Getting Started

[brettprevans]

no real need to boil malts. if you boil up a bit of the malt to steep your teabags in you get a better utilisation of the hop oils etc (or so im told/read). So I do it. but I wouldnt bother boiling it all up if your not confident.

Infection - if the smell smells weird/off then you prob have an infection (or if you have stuff in their that looks like mould). what does the sample taste like? if it tastes fine then dont worry about it.

Water Volume - I suggest using the volume of water that recipes state. Its just this version of Guinness sounds a funny. Ive only heard of 'premade' clone kits being brewed to 15L. Its not really a worry, the more water just means less %alc and less intense taste/body. It will still be a fine beer.

 

[chimera]

Guinness draught, brewed in Dublin is 4.2%
The Extra & foreign export versions are higher, and then of course there is the crap BUL version that CUB make... which is an ok beer, but not even close to Irish Guinness.

 

[brettprevans]

yeah i went and rechecked my figures (i think i was quoting old %acl) and saw I was wrong. I still recon theres something special about Guinness when it about 6%. nice warmthness to it.

and yes your right - brewed under licence by CUB isnt a scratch on proper Irish brewed guinness. But thats bloody hard to get now a days.

 

[Damian44]

I was just thinking as a rule of thumb id..

1. Use malt instead of brew sugars.
2. If the kit says add 23l of water ill add 21l.
3. Always add Hops, be it 1 teabag or two.

Does that sound ok?

My second brew should be ready. The starting OG was 1055 after 4 hours, ohh well. Now after 10 days its 1020. The recipe is(Rpid Creek Lager, 1.5l Light liquid malt, Munich grain, Saaz standard, Tattanger dry and Saflager S23. Ill test again tomorrow. Im not sure what a Lagers SG should be? Thanks.

Cheers Damo.

 

[Damian44]

I was passing the ESB shop in Peakhurst and decided to get 4 3kg cans because you recieve a free liquid yeast if you purchase 4.
Last Monday i put down a..

CPA can 1.7kg
half a kg of liquid malt
light booster
12g Cluster
and i used the California V Ale Yeast WLP051 (liquid) i got when i purchased the 4 ESB cans. The best before date was Nov-13-07. All the temps were good, the wort was right temp and i took the yeast out of the fridge a couple of hours before using it.

After 2 days no sign of fermentation but the gravity droped from 1040 to 1030, the block from ESB said to give it a good stir. But this didnt help. So after 4 days i pitched second Coopers yeast and its been 2 days and no foam.

The gravity before pitching yeast was 1040 it droped to 1020 and hasnt changed over last couple of days. The wort smells nice and looks good.

Should i pitch 3rd yeast as i have a Morgans ale yeast in the fridge? The worts been sitting in fermenter for 6 days what affect will this have on finished product if i ever get it to ferment? Thanks again.

Cheers Damo

 

[brettprevans]

just be patient. liquid yeast can take a while to really get going (unless u make a starter). You dint really want a heap of differant eyasts in your brew as the yeasts will impart flaviour characters on your brew.

 

[Damian44]

I rang the guy from the HBS today and he said that although the two yeasts are in the fermenter i can still reuse the yeast. He thought it would be better than the dry yeast that came with the other 3 cans i purchased. I think he said that the original yeast (California V Ale Yeast WLP051) was a cross too, now ill have 3 differant yeasts. OMG. The yeast produced absolutly no krausen at all and zero movement in air lock. Another good lesson i guess. Thanks.

Cheers Damo

 

[Damian44]

just got a couple more questions.

1. My Guinness has been fermenting for 2 weeks, the final gravity should be 1012 made up to 21 litres. I made mine to 18 litres and the gravity has been at 1020 for 2 days, is it ok to bottle today?
Morgans 1.7 Dockside Stout
1.5kg milk stout improver
Goldings hops normal
Muntons Gold yeast
15ml liquorice extract
Simmered roast Barley

2. In my second fermenter i have a CPA can. The gravity yesterday was 1014 today its 1012. Could i get away with bottling today?

