advice.

Thinking of doing a special Christmas Brew to share with family and friends at Christmas lunches and dinners. 

Out of these cans what do you guys suggest for something different? I'm going to the LHBS tonight after work so can pick up some things to add if you suggest but I have he following:

2× home brand draught
1× Tooheys special lager
1× Cooper's Australian Pale Ale
1× Cooper's dark Ale
1× BE2 
The yeast packets from each can
1× US-05
Lots of EC-1118

Will be pitching on an active US-05 yeast cake mixed with Cascade hops put in as a dry hop when I rack the currently brewing Pale Ale to secondary so there should be enough hop juice left in there to give some extra hoppy goodness to this brew.

As this is a Christmas beer I will probably dump some cinnamon and star anise in there as well as a vanilla pod and whatever else people suggest

Currently thinking the Australian Pale Ale and the dark Ale with the above adjuncts but what are other people's thoughts?


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

Actually one other important thing is do you think 2.5 months would be enough time for the brew to mature in bottles for Christmas dinner or not?


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## Nizmoose (30/9/15)

NikZak said:


> Hey followers of Nick's Brewhouse. I'm putting down a toucan this Thursday evening after work and want some advice.
> 
> Thinking of doing a special Christmas Brew to share with family and friends at Christmas lunches and dinners.
> 
> ...


Really depends on what style of beer you're after but the Coopers Pale is a really good base in my opinion. Also on the Active US-05 bit, you might want to look up yeast washing as it is quite easy to do and will probably reduce to potential for off flavours, the hops that are in that yeast slurry do break down and will not contribute anything all that nice to the beer considering the risk of adding off flavours. It's pretty much as simple as adding a litre of sterile water to the fermenter giving it a swirl, tipping the mix into jars or something big enough and sanitised to hold it, chuck it in the fridge and then only decant off the healthy yeast middle layer leaving behind the other hop bits and trub then pitching that washed yeast into the next batch. It might seem a little complicated and it might be a consideration for in a few batches time but it should improve the quality of the final product 



NikZak said:


> Actually one other important thing is do you think 2.5 months would be enough time for the brew to mature in bottles for Christmas dinner or not?


yes


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## Rocker1986 (30/9/15)

Why are you racking it to a secondary anyway>?


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

Rocker1986 said:


> Why are you racking it to a secondary anyway>?


The main reason I've been doing that is my primary fermenter doesn't have a tap on it for bottling whereas my other fermenter does. I guess I should just buy a bottling bucket and rack the day before bottling


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

Nizmoose said:


> Really depends on what style of beer you're after but the Coopers Pale is a really good base in my opinion. Also on the Active US-05 bit, you might want to look up yeast washing as it is quite easy to do and will probably reduce to potential for off flavours, the hops that are in that yeast slurry do break down and will not contribute anything all that nice to the beer considering the risk of adding off flavours. It's pretty much as simple as adding a litre of sterile water to the fermenter giving it a swirl, tipping the mix into jars or something big enough and sanitised to hold it, chuck it in the fridge and then only decant off the healthy yeast middle layer leaving behind the other hop bits and trub then pitching that washed yeast into the next batch. It might seem a little complicated and it might be a consideration for in a few batches time but it should improve the quality of the final product
> 
> yes


I hadn't thought about the hops potentially imparting off flavors. Not a bad idea. I can always practice my washing (which is something I've been meaning to try)

How long could washed yeast live in a bottle in the fridge


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## Rocker1986 (30/9/15)

NikZak said:


> The main reason I've been doing that is my primary fermenter doesn't have a tap on it for bottling whereas my other fermenter does. I guess I should just buy a bottling bucket and rack the day before bottling


Ah yeah fair point. Another option could be to bulk prime and use the tap fermenter as the bottling bucket - then you can just rack it when you bottle it.

I harvest my yeast as well, although I do it at the opposite end of the brew cycle - I steal it from my yeast starters so I don't have to faff around rinsing it. I build them a bit bigger than needed and tip some into a mason jar when it's done its thing. I tried to rouse one recently that was about 6 months old and it didn't really seem to do anything, I was gonna try adding more fresh wort to see if it kicked off but I figured stuff it, for the price of a new pack I might as well just start again fresh. Normally I try to use them within about 2 months of harvesting.

In saying that, I've heard of people managing to get yeast that is 12-18 months old going again, which was only stored in the fridge.


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

Rocker1986 said:


> Ah yeah fair point. Another option could be to bulk prime and use the tap fermenter as the bottling bucket - then you can just rack it when you bottle it.
> 
> I harvest my yeast as well, although I do it at the opposite end of the brew cycle - I steal it from my yeast starters so I don't have to faff around rinsing it. I build them a bit bigger than needed and tip some into a mason jar when it's done its thing. I tried to rouse one recently that was about 6 months old and it didn't really seem to do anything, I was gonna try adding more fresh wort to see if it kicked off but I figured stuff it, for the price of a new pack I might as well just start again fresh. Normally I try to use them within about 2 months of harvesting.
> 
> In saying that, I've heard of people managing to get yeast that is 12-18 months old going again, which was only stored in the fridge.


Yeah but who doesn't want another fermenter?

So if I'm understanding correctly, you get a new pack of yeast, pitch it into a starter, let it grow for what an hour? Then steal a bit of the mixture into another starter that goes into the fridge and pitch the original yeast? 

How much would you steal out of the starter?


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## Nizmoose (30/9/15)

The method rocker mentioned is one step better than the way I mentioned and I also do the same as him but wasn't sure if you were making starters yet. Basically use a yeast pitching calculator online (there are many, I like brewer's friend personally) and work out how much yeast your beer will need then what I do is add 100 billion cells to that number to take away before pitching. I'll try and find a link to a detailed method and throw it here for you when I can


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## NikZak (30/9/15)

That would be awesome Nizmoose. I've got beer smith 2 on my phone and tablet would that have one?


