Recent content by Newbee(r)

I have to say in a bottle, I was pretty underwhelmed. I don't know if I am spoilt by homebrew but it didn't blow my palette with malt or hops. It was nice, but not special.

Yep would definitely be interested in this and will watch this thread with interest. Clever, simple and effective design, I like it.

Sorry to see it didn't quite work out Tony, it will be a well travelled hop by the time it finds its permanent home!! The other one I bought at the same time as this one I gave to you has been going stupid too, far too many POR hops for me to work with that's for sure. If only it produced...

Around 50kg of apples, each one scrubbed, quartered cored and juiced. 38% pink ladies, 9% granny smith, 3% pears. cup of strong tea for tannin (4 soaked for 20 min teabags) in a large mug, a teaspoon of malic acid, yeast nutrient and 100g lactose. Went with US-05 at the end of the day. 26L...

The following link is a cracker. The brewer basically tests a wide range of yeasts and timings of additions for ciders. Really informative. http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic....f=9&t=64821

Hooking into a case of cascade first harvest 2012. Have to say, was expecting a bit more from this drop. Body is a little thin for special ale for my liking, hops are nice but very balanced with the malts so nothing is stepping up to make it sing. Maybe needs 6 months further ageing? They are...

Just finalising the cider brew for the weekend. I have the Vintner SN9 dry yeast or S-04, ringwood, scottish, irish and german ale yeast on hand. Need to get the starter going tomorrow. I bought the SN9 as a cider yeast, but after some googling it seems like SN9 is a bit of a freight train...

CPI that compounds each year. Excerpt from news.com.au today Beer drinkers won't escape the Budget pain, contributing an estimated $2.183 billion to Federal Government coffers over the next 12 months. The $75 million tax revenue rise comes despite a fall in the number of Aussies enjoying a...

Ummm in other news, the punter is going to be charged 20c a beer more from 1 July. :angry: Swannie didn't put that in lights in his budget speech did he! So the handouts to buy votes is going to be funded to the tune of over $2b in revenue from this increase over the next 12 months. It's...

Great responses thanks. The granny smiths are coming off the trees this week helpfully, so will do 20kg GS to 70kg pinks across two batches, and check ph before a small malic and tannic additions. Re sweetness, I could monitor gravity closely and crash chill the yeast hard before it hits FG...

Just scored 70kg of pink lady apples fresh off the tree (Canberra late harvest) which will go in the ferment on the weekend. Given these are table apples, do I need to do additions malic tannic etc or should it come out fine without them? Looking for a moderately sweet dry cider. Also, it...

You have his colour palette pretty much nailed

Wolfy, Yob, thanks for the advice, most appreciated. If I can get up to 6 months I'll be stoked, I brew once a fortnight on average so this means a few vials to friends and the rest will get used up rather than go to waste. Will definitely have a play with the Mr Malty calculator. Cheers J

Interested in whether people are growing starters and then harvesting and storing rather than post fermentation harvest and rinsing? I have been doing this for a while, just bottled a dozen 75 ml jars with Ringwood. Is there any issues doing it this way I need to be aware of? Also, curious...

Laser thermometers are absolutely awesome - nice price for those - I paid about $50 on ebay about 5 years ago and mine are still going strong. I use mine all the time for most of my brewing processes -starter temps, mash, chilling, etc - also handy if you are working on an engine.