Newts
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Just thought I'd post on here my brewing experiences so far. I imagine most home brewers experience what I'm experiencing now. I've been reading a lot of information on here and I'm finding the basics of brewing a standard kit beer are quite simple but the further I go into it the more confusing it gets.
I was given a keg kit for my birthday last year and thought I'd start by brewing up a batch and give it a go. I started my first 2 batches in spring and found that they were great. Far better than expected, the second one was so good that me and two friends managed to finish it within 2 days of it carbonating. It then hit summer and every brew I put together had an extremely bitter taste to it. It was horrible. I thought the beer may have been infected but it was 4 batches in a row and I've been disinfecting each time thoroughly and watching all the youtube videos to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Still not 100% this is the reason for the taste but I'm assuming it was.
After the first couple of brews I was loving the hobby so I put some coin into it. I decided to build a decent brew fridge so I invested in taps, kegs, lines etc and modded the fridge that's now in my profile pic. Sanded it all back to get the rust out and gave it a paint job. Fits 4 kegs and have done the calcs to balance the system so it's set up ready to go. I actually killed a fridge by drilling through one of the cooling pipes but luckily the fridge was free and I managed to pick up another one cheap on our local Facebook page.
Now I have a fully set up fridge and I've brought a fridge to brew in with a temperature controller. Just put my first batch of Mangrove Jack's Golden Ale in a keg and i'm waiting for carbonation. I also have a Coopers Draught in the fridge currently brewing that should be done on the weekend
I've got a few questions regarding improving my chances every time, increasing the flavour and having overall success with my new found hobby.
1. I'm currently using tap water that I think is heavy in minerals and chlorine. I'm in the desert in WA and the water is generally regarded as poor quality. Is fitting a filter to my tap the way to go or is there a better way to get quality water. I don't really want to be paying for spring water for every batch.
2. I've read that double dosing the yeast in each batch is a good option to make sure the sugar is fermented. Is this worth it? If so, how do I know what yeast to use? At the moment I'm just putting the kit together as per the instructions on the pack and using the yeast included. No additions at all. I'm concerned if I change to much in one brew I won't know what's going wrong.
3. How do you go about getting the temp right at brewing time. Our tap water here is around 25 degrees so adding this to boiling water will never reach the 22 mark to start brewing. The last batch started at 32 degrees and this was a concern. What effect does this have on the brew - fusel alcohols?
4. Last question is how do I go about increasing the flavour of the beer once I think I've got the kits down. What would be the initial additions to add a bit of flavour that aren't too risky that will result in a custom taste?
These are the questions I've thought of so far and I'm sure I'll have more as I go along. Overall loving the hobby! So rewarding being able to actually enjoy the benefits of a hobby. One of the only hobbies I know of where you save money and get to custom make a recipe unique every time.
Any reply will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Newts
Just thought I'd post on here my brewing experiences so far. I imagine most home brewers experience what I'm experiencing now. I've been reading a lot of information on here and I'm finding the basics of brewing a standard kit beer are quite simple but the further I go into it the more confusing it gets.
I was given a keg kit for my birthday last year and thought I'd start by brewing up a batch and give it a go. I started my first 2 batches in spring and found that they were great. Far better than expected, the second one was so good that me and two friends managed to finish it within 2 days of it carbonating. It then hit summer and every brew I put together had an extremely bitter taste to it. It was horrible. I thought the beer may have been infected but it was 4 batches in a row and I've been disinfecting each time thoroughly and watching all the youtube videos to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Still not 100% this is the reason for the taste but I'm assuming it was.
After the first couple of brews I was loving the hobby so I put some coin into it. I decided to build a decent brew fridge so I invested in taps, kegs, lines etc and modded the fridge that's now in my profile pic. Sanded it all back to get the rust out and gave it a paint job. Fits 4 kegs and have done the calcs to balance the system so it's set up ready to go. I actually killed a fridge by drilling through one of the cooling pipes but luckily the fridge was free and I managed to pick up another one cheap on our local Facebook page.
Now I have a fully set up fridge and I've brought a fridge to brew in with a temperature controller. Just put my first batch of Mangrove Jack's Golden Ale in a keg and i'm waiting for carbonation. I also have a Coopers Draught in the fridge currently brewing that should be done on the weekend
I've got a few questions regarding improving my chances every time, increasing the flavour and having overall success with my new found hobby.
1. I'm currently using tap water that I think is heavy in minerals and chlorine. I'm in the desert in WA and the water is generally regarded as poor quality. Is fitting a filter to my tap the way to go or is there a better way to get quality water. I don't really want to be paying for spring water for every batch.
2. I've read that double dosing the yeast in each batch is a good option to make sure the sugar is fermented. Is this worth it? If so, how do I know what yeast to use? At the moment I'm just putting the kit together as per the instructions on the pack and using the yeast included. No additions at all. I'm concerned if I change to much in one brew I won't know what's going wrong.
3. How do you go about getting the temp right at brewing time. Our tap water here is around 25 degrees so adding this to boiling water will never reach the 22 mark to start brewing. The last batch started at 32 degrees and this was a concern. What effect does this have on the brew - fusel alcohols?
4. Last question is how do I go about increasing the flavour of the beer once I think I've got the kits down. What would be the initial additions to add a bit of flavour that aren't too risky that will result in a custom taste?
These are the questions I've thought of so far and I'm sure I'll have more as I go along. Overall loving the hobby! So rewarding being able to actually enjoy the benefits of a hobby. One of the only hobbies I know of where you save money and get to custom make a recipe unique every time.
Any reply will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Newts