Long Break

[Beercan]

I've recently started brewing again after a very long break, for reasons that I can never justify! My Grandpa showed me how to make beer when I was 16. He passed away a couple of weeks ago and while I was writing a thing to read at his funeral I re-read his 1977 novelette "Some Information About, Recipes for, and Hints on Home Brewing Beer". I've always brewed beer of the concentrate kind and I've always been very happy with the results, varying the sugars or yeasts to create new variations, but my grandpa was a man that liked to get things right and then stick with it, and in his "book" there is the following recipe that I thought I might give a go. I've been brewing now for near on 20 years its about time I cooked one from scratch isn't it? Any advice greatly accepted!

Captain Chuck's Mona Vale Ale

4l bs. of liquid malt extract (2 kilos will be alright).
1 lb. of brewing syrup (500 grammes is about right).
21/4 lbs. of raw sugar (1 kilo bag will do).
1 or 2 teaspoons of liquid hop extract (5-10 mils or so).
1 packet of dried beer yeast.


I know that not much has changed in the art of beer brewing for many hundreds of years, but it seems to me that a lot has changed during my 5 year hiatus and I'm keen to hear of any modern techniques or devices that may have passed me by! (Bought a bottle tree & pump sterilizer in December & had a little WOW moment!!)

Cheers, Good Health,
Beercan.

 

[Bribie G]

Hi Beercan, welcome to the forum.

I used to run a home brew shop in Maryborough QLD in the late 70s and that recipe sounds bang on what they used to do back then. The "liquid hops" were a brown liquid that came in a little test tube, the "brewing syrup" was glucose syrup and the yeast would probably have been either Tandaco bakers yeast or Edme yeast from the UK which was the main one available from local brew shops in those days.

Being raw sugar, the normal way to get it was to meet your buddy who drove the raw sugar truck on a dark road and he would shovel 100k into your hessian bags by the roadside and you'd tip him a slab of xxxx to drink on his way down to Brisbane

Ah those were the days - you'll pick up some good hints here for more modern methods. However your gramp's recipe would probably have produced a fairly drinkable drop if done with good sanitation and fermented at a time of year when it didn't get too hot.