Nick's Brewhouse
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Hmm might have to give that a go then as at this point I don't have an option to go with a brew fridge (but have mentioned to the minister of finance that a fridge might be on my Xmas list)Rocker1986 said:
Once these brews are finished I'll be starting some nice Ale yeast beers down here but not sure what to go with yet. The American Pale Ale I did tastes great but is a little malty and not bitter enough for my tastes. Might have to give an IPA a go but my experience with commercial IPAs has been that I'm not a huge fan. That being said I never liked Pale ales much until I made a couple so who knows. Tastes change and worst case scenario I make a beer I drink slowly God forbid...
Rocker1986
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You could always hop it up a little more next time. That's the beauty of home brewing - you can tailor it to your own tastes even if it isn't strictly to style guidelines. My APAs fall within the guidelines but I do bitter them towards the top end of the scale. They always come out nicely balanced to my palate. Not too malty, not too bitter. Just right. 
We'll being that it was my first all extract brew with a boil I just stuck to the recipe which had from memory a total of about 80g of Cascade in it. Might double it my next time around after checking beersmith and see what happens. The beer itself is good just not bitter enough for meRocker1986 said:You could always hop it up a little more next time. That's the beauty of home brewing - you can tailor it to your own tastes even if it isn't strictly to style guidelines. My APAs fall within the guidelines but I do bitter them towards the top end of the scale. They always come out nicely balanced to my palate. Not too malty, not too bitter. Just right.
Rocker1986
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Well that's fair enough on your first go of course. The good thing is though that you know what you're aiming for next time now so that should make it a bit easier to get closer to what you want. It took me a couple of batches to work out what I wanted my pale ales to turn out like. B)
hobospy
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Doesn't cost too much to get yourself setup with a fermentation fridge, got my setup for about a $120. $50 for a second hand fridge off of fleabay, $27 for an STC-1000 (temp control) and then the rest on wiring it up and housing the STC correctly. I'm pretty confident with working on the electrical side (used to be an apprentice sparky) so obviously it might cost a little more if you want a wired up STC. Basically what I am trying to say is don't think you have to go out and get an all singing all dancing fridge, just know the measurements of your fermenter and then start scouring the local adverts for a second hand one. Having said all that, the constant temperature in your basement is pretty good for brewing but probably more aimed at ales than lagers.NikZak said:
Hey folks,
Well it's been some time since I posted an update, this weekend got my basic K&K Thomas Cooper's Pilsener bottled at 4.5% and my Galaxy Craft Amber Ale bottled at 7.5% and started planning my next brews
Last night I got the Cooper's ROTM Helga's Kolsch into the fermenter in between cooking dinner for the family which went a treat on the beer front and a disaster on the dinner front (forgot to add salt to the pasta and pepper to the sauce!) Made some slight changes to the Helga's Kolsch over the recipe because I couldn't be bother separating half the BE2 to only add 500g. I did a 5L boil of the initial malt and hops with a slightly longer initial hop addition from 20 mins to 30 mins to account for the extra BE2 and made the volume in the FV up to 24L to bring the OG back down to where it needed to be at around 1.045 which should bring me a 5.0% ABV after bottling
I'll post some photos in a bit from the brew evening last night shortly but planning my next easy brew which will be the other Cooper's ROTM for the Craft kit which this month is an American Pale Ale I believe as well as my next full size brew which will likely be a full extract brew, probably in an American Pale Ale style as I really liked my last one but would like to try some different hop additions
My problem so far as a brewer has been that I've been doing lots of different types of beers without getting familiar with any one particular style so I figure I should try and get good or at least proficient at one style before moving onto another style. Then again, I have about 12 cans of goop that should probably get used up rather than just sitting in my basement/brewcave so maybe a couple of toucan brews will be coming up soon to get rid of a couple of those