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## Nizmoose (1/10/15)

Here's a good article on some of the yeast options https://www.homebrewhedonist.com/best-ways-to-reuse-yeast/

And the method in question 
http://brulosophy.com/methods/yeast-harvesting/


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## NikZak (1/10/15)

Well, I did end up buying another fermenter last night on the way home from work  but I didn't rack the American pale ale to it, I thought I'd leave it there for a few more days at the very least as there was still a bit of activity in the airlock, don't want to stop those little yeasties doing their thing.

On the other hand, with three 30L fermenters at my disposal, I decided to get my Toucan Julebryg or Christmas Beer down and fermenting. Here's what I went with:

1x 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1x 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale
100g Maple syrup
60g Brown sugar (it's all I had left)
1.5 Star anise
1 Tbsp Cloves
1 Large vanilla pod
2 cinnamon sticks
10g Cascade hop pellets
Both kit yeasts pitched into 28 degree water for 30mins prior to pitching

Method

Put the spices, maple syrup, brown sugar and hops into a saucepan with about 2.5L of water and bring it to the boil
While this was coming to the boil, clean and sanitise fermenter and all other tools (spoon, seive, airlock, can opener) and put both cans of Coopers goo into sink of hot water
Simmer spice mixture for 20 mins then let cool for 30 mins with the lid on the saucepan
Open cans of goo, pour into fermenter and rinse cans with boiled water into fermenter
Strain spice mixture into fermenter
Stir well to dissolve the extract
Pour one saucepan full of water through strainer into the fermenter to extract as much tasty goodness into the mixture then continue to top up to about the 20L mark
Check temperature (mine was at 24 degrees at this point, just perfect) and OG (mine was 1.053)
Pitch yeast, put on lid and airlock, fill airlock with water/fluid of your choice and leave to do its thing in a dark cool spot

By this morning, I had a 5" krausen on it and the airlock was going totally nuts with a huge bubble every second


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## Rocker1986 (1/10/15)

NikZak said:


> So if I'm understanding correctly, you get a new pack of yeast, pitch it into a starter, let it grow for what an hour? Then steal a bit of the mixture into another starter that goes into the fridge and pitch the original yeast?
> 
> How much would you steal out of the starter?


I run it the same length as I would if I wasn't harvesting. So, for the current one, it was on the stir plate for 24 hours, then sat for another day and a half until I turned the stirrer back on earlier to mix it all up again for harvesting. I usually take 800mL of mixed up starter into a jar that size. I work out how many cells I've got by dividing the 800mL by the size of the starter and multiplying that percentage by the predicted total count in the calculator I use (YeastCalc).


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## NikZak (1/10/15)

That sounds like too much math for me... lol

I might just stick to the usual little packages of yeast started in water for now and whenever I feel like reusing old yeast, I'll just pour wort onto a cake in the fermenter. It seems a lot of people have no major problems doing that and if I can get two brews out of one yeast package, I reckon I'm winning

Might practice washing yeast though out of my current batches and see how that goes


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## Diesel80 (1/10/15)

NikZak said:


> That sounds like too much math for me... lol
> 
> I might just stick to the usual little packages of yeast started in water for now and whenever I feel like reusing old yeast, I'll just pour wort onto a cake in the fermenter. It seems a lot of people have no major problems doing that and if I can get two brews out of one yeast package, I reckon I'm winning
> 
> Might practice washing yeast though out of my current batches and see how that goes


Nik, easy way to start is to bottle the cake. you can get a series of small water bottles, and mix the trub up in the fermenter with the yeast to create a slurry and fill the sanitized bottles straight from the tap. Not awesome practice as the cell counts will vary between bottles but will work fine if no infection is harvested / created.

Just put them in the fridge and when needed lump them into the next batch.

Pitching onto a cake is a massive overpitch, whilst it will work, this process is basically the same but will be less of a massive overpitch.

I will dig up a thread on here by another Nick about bottling and reusing the trub. It is quite a rustic process but very simple. I do it on occasion to reuse expensive yeast.
Edit: here http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/45716-bottling-fermenter-trub/

Cheers,
D80


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## NikZak (1/10/15)

Diesel80 said:


> Nik, easy way to start is to bottle the cake. you can get a series of small water bottles, and mix the trub up in the fermenter with the yeast to create a slurry and fill the sanitized bottles straight from the tap. Not awesome practice as the cell counts will vary between bottles but will work fine if no infection is harvested / created.
> 
> Just put them in the fridge and when needed lump them into the next batch.
> 
> ...


Cheers thanks for that Diesel, that's more my speed at this point.


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## Bridgey23 (1/10/15)

Hey NikZak. 
I'm no expert just starting myself but I use Homebrew dad's yeast starter calculator. 

http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

It works out your overbuild and tells you what to pitch and what to harvest. Very easy for harvesting starters. It does the math for you. [emoji4]


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## Barge (1/10/15)

Ive been brewing for 15 years and I'm still a liquid yeast virgin. I just haven't had the confidence to invest the money into liquid until i know i can resue them consistently. 

Recently I've started collecting about a cup of slurry in bottles to reuse. So far so good. Now I've got my eye on the wyeast 3068.


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## NikZak (5/10/15)

Hey there folks, just a quick update.

Should be bottling the American Pale Ale tonight, providing I can get bottles, my biggest problem at the moment is finding enough bottles to put my brews into... Perhaps I should slow down a little and stop perpetually having two going at a time 

Will probably be bottling the Christmas beer too by the end of the week. Will be putting it into Grolsch style bottles until I run out of those (the glass bottles will be kept probably longer than the PET ones that'll be taken to Christmas Lunch and Dinner this year. But the American Pale Ale will be definitely put into PET bottles as I don't want the expense reight now of getting a bottle capper and crown tops as well as glass bottles. I'm having a bit of trouble tracking down anyone who has glass bottles for free or cheap. Any hints?


