Newbie from Coffs Harbour

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Hi AHB, been a long time lurker on the forums and have been reading way too much into my first brew so last week I finally got myself a starter kit from the local brew shop!
I was given a copy of Jack Fabers "Brewing Better Beer" a while ago and found it quite easy to follow, has anyone else read it? He suggests tips like adding a table spoon of honey to every brew to get rid of the common "twang" of kit home brews and some basic water treatments to suit different styles of beer.
So onto my first brew... everyone I know seems to enjoy 150 lashes pale ale so that's the recipe kit I requested from the local brew shop. It includes a tin of the Rapid Creek pale ale, 1kg of Ultra Brew(500g dried light malt extract, 250g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin), 150g of naked oats to steep and some 12g hop tea bags of Amarillo and Motueka.
All seems easy enough, ive got a temp controlled fridge specifically for brewing and I work away for a week at a time so no temptation to keep checking on how things are progressing!
What else can I improve on to help make this 150 lashes clone that little bit better for my first try? In Jack Fabers book he talks about water treatment, adding some gypsum and epsom salts, boiling the kit contents in 15L of water for 30 mins and the "hot break" and removing the protein via straining. The recipe says to make a hop tea and throw that in at the end but would i be better just putting the hop pellets in the boil earlier? Finally, top the fermenter up with water to 22L(should this extra water be treated too?), drop the temp to 25 asap, add yeast and put in the fridge set to 20 degrees.
I plan to bottle and prime the slow way first, would eventually like to try bulk priming.
Thanks guys, feels good to finally get started.

 

[Barge]

I used to think that the homebrew twang came from hopped extracts but I was wrong. My last few beers have used different coopers tin with various additions and have turned out great.

The key is to use a decent yeast at the right temp.

I was having a lot of success with nottingham yeast at 18C. I found with my fermentation chamber, I needed to set the ambient temp at 16C for the FV to be at 18 to 20.

Don't bother with a tablespoon of honey. It wouldn't do bugger all. Also, there's no need to boil the kit. That was done when it was made. You will only end up with 15L of boiling wort that you will have to cool down.

Late addition of hops is designed to produce a nice aroma. May as well stick to this the first time around and see what you think. I've never used oats before so can't comment on that.

Good luck and welcome.

Edit: stupid stubby fingers

 

[SBOB]

everyone I know seems to enjoy 150 lashes pale ale so that's the recipe kit I requested from the local brew shop. It includes a tin of the Rapid Creek pale ale, 1kg of Ultra Brew(500g dried light malt extract, 250g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin), 150g of naked oats to steep and some 12g hop tea bags of Amarillo and Motueka.

What else can I improve on to help make this 150 lashes clone that little bit better for my first try?

as you havent mentioned yeast, I'm assuming that the Rapid Creek tin comes with yeast under the lid.
One way to improve would be to replace this with something better and fresher.

In Jack Fabers book he talks about water treatment, adding some gypsum and epsom salts,

boiling the kit contents in 15L of water for 30 mins and the "hot break" and removing the protein via straining.

The recipe says to make a hop tea and throw that in at the end but would i be better just putting the hop pellets in the boil earlier?

Finally, top the fermenter up with water to 22L(should this extra water be treated too?), drop the temp to 25 asap, add yeast and put in the fridge set to 20 degrees.

I would be skipping water treatments until you have everything else nailed down.. Perhaps use filtered or cheap bulk bottled water if you want a better starting point though

I would probably skip the boiling stage..its pre-hopped extract, so there really is no point

Hop tea is to add aroma/flavour, so dont add it in early as all that will add is bitterness

And I would be aiming to drop that temperature down to something like 18-20 before adding the yeast.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Thanks Barge I had wondered about temperature of the fridge versus actual temperature of the wort inside plastic fermenter. I guess I should set my temp controller a little lower than 20 degrees?

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

as you havent mentioned yeast, I'm assuming that the Rapid Creek tin comes with yeast under the lid.
One way to improve would be to replace this with something better and fresher.

Yes that's correct its in the tin. Thanks for the tip, I'll do some reading into an easy yeast I can use instead.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Grafton Show is coming up just after easter. A good chance to meet fellow lunatics brewers and gain valuable information.

There is a fairly loose club here, Grafton Brewmasters with a few members at Kyogle, Yamba, Grafton & Coffs

Your welcome to become part of it

 

[SBOB]

Safale us-05 is an easy default choice...
And regardless which yeast you pick, try to pitch as close to ferment temp as you can (either via lack of patience or time)

So if you get something like us05, pitching and fermenting at 18c is a good start.. You have a temperature controlled environment, may as well utilise it

 

[Bribie G]

As Stu says, come on up for the Home Brew section on April 9th, you can stay very comfortably at Roche's pub for around $50 and meet the crew. You'll need to grow a beard first.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Thanks guys I will give the us05 yeast a go, I've noticed that's a fairly popular yeast.
I saw there was a Coffs brew club AHB forum but there hasn't been any new posts there for quite a while?

 

[sp0rk]

Yeah, I was the one who started that
However I have a VERY short attention span and never got much organised (and then moved away)
brewmatt's Grafton club seems to be going really well, all of the local guys are quite knowledgeable and will help heaps you if ask
Don't bother going into the brew shop in town if you want good advice, Geoff is a nice guy but he's more focused on his turbo (yuck) spirits
Matt and Laurie out at Country Brewer in Toormy were kit brewers when they first opened the shop but now brew all grain in the grain father and give great advice, Matt's really nice bloke, he put up very patiently with me being a massive tight arse

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Yep Matt seems very helpful, first time I went into the store I knew nothing but we had a good chat, he gave me the Jack Faber book and sent me on my way. The next time I came back I decided to buy a kit and get started, again he explained everything clearly and said to give him a call with any questions along the way.
I didn't know there was another brew shop in town, I'm in Sawtell so it takes something special for me to leave paradise and venture into the big smoke anyway!

 

[sp0rk]

I'm in Sawtell so it takes something special for me to leave paradise and venture into the big smoke anyway!

Yeah, I lived in Boambee East for 7 years, I tried my best not to head north of the Uni
Everything south of that (bar the trailbike riding up at woopi) is just paradise
I'm really hoping to move back within the next 5 years

 

[Rocker1986]

Thanks Barge I had wondered about temperature of the fridge versus actual temperature of the wort inside plastic fermenter. I guess I should set my temp controller a little lower than 20 degrees?

Either that or tape the temp probe to the side of the FV underneath some foam to insulate it from the ambient temp. I use this method and it works well.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Coffs is a sh1t hole

Everything around Coffs is nice

 

[Bribie G]

Like most towns that were afflicted by the A1 going right down the main street, when the town gets bypassed, the CBD will really blossom. They may even put in bollards and fake antique lamp posts. Hang on that's a bit 90s.

However at the moment the town area is as ugly as a hat full of arseholes. Woolgoolga is nice, considered moving there last year but went bush instead.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The A1 bypasses Byron Pay, and it is still a sh1t hole....... B)

 

[sp0rk]

Like most towns that were afflicted by the A1 going right down the main street, when the town gets bypassed, the CBD will really blossom. They may even put in bollards and fake antique lamp posts. Hang on that's a bit 90s.

However at the moment the town area is as ugly as a hat full of arseholes. Woolgoolga is nice, considered moving there last year but went bush instead.

Should have moved to Bellingen

 

[Bribie G]

Too many of Stu's mates there.

 

[sp0rk]

I'm currently pressuring mrs sp0rk to buy a property somewhere around Raleigh/Bello/Crossmaglen etc so we can build a house eventually and move there once she can find a teaching job back up there

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I'm currently pressuring mrs sp0rk to buy a property somewhere around Raleigh/Bello/Crossmaglen etc so we can build a house eventually and move there once she can find a teaching job back up there

That is a nice area