stay tuned
Well it's been some time since I posted an update, this weekend got my basic K&K Thomas Cooper's Pilsener bottled at 4.5% and my Galaxy Craft Amber Ale bottled at 7.5% and started planning my next brews
Last night I got the Cooper's ROTM Helga's Kolsch into the fermenter in between cooking dinner for the family which went a treat on the beer front and a disaster on the dinner front (forgot to add salt to the pasta and pepper to the sauce!) Made some slight changes to the Helga's Kolsch over the recipe because I couldn't be bother separating half the BE2 to only add 500g. I did a 5L boil of the initial malt and hops with a slightly longer initial hop addition from 20 mins to 30 mins to account for the extra BE2 and made the volume in the FV up to 24L to bring the OG back down to where it needed to be at around 1.045 which should bring me a 5.0% ABV after bottling
I'll post some photos in a bit from the brew evening last night shortly but planning my next easy brew which will be the other Cooper's ROTM for the Craft kit which this month is an American Pale Ale I believe as well as my next full size brew which will likely be a full extract brew, probably in an American Pale Ale style as I really liked my last one but would like to try some different hop additions
My problem so far as a brewer has been that I've been doing lots of different types of beers without getting familiar with any one particular style so I figure I should try and get good or at least proficient at one style before moving onto another style. Then again, I have about 12 cans of goop that should probably get used up rather than just sitting in my basement/brewcave so maybe a couple of toucan brews will be coming up soon to get rid of a couple of those
stay tuned
I have been doing lots of Aussie pale ales with 1kg malt 200g crystal and various hops to dial in technique.
I started doing lots of different styles too. Doing that exposes you to lots of techniques quickly.
Doing similar things over and over helps you with consistency.
I'm hoping this translates into good beers when I lash out into my European lager tonight.
I started doing lots of different styles too. Doing that exposes you to lots of techniques quickly.
Doing similar things over and over helps you with consistency.
I'm hoping this translates into good beers when I lash out into my European lager tonight.
For the time being I'm going to stick to trying to whittle down my stocks of kits but as you said, with a couple of additions as I've yet to do that. Went to the LHBS last night and picked up a couple of different 25g packs of hops to add to a kit & kilo this weekend as two of my four fermenters are in action already and I'll need to keep one free for bottling until I can get my hands on a proper bottling bucket
Well, I won't be buying any Cooper's ROTM this month as one of them uses Falconer's Flight and I just don't trust it any more and the other just isn't really worth it for me... On the plus side, that leaves the fermenters free for experimentation so stay tuned folks and we'll have some interesting things coming up soon
TheBlackAdder
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You've either got a lot of friends or a lot of storage space....my brewhouse topic would still be on page 1 :S
Good to see the enthusiasm. Keep pumping out the brews!
Good to see the enthusiasm. Keep pumping out the brews!
Hey folks, a quick update on what's brewing at the moment:
In my Blue 'Big Green Shed' 30L Fermenter I have a Ginger beer going made from the can of Cooper's GB with 1Kg of Dark Muscovado Sugar and 500g of Light Muscovado sugar which started out at 1.036 OG which is going to probably be due to be bottled soon (haven't checked SG for a week, but it's been fermenting at 22-24 degrees
In my Cooper's Craft fermenter I've had the parmesan cheese smelling Falconer's Flight Cooper's ROTM Westside Pale Ale which from my taste and hydrometer test the other day is tasting good (surprising given the off smelling hops) and down to 1.016-1.018 so should be getting close to bottling this weekend or early next week
In one of my 30L regular LHBS fermenters I have the Helga's Cool Kolsch finishing up with a OG of 1.046 and currently sitting at 1.012 it should certainly be done this weekend and is tasting great also
As soon as those are done I'm putting down a three-can brew at 22L using a can of Cooper's APA, Coopers Dark Ale and Cooper's Real Ale which according to Beersmith will produce a 1.069 OG with an FG of 1.017, 6.86% ABV with 106 IBU and 31.2EBC... Now I don't know about you guys but should I be perhaps adding some Lactose to this to sweeten it up or should an FG of around 1.017 be enough sweetness to offset the bitterness?