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## ajg (5/10/15)

have a look on your local facebook buy swap sell pages. I put a post on my local one and ended up with 210 longnecks in crates for $30.


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## NikZak (5/10/15)

Honestly, that hadn't crossed my mind, I've posted to the FaceSpace, we'll see what happens


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## NikZak (7/10/15)

Found a guy nearby to me, got 65 longnecks for $30 which is ok in my book... only problem is they've been sitting outside a couple of years and are full of rainwater and some grime... He suggested river sand, about an inch in the bottom of each with some water, a good shake and rinse then sanitize to get them clean.

Does this sound reasonable to clean them? anything else you could suggest?


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## Rocker1986 (7/10/15)

Well it might help remove some of it, but after trying that approach I'd be getting some sodium percarbonate, the pure stuff not the nappy soakers, putting a teaspoon or so in each bottle then filling them up with hot tap water and letting them soak. Repeat if necessary. That stuff is bloody good at removing shit and all you have to do is let it sit there.


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## Diesel80 (7/10/15)

Get bigger bottles mate, 18L stainless ones.
:super:
Cheers,
D80


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## Barge (7/10/15)

NikZak said:


> I don't want the expense reight now of getting a bottle capper and crown tops as well as glass bottles.


Kegs are definitely the way to go. Even though they are more expense you can do it in stages. I would put that $30 into a regulator (picked one up 2nd hand for $40?, I think), a sodastream adapter ($20-30) and a sodastream gas bottle (managed to buy 2 for $20 each because the chick at coles charged me the refill price instead of $50 each for buying new) and a reconditioned keg ($80ish). The other obvious expense is a 2nd fridge but you can get away with this relatively cheaply, or maybe upgrade the kitchen fridge and use the old one.

If you need more bottles in the short term you may as well go with PET bottles. You don't need to buy a capper as well and they are already clean.

To clarify, I would buy minimum number of PET bottles needed to get by for now. Then when you get a handy $40 go to coles/woolies and see if you can buy a couple of sodastreams cheap. If not, try another store. It's a bit of running around but when money's tight and time's on your side it's worth it. Further clarification, Sodastream cylinders are expensive long-term if you are going to force carbonate your beer. They are a cheap way to begin kegging if you keg condition your beer (i.e. prime the keg with dex or malt and leave it for a week or 2 to carb up as you usually do now. The first couple of pints that get drawn up are essentially sediment but after that you get pretty clear beer). 

With the gas sorted I would then buy the adapter when you have a spare $20. Same with the reg and keg, buy one when you can.

If you wait to have a few hundred to get into kegging then you probably never will. When you have one you can keg and bottle, eventually upgrading to a 2nd, 3rd keg. After a while you will then want to move onto a bigger CO2 setup using mykegonlegs or similar. Then you can sell the bottles, sodastream adapter, etc and you won't look back.


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## Diesel80 (7/10/15)

Barge said:


> Then you can sell the bottles, sodastream adapter, etc and you won't look back.


Or keep them for a party keg setup!

Cheers,
D80


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## NikZak (8/10/15)

I don't know about kegging quite yet. I have no problem with bottling and I feel like the beer tastes better especially after letting it condition for longer than kegs would ordinarily allow

Got me a good bunch of bottles now, including a NT/Darwin stubby which is cool, as well as a capper and some crown tops to get me going, will post some photos of the new loot tonight when I get home


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## Diesel80 (8/10/15)

FYI, Beer in a keg conditions much faster than in a bottle. If you can keep you hands off the tap that is.

7 days in keg, cold @ serving pressure will carbonate the beer as well as perform a cold crash to settle out floaties etc. It will therefore clear your beer and carbonate it. That is a win / win no?
Leave it another week on top of that and it is very good. Another two weeks and it is absolutely magnificent. You will pat yourself on the back, hi five imaginary people and proclaim that this keg thing is absolutely f*cking amazing. Then you will go to pour a celebratory beer from the keg to toast your awesomeness, but all you will get will be foam. Happens every, single time. It will leave you hollow, crushed and at a low point. Until that is, you swap the disconnects over to the pre-carbonated spare keg and the journey starts over.

At kegging time in a 23l batch you will need 6 stubbies for the last 2L so you will be able to keep them stored an conditioning as per current process.
Either way, glad to see you are enjoying the hobby mate. There is no right way, or wrong way to enjoy it.

Cheers,
D80


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## Rocker1986 (8/10/15)

What Diesel said ^^ :lol: Just learning this now but I am very new to kegging. My first two kegs have lasted about 2.5 weeks on average, and I can honestly say that both of them tasted shitloads better after about a week, than a bottled version of the same recipe does now after nearly 10 weeks in the bottle. It's quite amazing how quickly it takes them to be really good compared to bottles. Of course, by the time they got to be excellent, they blew dry.  I am getting a stockpile happening now though through constant brewing, so at least they'll get more time in the keg now, and probably last less time on the taps.... :lol: 

But yes, above all enjoyment of the hobby obsession is the main thing, whichever way you package the beer and also good to see another keen brewer doing just that!


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## NikZak (8/10/15)

Definitely more of an obsession than a hobby as I've already discovered...

This weekend I'm planning to move operations from the Linen press as SWMBO has expressed her feelings regarding beer-smelling linen quite strongly.

Luckily I have a basement which will make for a very nice temperature over the coming warm months for brewing and conditioning bottles... Just need to build some shelving down there this weekend and get the fermenters, conditioning bottles and empties down there


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## Alex.Tas (9/10/15)

Barge said:


> Now I've got my eye on the wyeast 3068.


