First brew in 20 odd years

[Aussie Mick]

Well, I've just put on a couple of brews. The first time I have brewed since the late 80's.

I followed jackgyms suggestion for one of them, ie: Family Secret with 1kg of LDM and US 05 yeast.

For the second one I followed the "Beer o'clock" recipe from the Coopers website. When I put the hops in the pan, the smell was incredible ( the wife will be home shortly.....hope she agrees....)

Took me right back to my mash brewing days smelling the Chrystal malt and the hops. Looking forward to sampling in a month or so.

 

[JDW81]

Welcome back onto the brewing wagon.

Hope your first brews in a while turn out well.

There are few more satisfying things than drinking your own after a hard day, or sharing with friends who enjoy them.

 

[Old Bloke]

Hey Aussie Mick, Welcome back to the fold. Been quite a few changes since you have been gone.
Regards
Chris

 

[mckenry]

Things have changed a bit Aussie Mick. As long as you understand you can't make good beer without the kit below.
Pretty standard in most homebrewers sheds now.

 

[Aussie Mick]

Things have changed a bit Aussie Mick. As long as you understand you can't make good beer without the kit below.
Pretty standard in most homebrewers sheds now.

100_0312.jpg

LOL. I wish.

This was my bit of kit in the 80's, and it served me well for many years. My sister in law was going to buy me a gold belcher necklace for my 21st (very trendy back then )and I politely declined and asked her for a Bruheat instead. She wasn't too keen at first, but it was cheaper than the chain and I used it every fortnight for about 8 years. Made some fantastic real ales along with the odd disaster.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQFLOYlnUvWw5ZGNMu_RvfT_ybzn6igDxOghr3RWDnn0IWE0tMK8spi-fe

 

[Zorco]

In the late 80s I was about nine and my dad and I were shooting rabbits on our property when he gave me my first taste of beer. VB from a stubbie.

And in a few short years my son will be nine. I'll take him shooting but I'll probably give him a sip of my coopers pale ale clone.

Time hey? [emoji50]

 

[Brewnicorn]

Things have changed a bit Aussie Mick. As long as you understand you can't make good beer without the kit below.
Pretty standard in most homebrewers sheds now.

100_0312.jpg

. this is bloody outrageous! Where's mine

 

[Paleman]

In the late 80s I was about nine and my dad and I were shooting rabbits on our property when he gave me my first taste of beer. VB from a stubbie.

And in a few short years my son will be nine. I'll take him shooting but I'll probably give him a sip of my coopers pale ale clone.

Time hey? [emoji50]

Shooting first.........beer later :lol:

 

[JDW81]

Alcohol and firearms, what could possibly go wrong....

 

[Zorco]

Haha, my old man was never a big drinker. Not like many others out there...[emoji15]

 

[Aussie Mick]

Well, I just racked off and added finings to the "Beer o' clock" brew, and I had a taste.


WOW.

I am truly amazed. The last beer kit I brewed would have been about 1984, and it tasted garbage.

This tastes like proper beer. I can't wait to give it a proper taste in a week or 3. The other brew seems to have stopped as well. I'll re-read rtomorrow, ra k and fine and get another one on the go. I've decided on the coopers Real Ale this time around

 

[Yob]

Well done Mick, way to jump back on the Horse.

Wont be long and you'll have the bug again bad

:drinks: :beerdrink:

 

[Aussie Mick]

Had a sneaky bottle tonight after 9 days bottled.

First taste, I thought it had that homebrew twang from all those years ago, and I resigned myself to disappointment. Then my son tried it and said it was really good. I had another go and .....yes, it was pretty good. Still a slight twang, but it's very early to be trying it.

The more I sampled, the more I enjoyed it, and had to stop myself from sticking a few bottles in the freezer and going for a sesh.

Gonna try and leave it for another 2 weeks. I've already got 2 more batches bottled up, plus one racked in the fridge and an English Bitter fermenting away right now, so as Yob suggested, I think I have got the brewing bug back well and truly.

I've only brewed Coopers kits so far (along with plenty of adjuncts and hops), but I am feeling the urge to get an all grain brew on the go real soon.

What a great hobby

 

[damoninja]

First taste, I thought it had that homebrew twang from all those years ago, and I resigned myself to disappointment. Then my son tried it and said it was really good. I had another go and .....yes, it was pretty good. Still a slight twang, but it's very early to be trying it.

The more I sampled, the more I enjoyed it, and had to stop myself from sticking a few bottles in the freezer and going for a sesh.

Glad to hear it did work out, the twang can just mean it's young at 9 days it's still fairly green.

You don't need heaps of gear but do you have anything to control temps and what temp did it brew at?

 

[Grott]

Agree with damoninja re the twang. As a kit beer did you use the Coopers Enhancer, dextrose? If so try the Coopers tin of liquid light malt extract, think you'll really be surprised. The Coopers English Bitter IMO is a ripper, good session ale.
Cheers

 

[Aussie Mick]

Thanks fellas. I have bought a STC1100 and an old working fridge. I will have that set up for my next brew, as it's starting to warm up now here in Perth. It brewed at around 20-22'C.

Grott, it was the Beer o'clock recipe from Coopers website:

Coopers Pale Ale
1 kg LDM
250gms crystal malt mashed for an hour then 3 lots of hops, fermented with Safale. US -05 yeast.

I have also brewed an "Unreal Ale", a Family Secret with 1 kg of LDM ( been bottled for a week, haven't tried it yet) , a "Midnight Mosaic Amber Ale" to use up the lager kit that came with the Coopers starter kit, this brew has 1.5 kg of Amber malt extract along with a full kg of LDM as well as the lager kit. Should be a pretty strong one. OG on this was close to 1070.

And as I said, I have an English bitter on the go with 1 kg LDM, 300 gems crystal malt and some fuggles and holdings. I've been a busy boy

 

[Aussie Mick]

Day 16 in the bottle for the Beer o'clock brew.

Much better than day 9.

It's lightly carbonated. One drop per 750ml bottle, still get the hiss when opening but it's very smooth to drink, hardly and fizziness, which is what I was looking for. Very happy. Gonna treat myself to a couple of bottles tonight, then leave for another week.

 

[Brewnicorn]

Looks the goods Mick! Enjoy it eh.

 

[manticle]

Drop that temp a tad mate. Try 18-20 with that yeast and remember fermentation generates extra heat too (so consider setting the stc-1000 to about 17).

 

[Aussie Mick]

Thanks for the advice manticle.

I've just put another beer o'clock brew on. It's in the fridge and the STC1000 is set at 17'c.