Also Will be putting down in the Blue fermenter another APA can but this time with 1Kg of DME which will get a 25g addition of Chinook at 20mins to add a bit more bitterness and flavour to the brew, but will get back to you all with a schedule for this one as I haven't got it where I want it yet
Have a good one folks
In my Blue 'Big Green Shed' 30L Fermenter I have a Ginger beer going made from the can of Cooper's GB with 1Kg of Dark Muscovado Sugar and 500g of Light Muscovado sugar which started out at 1.036 OG which is going to probably be due to be bottled soon (haven't checked SG for a week, but it's been fermenting at 22-24 degrees
In my Cooper's Craft fermenter I've had the parmesan cheese smelling Falconer's Flight Cooper's ROTM Westside Pale Ale which from my taste and hydrometer test the other day is tasting good (surprising given the off smelling hops) and down to 1.016-1.018 so should be getting close to bottling this weekend or early next week
In one of my 30L regular LHBS fermenters I have the Helga's Cool Kolsch finishing up with a OG of 1.046 and currently sitting at 1.012 it should certainly be done this weekend and is tasting great also
As soon as those are done I'm putting down a three-can brew at 22L using a can of Cooper's APA, Coopers Dark Ale and Cooper's Real Ale which according to Beersmith will produce a 1.069 OG with an FG of 1.017, 6.86% ABV with 106 IBU and 31.2EBC... Now I don't know about you guys but should I be perhaps adding some Lactose to this to sweeten it up or should an FG of around 1.017 be enough sweetness to offset the bitterness?
Also Will be putting down in the Blue fermenter another APA can but this time with 1Kg of DME which will get a 25g addition of Chinook at 20mins to add a bit more bitterness and flavour to the brew, but will get back to you all with a schedule for this one as I haven't got it where I want it yet
Have a good one folks
Just a question Re: Bulk Priming, I want to give it my first go when I bottle the Helga's hopefully this weekend or early next week but want to know how much sugar (I'll be using white table sugar) I should put in to the solution I'll be adding to my second fermenter which I'll be using as a bottling bucket. I'm guessing 2.5 vols of CO2 is where it needs to be (or whatever the equivalent of 2 carb drops per 750mL bottle works out to I guess)
For reference, the brew has been going at 16 degrees and my calculator (Brewzor) comes up with 128.1g of Table Sugar for 22L of beer, does that sound about right?
I'll be dissolving it in about 200mL of water and racking onto it
Cheers
For reference, the brew has been going at 16 degrees and my calculator (Brewzor) comes up with 128.1g of Table Sugar for 22L of beer, does that sound about right?
I'll be dissolving it in about 200mL of water and racking onto it
Cheers
Well folks. It's brew night tonight. Getting what I'm calling "Real IPA" on. Using a can of Cooper's Real Ale as the base but doing a boil containing 1kg of brigalow extra malt brewing sugar and be1 (it's all the fermenter fermentable things I have) with a 20 min 10g Galaxy and 15 min 25g Chinook before cooling and adding the can to the mix
I'll be pitching this onto a us-05 yeast cake from the batch of Helgas Cool Kolsch that I'll be bottling while this is cooling
I'll be pitching this onto a us-05 yeast cake from the batch of Helgas Cool Kolsch that I'll be bottling while this is cooling
Digga
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I really like the real ale can been doing and RA (Red ale or Real Ale) with 1 kg dex and 1 kg DME with 30g of a different variety of hop each time. When mixed to 23 to 25L yields around 6% and is a fucken nice beer. Been dry hopping with an additional 30g and loving the outcome..
As said before love the idea of the thread mate and the dedication to the cause!
As said before love the idea of the thread mate and the dedication to the cause!
Hey folks
Been away for the last couple of weeks and a bit out of action on the brewing front.
have accidentally left the Real IPA on the yeast for that long, wondering whether it's all lost or should it be fine? it's been sitting for a bit over a month and I'm not sure whether to tip it or bottle it tonight
Been away for the last couple of weeks and a bit out of action on the brewing front.
have accidentally left the Real IPA on the yeast for that long, wondering whether it's all lost or should it be fine? it's been sitting for a bit over a month and I'm not sure whether to tip it or bottle it tonight