Love that yeast. I learnt the hard way that pitching rates matter, especially with wheat beers where much of the flavour is derived from the yeast. use a good calculator to work out your witching rates, and my advice (not that you asked for it) would be for a full flavoured wheat, is to aim for 70% of the recommended ale pitching rate.



NikZak said:


> I'm having a bit of trouble tracking down anyone who has glass bottles for free or cheap. Any hints?


Bit late, but you will run out of bottles soon enough... Recycling centre is the easiest option. Just make sure you give them a good nuking to kill any baddies lurking. Inspect for chips too. I found it is easier to source champagne style bottles if you want 750ml. The labels are harder to remove though. Turps does wonders on removing the glue. You will need a 29mm bell for the capper and 29mm crown seals too. most LHBS stock these in my experience.


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## NikZak (9/10/15)

I've been thinking of starting to collect champagne bottles because SWMBO likes a bit of bubbly every now and then but wasn't sure if I could get a bell or caps. Now that I know I'll start collecting


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## eMPTy (9/10/15)

NikZak said:


> I've been thinking of starting to collect champagne bottles because SWMBO likes a bit of bubbly every now and then but wasn't sure if I could get a bell or caps. Now that I know I'll start collecting


I've recently started using champagne bottles, and I am loving them. Great for putting down beers to age for a significant period too.

Tirage bell and caps aren't all that pricey.


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## NikZak (9/10/15)

eMPTy said:


> I've recently started using champagne bottles, and I am loving them. Great for putting down beers to age for a significant period too.
> 
> Tirage bell and caps aren't all that pricey.


Ah of course, that's what those buggers are called! Have been searching for 29mm bell cap and finding very little locally, a quick search for tirage and bang, found them. That's all I really needed for my capper (which I recently purchased)

Will be using it for the first time this weekend hopefully to bottle the Julebryg up and get it down in the almost built BrewCave (building it this weekend)

I have a basement in my house that keeps a constant 17 degrees where I'll be moving my brewhouse to as soon as I get some shelving built in there. Will be starting tonight when I get home from work as long as the minister of activities doesn't have anything planned


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## NikZak (9/10/15)

That's right I forgot to post pictures of my loot...

One Darwin stubby which will get a dose of Julebryg this weekend for Christmas dinner and a case of longnecks, all free from an ex homebrewer for which I am very grateful


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## NikZak (11/10/15)

I know it's not amazing but here's the first part of my new brew cave. Might need to use heat belts for Ale brews but the first brew going down here in the basement is using lager yeast so the constant underground temperature of 13-15 degrees (still haven't got a thermometer down there just guessing, either way it's certainly colder than 16 degrees) is perfect for this yeast

Built the bench from old pallets and an offcut from a kitchen bench from the cabinet makers next door to work and it's strong and sturdy which will be perfect to have 3, maybe even 4, fermenters sitting on it at once. It's high enough to store cases of longnecks beneath it easily but be low enough to work on the fermenters above. Now I need to build some shelving although I might just adapt the TV unit in the basement to hold all my gear


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## Nizmoose (13/10/15)

Humble beginnings! It will be funny for you to look back on that photo in two years time when you see the slippery slope you've come down


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## NikZak (13/10/15)

I completely expect that with the strength and sturdidity (sturdiness perhaps, but I like making up words) of that bench that it will still exist in many more than 2 years from now 

These are humble beginnings, but yes this is already a slippery slope, I'm finding myself on my ass a number of times after having had a couple of my brews


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## NikZak (23/10/15)

Well folks, been a while since an update but here goes

The beer in the picture further up which is my first brew in the BrewCave is still fermenting away nicely after more than 2 weeks. Being a lager and being kept at 15 degrees I was expecting it to go a while but wasn't expecting it to go this long, but that's ok as it's a big beer and the more time it takes, the better as far as I'm concerned

Speaking of leaving beers a long time, a week ago I taste and SG tested the toucan of Draught I put down and it was still sweet so I've left it longer and will be testing it again tonight after work with the view of bottling it. All krausen has dropped away with just a couple of bubbles on the surface and it's looking very clear through the lid of the FV so I'm sure it's ready

Other than that, will probably get another brew down this weekend in the soon to be empty FV, not sure yet what to go with but thinking to keep it simple with a can of Thomas Coopers Pilsener and a kilo of BE2 because I've realised that to this day I've yet to make a single batch of beer the way the manufacturer recommends


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## Nizmoose (23/10/15)

NikZak said:


> All krausen has dropped away with just a couple of bubbles on the surface and it's looking very clear through the lid of the FV so I'm sure it's ready


Without being too critical this set off alarm bells as I know when starting out its very tempting to look at many different signs to determine how fermentation is going but the truth is you only need one: Specific Gravity. Clarity, bubbles, airlocks should all be ignored when deciding if a beer is ready. Take an SG reading three days in a row and if it is stable your beer is finished. don't play the guessing game if bottling


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## NikZak (23/10/15)

Oh, this is as finished as it'll ever be.

It was pitched onto a yeast cake and has been sitting for 3 weeks at 18-20 degrees... if it's not finished, it's going down the drain.

I expect the FG will be below 1.010 to be honest, it was at 1.012 a week ago


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## NikZak (24/10/15)

Well the toucan finished at 1.009 which is as finished as it's ever going to get being in primary for 3 weeks at 22 degrees so it's now bottled. Mostly into pet bottles but I put two longnecks away for a good 6 month condition. Tastes like Carlton Draught out of the fermenter so I'm hoping it won't end up too bad. A bit of Cascade hop residue in the trub probably contributed to that as it was pitched onto a previous cake. 

