Just Started

[Frothy-head]

Guys,

I am new to this. My dad passed on so Mum gave me his old brew kit. It came with a few tins of Farmland Draught. They are a few months past their use by date as he bought them cheap from a mate in dozen packs. He got ill before he got to use the last few tins.

The other day I thought I would give it a go so Mum helped me clean and bleach all the kit as she used to do it for Dad. Next I poured the tin into the plastic bucket and mixed in a kilo of caster sugar (home brand if that makes any difference) and as the yeast had been split open I used a fresh packet of Tandaco yeast as Mum said it is the same as beer yeast and Dad had used it before. I filled it up to about 2 inches from the top with warm water and stirred it with a wooden stick I had bleached.

I kept the bucket in the laundry for a week so it didn't smell in the house. There is a temperature sticker on the bucket and it was pretty constantly between 18 and 25 degrees. I took it about a week til it stopped bubbling that thingy on top then Mum helped me bottle it.

I tried a bottle today after about a week and it tastes like beer but I wouldn't say it was real flash.

Question is, should I stick with the tins of Farmland or try that Wander brand? Is there something eles I could do better?

Thanks for any advice,

Frothy-head

 

[Adamt]

Wowee, welcome to the forums, there's a wealth of information here for you. I'll tackle these problems in order of their appearance

1. Farmland Draught Cans: Not a problem at all, I've heard (for some batches) these are just relabelled brand-name cans. Problem here is the use-by date. There's a reason for them! Freshest is best, especially because of the hop oils in the cans, and as fresh yeast is best!

2. I'm sure you did but make sure you rinse very well after bleaching.

3. Try not to use sugar. Sugar ferments really well and creates lots of alcohol, but it ferments TOO well. It doesn't leave anything much in the beer we refer to as body and mouthfeel. Too much sugar can leave a cidery taste. Use dry malt extracts instead.

4. Not sure what Tandaco yeast is, but your dear mother is probably wrong! Make sure you use brewers yeast, brewers yeast strains have certain properties that create beer-related compounds, if that makes sense. Bread yeast will still make beer, but could be missing certain beer flavours.

5. Try not to use wooden tools. Wood is porous and can hold infections, or bleach which is hard to rinse out, and can make its way into your beer.

6. Simple yeasts that come with cans ferment best at about 20C. At 25C you can make solvent-flavoured alcohols and over-fruity beers.

7. Invest in a hydrometer if you don't have one. A hydrometer measures the density of liquids. You measure the density of the wort before fermenting so you can estimate the alcohol content, and you can determine when fermentation is over when the readings are the same for a couple of days and between 1.004-1.008.

8. I hope you primed the beer when bottling! You need to add some extra food (usually sugar or dextrose) to each bottle before sealing so the beer produces more CO2 under the pressure of a sealed bottle (i.e. carbonation), otherwise you probably have flattish beer.


The first chapter of How To Brew will guide you through a more proper way of homebrewing. It's MUCH more complex than a "dump and stir" brew but will yield far superior, reproducable results.

Hope this makes sense, I'm about to fall asleep!

-Adam

 

[jimmy01]

Welcome Frothy

You're starting off pretty much where we all did.
Agree with everything Adam said Definitely go to the How to Brew Site. This is an excellent reference for beginners and the experienced and is set out very well. It also has a Search facility.

Definitely dump the Tandaco Yeast - its for bread not beer, though I believe that this is what a lot of brewers used in the days before kits. Yeast is one of the most inportant elements of beer brewing. even the yeasts included in the cap of kit cans is usually a inferior strain.

Find yourself a good local Home Brew Shop (HBS) and pick their brains. HBS kits etc may cost a little more but the better quality/range and advice will make a big difference to your beer. If you haven't got a local HBS you can still get better quality kits and dry malt extracts (Often called brew boosters), at Coles Woolies Kmart, Big W etc. Coopers and Malt Shovel Brewery Kits are quite good.

Enjoy the journey

Jimmy

 

[Mr Bond]

Welcome,
I would strongly suggest you put in your location details(just a suburb or region)and others will suggest a decent HBS(home brew store) where you can visit ,chat learn and purchase all the stuff you need.As well as this forum to help you will be up,up and away....
what style/brands of beer do you like normally?

 

[PistolPatch]

Welcome Frothy :beer:

Looks like you already have been given some great advice. Here's some threads on AHB that will really help you learn a heap in a short amount of time...

Frequently Asked Questions For The New Brewer

Outline To Using The Ahb Website

It will take some time to get through the above links thoroughly but reading these will get you producing a good beer far as soon as possible.

