Introducing Myself And My Brewing Ways.

[max10au]

Hi all this is my first post. I have brewed b4 (Many years ago for about 10 years). I have just started to Brew again. In the years I was Brewing I didnt have one brew that went bad and all my mates loved it. I bought myself a Coopers MicroBrew Kit as they were on special. I started on my first brew straight away. There was only one difference and that was that it didnt start bubbling through the airlock (In my previous years of Brewing I used this as a measure that the Brew had started fermenting). So I rang the Coopers Hotline and they were very helpful. He told me that some brews never do this and some brews bubble for weeks but can be Bottled. Anyways he said to look and see if there was any condensation on the lid (Inside the brew) also was there any brown crustations marks around the top of the brew (This is how to tell if your Brew is on the right track) and there was Yeh. In the old Brewing days I just used caster sugar and it was fine, no may I say it was a great tasting Beer As I got that feedback from all that tasted it. I do hope this new start to Brewing I can get the same results. I am getting a PuraTap water filter fitted to my tap next Tuesday so hopefully that will make even a better Brew. Oh bye the way I only Brew Coopers Larger or Draught Brew as they are the ones I love, I also use the 2lt PET bottle to store with. I have read through you great forum to see what it was all about. One strange thing that amazed me was the Brewing temps 12C degrees would have thought it would be way too low to start Fermentation!!! Also when storing the bottles at the coolest possible temp this was all new to me. As my brews I always kept them at about 25degrees (I used a heatpad) while fermenting then when bottled put rugs over them to keep them at a reasonable temp. O well it works for me. I use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principal when doing my brews. I find there is no need to add a lot of fancy stuff as it defeating my purpose, to make a great cheap Brew because thats all I can afford. Well I do tend to go on a bit sorry. You have a great site here and I will be visiting it often, thanks for your time :beer:

 

[ironxmortlock]

Hello and welcome! :beer:

I've currently got a simple Cooper's Bitter with BE2 and kit yeast going at the moment. I'm going to see how this cheapy compares with the other more fancy kits I've put on previously.

Perhaps you should try putting on a fancy brew and comparing it with your basic brews and see if you find any difference. I'd be very interested to know.

 

[brettprevans]

Hello and welcome! :beer:

I've currently got a simple Cooper's Bitter with BE2 and kit yeast going at the moment. I'm going to see how this cheapy compares with the other more fancy kits I've put on previously.

Perhaps you should try putting on a fancy brew and comparing it with your basic brews and see if you find any difference. I'd be very interested to know.

Welcome

Theres nothing wrong with KISS. but here are additonal simple things you can do to make your beer even better.
1. changing yeasts - the yeast supplied under the lids of wort arent great. Buy some better yeast like Saf, Muntons or Craftbrewer brand. They will infinately improve your beer.

2. temperature - differant yeasts work best at differant temps. True lager yeasts work best at about 10-12C. Ale yeasts work better at 18-20C. Some yeasts you want at 22C to get special taste characters out of them. do some reading and you find its simple stuff

3. use malt extract, brewing sugar, brew enhancers NOT table sugar. Table sugar is highly refined and wont fully ferment. It can leave a tin like taste in HB. If you want to keep it simple, use coopers brew enhancer 1, 2 ,3. the ingredients are list on the packs. Easy huge improvement in beer quality.

4. once your comfortable with Hb again try new kits or kit brands. Brewcraft kits make normal lager and draught kits and they are made by one of the best producers of kits (ie they are Muntons kits but packaged differantly - like homebrand).

5. read read read. theres so many simple things you ca do to improve your beer with minimal effort

6. fill in your location details, so other HB in your area can help you out.

 

[discoloop]

I use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principal when doing my brews.

I give you three months tops before you're adding hops, steeping grains, playing with liquid yeasts... You'll also be exploring hundreds of crackpot methods for temp control and seriously considering kegging. This place'll do that to you.

Oh, you'll also be making 100% better beers!

 

[Sammus]

Oh bye the way I only Brew Coopers Larger or Draught Brew as they are the ones I love, I also use the 2lt PET bottle to store with. I have read through you great forum to see what it was all about. One strange thing that amazed me was the Brewing temps “12C degrees” would have thought it would be way too low to start Fermentation!!!