Now have the Tsar's Tar hopefully getting close to finished. It's currently at 1.013 but still bubbling away about once every 6 seconds so it's going to be allowed to keep going. Considering it started at an OG of 1.077 it was always going to be a big beer but it's been in primary for about 2 weeks now. I'll let it go as long as it needs

Just got another brew into one of the spare FV's but nothing special this time. Thomas Cooper's Pilsener using the kit yeast (which is a Pilsener yeast) and have it down in the BrewCave which sits at a permanent 15 degrees so it'll ferment really cleanly down there. Pitched the rehydrated yeast at 22 degrees and I'll let it come down on its own to brew temperature of 15-16 degrees like the Tsar's Tar next to it. 

We have in the photo below the Pilsener on the left which hasn't started fermenting yet (pitched 20 min ago) and the Tsar's Tar on the right


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## NikZak (26/10/15)

Well, checked the Tsar's Tar yesterday and it had gone down to 1.010 so it'll be getting close, I'm expecting it'll probably finish around the 1.006-1.008 mark or so which should give a pre-bottling ABV of around 9.4-9.0%. I'm hoping it gets to about the 1.006 at least which would put it exactly in line with what Cooper's suggest this beer should finish at

Initial taste tests from gravity readings are showing this to be a very tasty beer which I'll be looking forward to giving a good number of weeks to condition and develop. Definitely looking forward to this one.

Also put down a small but big Imperial Amber Ale as well yesterday in a moment of boredom. I had the Cooper's Craft Beer FV sitting around idle as I forgot to get some more apple juice to put cider in it (Also I now have a large amount of cider waiting to be drunk anyway) made from the Bewitched Amber Ale, a pouch of Smooth unhopped liquid malt extract and a pouch of Golden unhopped liquid malt extract. Should give me an amber ale with an ABV of about 8.5% ABV according to initial calculations but we'll see what it finishes

Stay tuned folks, more to come soon


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## ajg (26/10/15)

how are you making you ciders?


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## NikZak (26/10/15)

Apple juice and yeast in a fermenter, it's as easy as that. I'm using EC-1118 for yeast and Aldi apple juice


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## Rocker1986 (26/10/15)

15 is a little on the high side for a Pilsner fermentation, which will probably be more like 17 by the time the yeast get going and start producing their own heat. Only time will tell how clean it ends up being, obviously how you perceive it is the only thing that really matters. B)

FWIW all my pilsners are fermented at 10oC for the first week then allowed to rise to 18ish for another week before being crashed to 0 for two weeks, then packaged.


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## NikZak (26/10/15)

Rocker1986 said:


> 15 is a little on the high side for a Pilsner fermentation, which will probably be more like 17 by the time the yeast get going and start producing their own heat. Only time will tell how clean it ends up being, obviously how you perceive it is the only thing that really matters. B)
> 
> FWIW all my pilsners are fermented at 10oC for the first week then allowed to rise to 18ish for another week before being crashed to 0 for two weeks, then packaged.


What yeast are you using to ferment so low?

Also, my house (and current budget) limits me to using the coldest area I can to brew which happens to be the basement which also has the added benefit of having the more constant temperature, not deviating more than a degree from day to day


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## ajg (26/10/15)

NikZak said:


> Apple juice and yeast in a fermenter, it's as easy as that. I'm using EC-1118 for yeast and Aldi apple juice


then bottling and carbing them up? drinking them as a hard cider? or sweetening them up?


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## Mr B (26/10/15)

Heh I cant believe you started in the linen cupboard when you had a basement :lol:

Looking good so far, sounds like its going well


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## NikZak (26/10/15)

ajg said:


> then bottling and carbing them up? drinking them as a hard cider? or sweetening them up?


So far I've been leaving most of it still and bottle into wine bottles to let them settle as I personally prefer my cider that way but the most recent batch I carbed half of it and bottled the rest in wine bottles

I drink it straight but the missus back sweetens with apple juice


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## NikZak (26/10/15)

Mr B said:


> Heh I cant believe you started in the linen cupboard when you had a basement :lol:
> 
> Looking good so far, sounds like its going well


Initially when I started brewing the basement was full of crap and spiders and we never really went down there except to throw more crap and squash some spiders. Since I started brewing a few months ago I always had the intention of moving down there and have been clearing the crap and bombing the bugs. Temperature down there is perfect all year round as it's actually underground not just a house on stilts or on the side of a hill


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## Rocker1986 (26/10/15)

NikZak said:


> What yeast are you using to ferment so low?
> 
> Also, my house (and current budget) limits me to using the coldest area I can to brew which happens to be the basement which also has the added benefit of having the more constant temperature, not deviating more than a degree from day to day


Any lager yeast (such as the yeast in the Coopers pilsner kit) will be able to ferment that low and generally produce better results by doing so. I'm using Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager yeast at the moment for my pils batches, they're coming out brilliant.

It's good that the basement has a constant temperature like that though and it is pretty decent for ales. Lagers are best done with a brewing fridge (luckily got mine for free because it was already here not being used) however there are strains that reportedly produce good results at the temps you have there so that is an option too. Fermentis S-189 I think is one.


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## Barge (26/10/15)

+1 for S-189. I've been doing a czech pils for years with this yeast and no temp control. Just brew it at winter/early spring and lager until late spring/early summer. It turns out great.


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## NikZak (27/10/15)

Rocker1986 said:


> Any lager yeast (such as the yeast in the Coopers pilsner kit) will be able to ferment that low and generally produce better results by doing so. I'm using Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager yeast at the moment for my pils batches, they're coming out brilliant.
> 
> It's good that the basement has a constant temperature like that though and it is pretty decent for ales. Lagers are best done with a brewing fridge (luckily got mine for free because it was already here not being used) however there are strains that reportedly produce good results at the temps you have there so that is an option too. Fermentis S-189 I think is one.