I'm sure your Dad would be wrapped that you're carrying on his hobby.

Cheers,
PP

 

[peas_and_corn]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll throw my hat into the ring with the others regarding the yeast. I read a brewing book (can't remember the name- tropical brewing?) about a bloke in Queensland who tried to make his own strain by combining bread and brewing yeasts, and ended up injuring his leg badly because of an exploding bottle.

 

[Barramundi]

dont worry frothy your of to a start and theres plenty of helpful people on here more than happy to give you more than enough advice , as someone said earlier put up your location so you can be directed to a brew shop for some better quality brew ingredients , id be inclined to pay the extra dollar or two at coles and go the coopers tins over homebrand myself , until you get a degree of confidence up to go and get some of the higher end kits ..
wont be long till your pumpin out beer that your dad would be proud of ...
having said that my sypathies for your loss also...

cheers !

 

[mike_hillyer]

He's left you a wonderful legacy and already you have heaps of great advice already. I've brewed those kits before and they are good. Personally with that kit I like to change the yeast as I find it produces a spicy flavour that some like.

Favourite recipe with that kit:
1 can of draught
Muntons gold- yeast
Light Liquid malt - 1kg
500grams of Raw sugar
Finishing Hop Goldings - 15 grams
24 litres of water

 

[Chatty]

Great post frothy. Makes it heaps easier to make suggestions when you've told us everything you can! Once you get through the posts that Pistol Patch has provided you should have a better idea of where to go. Revise your questions and pretty soon you'll be hooked! :super:

An important note though: don't get your mum offside with any changes you make because an extra pair of hands is always boody valuable

Chatty

 

[Frothy-head]

Great post frothy. Makes it heaps easier to make suggestions when you've told us everything you can! Once you get through the posts that Pistol Patch has provided you should have a better idea of where to go. Revise your questions and pretty soon you'll be hooked! :super:

An important note though: don't get your mum offside with any changes you make because an extra pair of hands is always boody valuable

Chatty

Mates,
Thanks for all the hints. It'll take me a bit to work through them and get the hang of it all. I keep reading about priming. Is that how you get the bubbles going? No wonder my beer was as flat as water. Mum forgot to tell me that bit.

If I understand it right, the kit is just dehydrated beer made from malt. Is it the same as the malt you buy in tins?

Instead of using a pack of sugar, why not just tip 2 tins of Farmland Draught in? I've already got it so nothing to loose?

Frothy

 

[Adamt]

If I understand it right, the kit is just dehydrated beer made from malt. Is it the same as the malt you buy in tins?

Instead of using a pack of sugar, why not just tip 2 tins of Farmland Draught in? I've already got it so nothing to loose?

Frothy

A kit is just liquid malt extract with hop oils added. 1 can is supposed to add enough hop bitterness for a 20-23L brew, so if you add 2 kits you can expect twice the bitterness "recommended" by the maker, whether thats to your taste or not its up to you. Also, adding 2 tins will give you a darkened beer. 1 kit has enough colour for a 20-23L brew, but this is really just an aesthetic problem.

-Adam

 

[PistolPatch]

I keep reading about priming. Is that how you get the bubbles going? No wonder my beer was as flat as water. Mum forgot to tell me that bit.

Instead of using a pack of sugar, why not just tip 2 tins of Farmland Draught in? I've already got it so nothing to loose?

Howdy Frothy,

Yeah it looks as though you missed the priming step. Whoops! Not a worry though - what you can do is go down to your Home Brew Shop (HBS) or supermarket and buy some carbonation drops which are essentially sugar pills. Open your remaining bottles and put 1 drop in for a stubby or 2 if it's a longneck. Seal them back up, leave at around 20 degrees for 2 weeks to carbonate, then chill and have another taste.

The HBS might have a good little booklet there as well to help you get started which will also help you understand a lot more of the stuff you read here.

As for using 2 tins, this is no worries as Adam has said.

Look forward to hearing how your next taste goes.

Cheers
PP

 

[Frothy-head]

Mates,

Can't believe what my mum did. When we finished bottling the brew she cleand the bucket while I did some lables, I found out latter she kept the yeast and dried in out near a window inside. Now she uses it to bake bread with. No wonder she told me to use Tandaco yeast! She said fresh yeast makes fresh bread. Yeah but if you blokes are right, it makes crap beer.

I'm still shaken my head. No wonder she got dad, then me into brewing.

 

[Whistlingjack]

Oh, I get it.

Your mum used your dad's wort to keep her bread yeast going.

That's really cute. :blink:

Did you taste the beer?