The Coopers "Lager" (if one can actually call it that) actually comes with an ale yeast. The only coopers tins that come with true lager yeasts are the Coopers Pilsen and Bavarian Lager kit. If you ferment those at 25C I promise you won't get great beer!

 

[Sammus]

It can leave a tin like taste in HB.

I thought the can that the kit came in did that? h34r:

 

[wabster]

I give you three months tops before you're adding hops, steeping grains, playing with liquid yeasts... You'll also be exploring hundreds of crackpot methods for temp control and seriously considering kegging. This place'll do that to you.

Oh, you'll also be making 100% better beers!

I reckon you'll be right there Discoloop. I recommenced brewing after a 15-20 year hiatus in May this year. I'd always in my past brewing life just used Coopers kits with sugar then later DME and sugar. Even earlier, in the late 70's I used Brigalow stuff but most of life is a bit blurry during that time. The end result was always extremely popular with all my mates, and wifey complained about a constant stream of visitors at our house. All, or most beer bottles were 750ml tallies, no screwtops, so bottles were in abundant supply

Fast forward from about 1985 to 2007 and the range of products and processes available to the home brewer is just mind blowing, and I'm still reading and asking questions just to scope out where I want to go and what characteristics I want in my beers, at what cost in terms of money time and mental effort. Wifey and I did the Potters tours last Thursday just to see how it is all done in a micro-brewery.

However I guess I'll probably raise the white flag and surrender to the inevitable, and will be doing steeping, partials and even AGs in the future to get the flavour profiles I want.

As I say to ever tolerant Mswab, I am only going to get to drink X number of beers in the remainder of my drinking life, and I'm darned sure I am not going to waste it on the commercial factory muck Just how fast I move to more advanced forms of brewing probably depends on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, AKA Mswab.

But I just can't see long term member of this site being ever happy with a simple K&K routine, so we are all kinda fated to get more involved hehehe, Cheerz Wab

 

[bonj]

This place'll do that to you.

I'm a prime example of that. December last year, I joined this forum after having only ever done kit and kilo in bottles just as the tin instructions tell you. It is now September, and I have switched to kegs, started temperature controlled fermentation, and I'm currently boiling my 7th AG since the end of February. (In my defence, I had actually tried to go AG about 4 years prior to that, but didn't have the support of this awesome forum to actually get it done.)

The beauty of this forum is that you can really do what ever you want, and there'll be heaps of support for you when you want it. In my case, I knew I wanted to go AG, as someone said "for the romance of it". Plenty of people are happy with K&K, and the forum will really help you there. There are some really good K&K brewers here. The pointers above will really help you get the most out of your beer.

Oh, and you may end up with an unhealthy fetish for stainless steel.

 

[devo]

I wish I had found this forum before I went AG back in 2004. It does save you a hell of a lot of time and is ideal for avoiding some of the common pitfalls.

 

[ohitsbrad]

Hi citymorgue I have heard Jamil say that using some table sugar (<20%) in replacement of base malt in beers that you may want to finish fairly dry is fine?

3. use malt extract, brewing sugar, brew enhancers NOT table sugar. Table sugar is highly refined and wont fully ferment. It can leave a tin like taste in HB. If you want to keep it simple, use coopers brew enhancer 1, 2 ,3. the ingredients are list on the packs. Easy huge improvement in beer quality.

 

[reveler]

I give you three months tops before you're adding hops, steeping grains, playing with liquid yeasts... You'll also be exploring hundreds of crackpot methods for temp control and seriously considering kegging. This place'll do that to you.

Oh, you'll also be making 100% better beers!

aint that the truth.

if your trying to save money, block this site and stick to the K&K methods

 

[brettprevans]

Hi citymorgue I have heard Jamil say that using some table sugar (<20%) in replacement of base malt in beers that you may want to finish fairly dry is fine?