Hmm might have to give that a go then as at this point I don't have an option to go with a brew fridge (but have mentioned to the minister of finance that a fridge might be on my Xmas list)

Once these brews are finished I'll be starting some nice Ale yeast beers down here but not sure what to go with yet. The American Pale Ale I did tastes great but is a little malty and not bitter enough for my tastes. Might have to give an IPA a go but my experience with commercial IPAs has been that I'm not a huge fan. That being said I never liked Pale ales much until I made a couple so who knows. Tastes change and worst case scenario I make a beer I drink slowly God forbid...


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## Rocker1986 (27/10/15)

You could always hop it up a little more next time. That's the beauty of home brewing - you can tailor it to your own tastes even if it isn't strictly to style guidelines. My APAs fall within the guidelines but I do bitter them towards the top end of the scale. They always come out nicely balanced to my palate. Not too malty, not too bitter. Just right.


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## NikZak (27/10/15)

Rocker1986 said:


> You could always hop it up a little more next time. That's the beauty of home brewing - you can tailor it to your own tastes even if it isn't strictly to style guidelines. My APAs fall within the guidelines but I do bitter them towards the top end of the scale. They always come out nicely balanced to my palate. Not too malty, not too bitter. Just right.


We'll being that it was my first all extract brew with a boil I just stuck to the recipe which had from memory a total of about 80g of Cascade in it. Might double it my next time around after checking beersmith and see what happens. The beer itself is good just not bitter enough for me


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## Rocker1986 (27/10/15)

Well that's fair enough on your first go of course. The good thing is though that you know what you're aiming for next time now so that should make it a bit easier to get closer to what you want. It took me a couple of batches to work out what I wanted my pale ales to turn out like. B)


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## NikZak (27/10/15)

Yeah, it's all trial and error for me at this point still, and I guess no matter what, I'll have something to get so blotto on at the end of it that the error is long forgotten


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## hobospy (30/10/15)

NikZak said:


> Hmm might have to give that a go then as at this point I don't have an option to go with a brew fridge (but have mentioned to the minister of finance that a fridge might be on my Xmas list)
> 
> Once these brews are finished I'll be starting some nice Ale yeast beers down here but not sure what to go with yet. The American Pale Ale I did tastes great but is a little malty and not bitter enough for my tastes. Might have to give an IPA a go but my experience with commercial IPAs has been that I'm not a huge fan. That being said I never liked Pale ales much until I made a couple so who knows. Tastes change and worst case scenario I make a beer I drink slowly God forbid...


Doesn't cost too much to get yourself setup with a fermentation fridge, got my setup for about a $120. $50 for a second hand fridge off of fleabay, $27 for an STC-1000 (temp control) and then the rest on wiring it up and housing the STC correctly. I'm pretty confident with working on the electrical side (used to be an apprentice sparky) so obviously it might cost a little more if you want a wired up STC. Basically what I am trying to say is don't think you have to go out and get an all singing all dancing fridge, just know the measurements of your fermenter and then start scouring the local adverts for a second hand one. Having said all that, the constant temperature in your basement is pretty good for brewing but probably more aimed at ales than lagers.


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## NikZak (11/11/15)

Hey folks, 

Well it's been some time since I posted an update, this weekend got my basic K&K Thomas Cooper's Pilsener bottled at 4.5% and my Galaxy Craft Amber Ale bottled at 7.5% and started planning my next brews

Last night I got the Cooper's ROTM Helga's Kolsch into the fermenter in between cooking dinner for the family which went a treat on the beer front and a disaster on the dinner front (forgot to add salt to the pasta and pepper to the sauce!) Made some slight changes to the Helga's Kolsch over the recipe because I couldn't be bother separating half the BE2 to only add 500g. I did a 5L boil of the initial malt and hops with a slightly longer initial hop addition from 20 mins to 30 mins to account for the extra BE2 and made the volume in the FV up to 24L to bring the OG back down to where it needed to be at around 1.045 which should bring me a 5.0% ABV after bottling

I'll post some photos in a bit from the brew evening last night shortly but planning my next easy brew which will be the other Cooper's ROTM for the Craft kit which this month is an American Pale Ale I believe as well as my next full size brew which will likely be a full extract brew, probably in an American Pale Ale style as I really liked my last one but would like to try some different hop additions

My problem so far as a brewer has been that I've been doing lots of different types of beers without getting familiar with any one particular style so I figure I should try and get good or at least proficient at one style before moving onto another style. Then again, I have about 12 cans of goop that should probably get used up rather than just sitting in my basement/brewcave so maybe a couple of toucan brews will be coming up soon to get rid of a couple of those

stay tuned


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## Mattrox (12/11/15)

I have been doing lots of Aussie pale ales with 1kg malt 200g crystal and various hops to dial in technique. 

I started doing lots of different styles too. Doing that exposes you to lots of techniques quickly.

Doing similar things over and over helps you with consistency.

I'm hoping this translates into good beers when I lash out into my European lager tonight.


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## NikZak (13/11/15)

For the time being I'm going to stick to trying to whittle down my stocks of kits but as you said, with a couple of additions as I've yet to do that. Went to the LHBS last night and picked up a couple of different 25g packs of hops to add to a kit & kilo this weekend as two of my four fermenters are in action already and I'll need to keep one free for bottling until I can get my hands on a proper bottling bucket


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## NikZak (13/11/15)

Well, I won't be buying any Cooper's ROTM this month as one of them uses Falconer's Flight and I just don't trust it any more and the other just isn't really worth it for me... On the plus side, that leaves the fermenters free for experimentation so stay tuned folks and we'll have some interesting things coming up soon


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## NikZak (16/11/15)

OK, well I caved and bought the craft ROTM because I've been wanting to try a Saison for a while but I'm going to add some extra hops to the recipe, stay tuned, will be brewing it live here when it arrives


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## TheBlackAdder (16/11/15)

You've either got a lot of friends or a lot of storage space....my brewhouse topic would still be on page 1 :S

Good to see the enthusiasm. Keep pumping out the brews!


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## NikZak (16/11/15)

A little from column A. and a little from column B. Mostly lots of storage space with a 30m2 basement to be honest. But enthusiasm is something I am certainly not lacking because, let's face it... BEER


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## NikZak (20/11/15)

Hey folks, a quick update on what's brewing at the moment:

In my Blue 'Big Green Shed' 30L Fermenter I have a Ginger beer going made from the can of Cooper's GB with 1Kg of Dark Muscovado Sugar and 500g of Light Muscovado sugar which started out at 1.036 OG which is going to probably be due to be bottled soon (haven't checked SG for a week, but it's been fermenting at 22-24 degrees

In my Cooper's Craft fermenter I've had the parmesan cheese smelling Falconer's Flight Cooper's ROTM Westside Pale Ale which from my taste and hydrometer test the other day is tasting good (surprising given the off smelling hops) and down to 1.016-1.018 so should be getting close to bottling this weekend or early next week

In one of my 30L regular LHBS fermenters I have the Helga's Cool Kolsch finishing up with a OG of 1.046 and currently sitting at 1.012 it should certainly be done this weekend and is tasting great also

As soon as those are done I'm putting down a three-can brew at 22L using a can of Cooper's APA, Coopers Dark Ale and Cooper's Real Ale which according to Beersmith will produce a 1.069 OG with an FG of 1.017, 6.86% ABV with 106 IBU and 31.2EBC... Now I don't know about you guys but should I be perhaps adding some Lactose to this to sweeten it up or should an FG of around 1.017 be enough sweetness to offset the bitterness?

Also Will be putting down in the Blue fermenter another APA can but this time with 1Kg of DME which will get a 25g addition of Chinook at 20mins to add a bit more bitterness and flavour to the brew, but will get back to you all with a schedule for this one as I haven't got it where I want it yet

Have a good one folks


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## NikZak (20/11/15)

Just a question Re: Bulk Priming, I want to give it my first go when I bottle the Helga's hopefully this weekend or early next week but want to know how much sugar (I'll be using white table sugar) I should put in to the solution I'll be adding to my second fermenter which I'll be using as a bottling bucket. I'm guessing 2.5 vols of CO2 is where it needs to be (or whatever the equivalent of 2 carb drops per 750mL bottle works out to I guess)

For reference, the brew has been going at 16 degrees and my calculator (Brewzor) comes up with 128.1g of Table Sugar for 22L of beer, does that sound about right?

I'll be dissolving it in about 200mL of water and racking onto it

Cheers


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## NikZak (30/11/15)

Well folks. It's brew night tonight. Getting what I'm calling "Real IPA" on. Using a can of Cooper's Real Ale as the base but doing a boil containing 1kg of brigalow extra malt brewing sugar and be1 (it's all the fermenter fermentable things I have) with a 20 min 10g Galaxy and 15 min 25g Chinook before cooling and adding the can to the mix 

I'll be pitching this onto a us-05 yeast cake from the batch of Helgas Cool Kolsch that I'll be bottling while this is cooling


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## NikZak (30/11/15)

Forgot to attach the picture

Stay tuned for some sort of update as the night goes on


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## Digga (30/11/15)

I really like the real ale can been doing and RA (Red ale or Real Ale) with 1 kg dex and 1 kg DME with 30g of a different variety of hop each time. When mixed to 23 to 25L yields around 6% and is a fucken nice beer. Been dry hopping with an additional 30g and loving the outcome..
As said before love the idea of the thread mate and the dedication to the cause!


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## NikZak (13/1/16)

Hey folks

Been away for the last couple of weeks and a bit out of action on the brewing front.

have accidentally left the Real IPA on the yeast for that long, wondering whether it's all lost or should it be fine? it's been sitting for a bit over a month and I'm not sure whether to tip it or bottle it tonight


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## Yob (13/1/16)

you would consider tipping it before tasting it?


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## NikZak (13/1/16)

Absolutely not but was wondering mostly what harm may have come by it sitting on the yeast for over a month


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## Coodgee (13/1/16)

you'll just have to taste it and see. You could get something called autolysis, where the yeast starts to break down, I'm not going to bias your thoughts by telling you what it tastes like though. Just taste the beer, if it tastes good to you then bottle it. It won't develop any deadly poisons or anything. might be the best beer you've ever made!


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## NikZak (17/3/16)

hey folks

sorry its been a while, I've been out of action planning and coordinating a 650km move

Moving from south Gippsland to Mildura over the next month or so but I'll be back up and brewing in no time


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## Fendercaster (17/3/16)

NikZak said:


> Moving from south Gippsland to Mildura


Nice, grew up there. Still has a special place in my heart. All the best for the move


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## NikZak (17/3/16)

Fendercaster said:


> Nice, grew up there. Still has a special place in my heart. All the best for the move


Cheers mate looking forward to it myself


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## NikZak (4/4/17)

Hey there folks

I'm back, moved house a couple of times and it wasn't appropriate to brew in any of the previous ones I moved to due to rental agreements, etc and constant hassles by landlords. Have a new landlord now who's chill as and I now also have a fridge (have moved to Mildura which is impossible to brew in unless you have a brew fridge)

About to purchase a temp controller to keep it at a nice 15-18 degrees and looking forward to putting my first brew in a while down so jumped on here for some advice and to read about what to look for

Still have a little home brew left from my last adventures which got a bit out of hand towards the end due to packing them up and forgetting about them but they're still great and taste amazing after a year in the bottles


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## NikZak (5/4/17)

Ended up purchasing the Inkbird Plug and Play ITC-308S for $50 delivered, should be here by the weekend or Monday more likely (knowing AusPost and their prompt service) so all going well I'll be putting a brew down this weekend or next. Already have all the goods to put together a nice extract American Pale Ale

I'll put up a bit of a review on the Inkbird once it arrives


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## Coodgee (5/4/17)

Good stuff mate keep us posted on your adventures!


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## NikZak (15/5/17)

Well, the InkBird came in and aside from the fact I haven't had time to do a brew yet (damn schedule with soccer, work and such) but have had the controller plugged into the fridge for the last month, it seems to be working well.

The last couple of weeks, the weather overnight here in Mildura has been down around the 0-2* mark and the controller seems to be struggling without a heat source inside the fridge to keep the temperature up. Every morning I go outside and can hear *Beep Beep BEEEEEP* from the shed because the alarm thing is telling me the temp is too low but once the day warms up, don't hear it again until the next morning. I'm sure the beeping is driving the neighbours nuts so perhaps I'll find an hour tonight to do the brew I've had waiting for the last 4 weeks.

Do people recommend putting a heat belt in the bottom of the fridge to keep the temps up overnight plugged into the controller as well or don't bother once I get the brew on?


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## Liam_snorkel (15/5/17)

if you use a heat belt make sure it is wrapped around the fermenter as they are designed to be. They get fkn hot and without being in contact with a heat sink (fermenter full of beer) they can actually melt.


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## NikZak (16/5/17)

Ah, damn I have left it on the base of the fridge, hopefully it's ok until I get home. I don't envisage the temp getting down below 18 degrees today though as the first beer in the fridge is now in and overnight it never went below 18 degrees with an active ferment. I have it nicely spread out so there shouldn't be any hot spots or concentrated areas of heat

So my first Mildura brew is in the fermenter and in the fridge. It's an American IPA of my own creation with the following:
Added to the pot with 9L water:
1kg Light dry malt extract
1 x can Coopers Wheat Liquid malt extract
60 min 56g Cascade
45 min 28g Cascade
30 min 28g Cascade

1 x can Coopers Australian Pale Ale (added after the boil)

Topped up to 23L with cold water
Pitched US-05

OG 1.055 according to the Coopers Hydrometer, I should really start using my better glass one that is more accurate but I also have Alcometers so can easily test the alcohol content with that.


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## boybrewer (16/5/17)

Liam_snorkel said:


> if you use a heat belt make sure it is wrapped around the fermenter as they are designed to be. They get fkn hot and without being in contact with a heat sink (fermenter full of beer) they can actually melt.


Done that one except it was on a fermenter .


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## NikZak (17/5/17)

Well, I was at my LHBS yesterday afternoon, I know the owner very well (took her away to Queensland on a work trip with her and her husband) and we were just shooting the sh!t for a bit about future, past and present brews when I noticed on the specials rack a pouch of DIY white wine. She tells me they brought it in about 6 months ago, they hadn't sold a single unit and it was due to go 'out of date' soon and that if I wanted it to just take it.

I'm not a big wine drinker but the missus loves a bit of plonk so of course I said many thanks and salutations and promised that I'd be back in a month with a bottle or two if it turned out drinkable. She said if I liked it I could also just take the other pouch which was a rose.

So long story short, it took about 15 minutes to put together, the instructions were pretty much spot on to get the kit down to the pitch temperature of 30 degrees (according to the instructions) and to be quite honest the unfermented 'must' or pretty much juice concentrate tasted nice to me. Recipe called for 3.5kg of sugar to be added to the fermenter but I accidentally added two 4kg bags of sugar (oops). Added in the oak chips and yeast, I used both the kit yeast and a baggie of EC-1118 just in case the kit yeasties had decided that sugar was no longer in their future and went on vacation

The must was a lot darker than I expected it would be for a white wine but perhaps it will change colour as it ferments. It's also possible that as it's getting a bit old in the pouch that much like the beer cans, it would darken over time a little

OG came out to 1.092 so presuming with EC-1118 yeast it takes it all the way down close to 1.000 (which I've found it to do in the past making ciders, in fact sometimes I've had it take a cider down below 1.000, my record was 0.988!) i should end up with some 12% wine, if we get to 1.010 should sit around 11%. Either way I'm sure the missus will enjoy it. I should end up with about 23 litres of something hopefully drinkable


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## NikZak (18/5/17)

Well, in a moment of madness, (or clarity) I visited the LHBS again last night B)

Have been looking at my 20L Big W pot and thinking to myself "now that I'm getting back on the homebrewing wagon, why not throw myself right in the deep end after making up my last brew"

Long story short, once the IPA I brewed up the other day is done (should be about 10 or so more days from experience) I'm going to try my first All Grain brew

I've got the pot and a thermometer already so realistically all I need equipment-wise is a grain bag to do BIAB right? Well, $45 at the LHBS later and I now am the proud owner of a grain bag, 4Kg of Pale Ale grain, 1Kg of Wheat and another fresh pack of US-05. I've already got a good supply of hops of all shapes, smells and varieties (like seriously, I have an addiction) so the next hard choice will be what to hop with. I'll be fermenting in the Coopers Craft Brew fermenter (the little baby version that uses the Mr. Beer Craft Series cans) so will be aiming for an 11L final volume for my first and probably second AG brews

Here's what I'm thinking will be my grain bill for my first BIAB experience:
1.50Kg of the Pale Ale Grain
0.70Kg of the Wheat Grain

With the following hop schedule, I'm hoping to end up with a nice crisp Blonde that'll keep a nice head and have some great flavour

2g Galaxyat 60 min
3g Citra at 30 min
5g Northern Brewer at 20 min
5g Cascade at 10 min

Second brew is likely to be an Amarillo IPA with following grain bill and hop schedule
2.5Kg Pale Ale Grain
0.30Kg Wheat Grain

11g Amarillo at 60 min
11g Amarillo at 30 min
11g Amarillo at 20 min
9g Amarillo at 10 min

Thoughts on these two recipes?


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