Thanks again.

Cheers Damo

 

[microbe]

1. Probably OK - I've bottled a similar batch that finished @ 1.018. Probably wouldn't hurt to leave a day or two more though.

2. I wouldn't bottle that yet - wait till the reading is stable for at least two days, preferably three or more. You might 'get away with it' but you might also make some bombs.

Cheers,

microbe

 

[Damian44]

Thanks. I bottled the Guinness and ill do the CPA tomorrow.

I just tried my second brew Rpid Creek Lager, 1.5l Light liquid malt, Munich grain, Saaz standard, Tattanger dry and Saflager S23. Soooo much flavour, i love it. The hops are freaky. Thanks.

Cheers Damo

 

[barls]

welcome to the taste revolution

 

[Damian44]

I cant thank everyone enough for there support. My beers are turning out delicious. Ive just got another questions...

Im after a 100 can cooler. Kmart and Big W dont seem to stock them anymore. Any ideas?





Thankyou Damo

 

[Damian44]

I put down a ND brewery fresh wort Pilsner 8 days ago and could only keep temps down to 19c. The gravity reading is 1010, but im going away for 5 days and it will get hot without being iced. Is it safe to bottle after 1 reading?

Cheers Damo

 

[brettprevans]

I cant thank everyone enough for there support. My beers are turning out delicious. Ive just got another questions...

Im after a 100 can cooler. Kmart and Big W dont seem to stock them anymore. Any ideas?


Thankyou Damo

anaconda or other camping stores

 

[Damian44]

I just got a 100 can cooler from Anaconda. Thanks. They've just opened their 1st Sydney store. It was $45. YAY.
Im gonna bottle the Pilsner. I couldnt enjoy Xmass knowing it was swealtering away in 30c temps.

Cheers Damo

 

[Damian44]

I used some Cluster hops a while back and i liked it a lot. I wont to use it in my next brew, i was thinking of adding it to a ESB Draught 3k can. Say15g @15min and 15g @ 2min. I dont wont to boil the whole kit, so i thought id do the boil in 2 litres of water. Would it suit this kit? Or any sugestions would be appreciated.

Cheers Damo

 

[Bingo]

[quote name='Bingo's Brewing Cats Piss' post='244352' date='Sep 19 2007, 02:36 PM']Hi all,
I've decided to try my luck with home brew, again.
The first time i tried was about 5 years ago when i was 18, and lets just say it tasted like carpet.

Now i have a name, Cats Piss Brewry (CPB for short) and would like to buy another kit as the other one got thrown out.

The first kit was a Coopers one, and this time round i'd like to get a kit from a specalist home brew shop.

Could anyone recommend places that they have delt with that sell quality kits?

I live Bayside in Melbourne.[/quote]


Well...as fate would have it....i'm giving brewing another chance....funnily enough, another 5 years down the track.

I've just put down a pale ale on sunday.
Black Rock IPA
Brew booster #15 (whatever that is)
finnings hops (from memory?? may have been something different)
S-04 yeast

Whatever it all was, it was reccomended by One Stop Bar Shop in mornington (highly recommend visiting these guys, very helpfull.)

I need to start a brewing diary too.

I'm feeling alot more confidant about this one. I have a better set out house which has more room and have currently have the fermenter in a cupboard.
The temp is staying quite consistantly around 18 to 20 degrees, which i'm quite happy about and the samples are tasting pretty good (forgot to take an original sg reading!! whoops)

I'm looking into getting a brew fridge (my girlfriend's old man has a bar fridge that he doesn't use = freebie!) so with my new kit i'm hoping to have some success this time.

Anyway...feels good to be back...wish me luck

 

[DU99]

Welcome back..can i suggest you the spreadsheet in "kits and extract's" it help you keep records..i print the recipe out and write the date on the printout