I was keeping it simple. table sugar does have a time and a place (but never as the main ingrediant). some belgians and trappist use white sugar because of the particular taste you can get by using it. Cider, lemonade etc also use table sugar.

i agree that this is the worst and best place. I was getting back into Hb to save money :blink: hmmm al i have done is "invest" heaps more into brewing than I would have if i kept drinknig megaswill. I thought Id just stick to K&K for a few years then maybe move in to AG when I got a bigger house etc etc. well less than 6 months later and Im getting gear together to go AG and spending heaps of $ on ingredients and gear. AHB is a wonderful/terrible place!

 

[troydo]

i found this site in July and i was just k&k and im doing my first AG tomorrow <_< :beer:

 

[Ross]

Welcome Max10au & best of luck Troydo on your 1st AG. Make sure you save me a bottle

cheers Ross

 

[max10au]

Thank you all for your feedback, it has been great. I think I am getting hooked to this site already. And am also eager to try some of your tips and tricks already. Call me an idiot but what is an AG please

 

[philipwebb]

Thank you all for your feedback, it has been great. I think I am getting hooked to this site already. And am also eager to try some of your tips and tricks already. Call me an idiot but what is an AG please

"AG"=All Grain.

This site will definately start a healthy obsession with all things beer.

I had only ever done k&k and partials (for about 9 years) after being talked out of going AG by a HB shop in Adelaide when I finally discovered this site.

Got in touch with some people near my area and obtained a pre loved AG brewery and have knocked out 6 batches of the best tasting beer I have made.

I hardly post (as you can obviously see) but I visit all the time, there are a lot of experienced brewers here who are only too willing to help you out.....go for it!

Cheers

Phil

 

[Sammus]

Thank you all for your feedback, it has been great. I think I am getting hooked to this site already. And am also eager to try some of your tips and tricks already. Call me an idiot but what is an “AG” please

AG stands for "all grain" - if you do AG brews, you make the fermentable liquid (wort in this case) from roasted/toasted grains (just like the pros do). It requires more equipment and time, but you can create and tweak recipes till your hearts content, and it tastes better too!

I guess a good analogy would be cooking other stuff. Like preparing soup from scratch with fresh ingedients, following a recipe youve tried and tweaked to your tastes - compared to opening a can from coles and tossing in the microwave. One requires more time and effort, but the results a far better!

Sam

edit: didn't see phil's reply for some reason...oh well, I added an explaination too, in case you were asking about more than what the letters stood for

 

[jamilz]

3. use malt extract, brewing sugar, brew enhancers NOT table sugar. Table sugar is highly refined and wont fully ferment. It can leave a tin like taste in HB.

While I agree that you want to use malt based sugars for the vast majority of your fermentables, there are times when you need to use simple sugars. Sucrose, fructose, glucose all are very easy for yeast to consume. They are far easier for them to consume than maltose. In fact, that is the reason you don't want to use simple sugars for starters, as the yeast take the easy route and quickly lose the ability to ferment maltose.

While it was commonly thought to be the case some years ago, I think most brewers now agree that table sugar does not leave a tin-like taste.

 

[max10au]

3. use malt extract, brewing sugar, brew enhancers NOT table sugar. Table sugar is highly refined and wont fully ferment. It can leave a tin like taste in HB. If you want to keep it simple, use coopers brew enhancer 1, 2 ,3. the ingredients are list on the packs. Easy huge improvement in beer quality.

My Brews never tasted Tin Like Taste using castor sugar <_<

 

[max10au]

Hi all.
I am going to start another brew up soon (Coopers Larger), using a couple of hints I have found on this site. First of all I will tell you what I am doing and then I would like any ideas from you good folks about my questions at the end of this post.

My first couple of changing my Brewing Habits.
First of all I will be using Coopers brewing sugar in stead of castor sugar.
And also found this hint which I will do Pre mixing the Yeast will try these subtle changes first of all. Nearly forgot I am using Carbon Drops when bottling, this is also new to me.

Now my questions to you are:
1. How long should I keep the brew going before bottling? (I usually leave it in for about 6 days.

2. When storing brew for the first week after bottling, what is the best what to go. I usually put a blanket over them also use a heating pad on them for a few hours a day.

3. After storing the Brew for the first week, what is the best Way/Temp to keep them at. (I just leave the blanket over them until I am ready to drink them. (My house has 12 foot ceilings so the inside temp is about 15c degrees depending on the weather of course.)

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance :beer: