Newbie Questions

[skramp_84]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site and to home brewing. I am a qualified chemist and would eventually love to start my own micro brewery. So I thought what better place to learn about beer and brewing than with homebrews. I am starting off with kits and working my way up, as I want to completely understand the process from all angles.

My first brew was a Tooheys Lagar kit made as per instructions-the result was beer! Plain ordinary beer, nice head but nothing really special and a fairly tinny after taste. Its more of a "ill have a few after ive had a few others". For my next brew I would love to make something of a cross between LCPA and a corona. Something slightly Citrusy but with that great mango flavour. I dont have a fridge as yet so can't rack and only have one fermenter. I ferment in my shed which maintains a temp of about 24 degress at the moment.

The other beer I really like at the moment, I believe is called James Squire "Vintage ale". Can anyone recomend an imitation to this also?

One more thing, I understand it is possible to use liqures for priming, is it also possible to use liqures as a sugar in the fermenter? If so, how much of the flavour carries through to the beer and how much do people use?

Thanks in advance everyone for any help,
Daniel

 

[Adamt]

Welcome,

Few quick tips from me:

-There's a whole bunch of sticky topics in the forums that discuss some of the most common questions for new brewers, do some light reading of them without swarming yourself.

-The tinny taste usually comes from old/partly stale malt extract. The key with kit/extract brewing is to get the freshest kits and freshest malt extract available.

-Fermenting at 24C is way too hot, the kit producers put a broad range of temperatures on the can to make it seem like brewing is a lot easier than it is. Ferment around 18-20C and you will notice a vast change in quality. Higher temperature fermentation can produce fusel alcohols (nasty solvent-flavour and causes headaches) and esters (sometimes wanted).

-Never heard of anyone using liqueors in any beers. Be wary that yeast can only work up to certain alcohol %s (depending on the strain), adding liqueors to the fermenter in large quantities may stop yeast activity before the beer is finished. It is possible to create many flavours in a beer without artificial flavouring, by selection of malts, hops, yeast and fermentation conditions.

As anyone new to homebrewing should do (its hard!), is take baby steps instead of leaps. Concentrate on changing 1 or 2 things each batch and experience how each thing changes the batch. For example, next batch concentrate on getting some fresh kits/malt extracts (hopefully someone in your area can direct you to a good home brew store), and keep the brew around 18-20C (there are topics everywhere on the forum about temperature control).

A bit more than a few quick tips but ehhh..

Adam

 

[craig maher]

One more thing, I understand it is possible to use liqures for priming, is it also possible to use liqures as a sugar in the fermenter? If so, how much of the flavour carries through to the beer and how much do people use?

Thanks in advance everyone for any help,
Daniel

Homebrewing for Dummies by Marty Nachel talks of this being possibe given the high sugar content of some liqueurs. Haven't tried it myself though.

I think from memory he suggests things like a blackberry liqueur and wheat beer or chocolate / coffee liqueur for stout etc. As for primimng volume - I guess it will depend upon the amonut and type of sugar contained in the liqueur and the amount of flavour you want in the finished beer.

Maybe try priming a couple of bottles in your next batch as an experiement - might be trial and error to get carbonation levels right.

Cheers


Craig