TUBS kit from OzBrew

[welly2]

While I'm waiting for my AG kit to arrive, as I have a fermenter I thought I'd grab a kit to keep me going for the meantime. I went into OzBrew in Darwin to pick up a few accessories and saw their TUBS kit. I know someone previously mentioned they'd bought and used one with some success a little while ago. Wanted to add a few more thoughts about it. I haven't actually started a brew yet - I'm doing that tomorrow but I've bought the S.A. Pale Ale - assuming from the label it'll be something in the vein of a Cooper's Green. I also picked up one of their grain infusion pack - a pack of pilsner grain in a bag - which is something the guy at the shop thought might be an interesting addition. I considered picking up some finishing hops as well to chuck in but one step at a time I think!

I'll be having my brew day tomorrow so will let you know how I get on with it.

Cheers,

welly

 

[welly2]

I've just put the yeast in. The kit was, as all kits are, easy enough to do. 10L of water from the "cold" tap, added the malt while, as the instructions said, a hop bag was sat in hot water doing its thing. Mixed up the malt and water, then topped up the water to 20L and added the hop bag with the hoppy water. I boiled water for the grain addition and let that simmer for 15 minutes and added that to my fermenter. The temperature of the wort was over 30C so have had the air conditioning blasting away at it to try and reduce it down.

I've just managed to get it down to 30C which is the upper limit of this yeast so the yeast is now in and we'll have to see what happens. It'll either work or it won't! I took a reading with my hydrometer, and the OG came in at 1.045. The brew tasted pretty good out of the hydrometer tube but what happens remains to be seen. I'm a bit concerned about the temperature my room will get to during the day when I'm not here.

Roll on getting a fermenting fridge!

 

[yum beer]

Please say you didn't boil the grain.......BAD
Grain should steep in warm water, 65ish degrees for about 1/2 hour, strain then boil liquid for 10 minutes to kill nasties before adding to wort.
Boiling grain generally can produce nasty flavours, in your whole kit you might get away with it but avoid in the future.
Temps will be problematic in Darwin with a fridge.

 

[hoppy2B]

Pilsner grain, mmmm should have some nice DMS happening there, enjoy.

Steep the grain in a grain bag as stated above in water at 65C. Remove grain from water and boil water for a minimum of 30 minutes, preferably 60. You can add your hops to this wort. If using Crystal grains, these don't require a long boil.

You can use cotton sheet wrapped around your grain and tied up with some string as a grain bag.

 

[welly2]

Ah ha. So it's seems like it'll be interesting to see what happens with this beer if/when it fermets! I didn't boil the grains constantly. Boiled water (as the destructions said) and put the grain bag in the boiled water and left it for 10-15 minutes. So I guess it'll end up being either terrible or slightly less than terrible.

Have ordered an STC-1000 from eBay. I'm going to find a fridge this week.

 

[welly2]

I've just bought a fridge. I need to find a hobby where you don't chuck money at it left, right and centre one of these days.

 

[lindseyyy]

When you find that hobby which you don't throw money at left, right and centre let me know! I will be interested to know what it is.

 

[BrosysBrews]

I've just put the yeast in. The kit was, as all kits are, easy enough to do. 10L of water from the "cold" tap, added the malt while, as the instructions said, a hop bag was sat in hot water doing its thing. Mixed up the malt and water, then topped up the water to 20L and added the hop bag with the hoppy water. I boiled water for the grain addition and let that simmer for 15 minutes and added that to my fermenter. The temperature of the wort was over 30C so have had the air conditioning blasting away at it to try and reduce it down.

I've just managed to get it down to 30C which is the upper limit of this yeast so the yeast is now in and we'll have to see what happens. It'll either work or it won't! I took a reading with my hydrometer, and the OG came in at 1.045. The brew tasted pretty good out of the hydrometer tube but what happens remains to be seen. I'm a bit concerned about the temperature my room will get to during the day when I'm not here.

Roll on getting a fermenting fridge!

May be a struggle in Darwin but 20 is better then 30 or as close to 20 as you can get for an ale

 

[welly2]

Yeah, next brew will be fermenting at the correct temperature. Got a fridge and just waiting on my stc-1000 to be delivered. I'm amazed it actually fermented to be honest. But it's sitting at just over 1.010 at the moment. Will check tomorrow and possibly bottle it tomorrow night.

 

[welly2]

Ok, so it settled at 1.011 and I've just bottled 20 litres of the stuff. As regards to the DMS - I suspect there is a little bit of that going on, there's a smell that while isn't exactly creamed corn, it's something I can't quite place. The taste of the beer is not fantastic but not terrible. I dare say when it carbonates and is served cold, it should be at the very least drinkable. Colour is good and clarity is surprisingly really good. Anyway, it's on the shelf doing it's thing - I'll come back to it in a couple of weeks I suppose.

STC-1000 hasn't turned up yet. It's been a week. It's got a fair way to come, I guess - Sydney to Darwin :-/

 

[nedsrest]

My stc took nearly 2weeks to arrive in Darwin from Sydney. Not sure what the hold up was

 

[TheBigD]

My stc took nearly 2weeks to arrive in Darwin from Sydney. Not sure what the hold up was

Remember it had to travel some 30 years back in time to get there

 

[nedsrest]

Mid larger kit. 2 weeks fermentation at 26 deg. 1.022OG, 1.005FG. Bottled today nice and clear looking

 

[manticle]

Is your brew shop selling pilsner grain as a brew addition with no clear instruction on using it properly?

 

[GrumpyPaul]

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1414379201.007709.jpgMid larger kit. 2 weeks fermentation at 26 deg. 1.022OG, 1.005FG. Bottled today nice and clear looking

You will soon tire of bottling in 330ml stubbies - go long necks and cut down on more than half the effort. (even better throw more money at the hobby and get into kegging)

And...

Avoid bottling in clear bottles or be prepared to store them in a dark place.

Look up "light strike" or "skunking"....

I did exactly as you did on my first brews - you will soon know when those clear bottles have been affected by light....tastes ****!

 

[slash22000]

It's a shocking store. They sell nothing but those kits you see above (maybe some Coopers cans etc too), with a small mini fridge filled with random tiny bags of hops/yeasts for double the price you can buy them elsewhere. I went in there looking for crystal malt once and was told "Nobody uses grains anymore, it's a waste of time" and they tried to convince me to buy one of their kits instead. They charge $30 for those kits too, which is basically just hopped liquid malt in a bag with a bag of dry extract chucked in on the side. I'm 99% sure they just open Coopers cans and pour them into those plastic bags to sell off as their own kits.

 

[nedsrest]

And here I thought I should help support local shops rather than the interweb. It was a kit I grabbed when I got the starter kit. As for kegs well as its my second brew its a little early to throw money at something your not sure how it'll turn out

 

[welly2]

Just cracked open the first bottle of my TUBS brew.

It's been bottle carbonating for two weeks now and it seems that either isn't enough or it's not going to carbonate for whatever reason. I'll give it another week and see what happens. I used two of those dextrose drops per bottle (740ml PET bottles). But if nothing else, I know what it tastes like at least.

Amazingly I'm not getting the creamed corn nose from it. I'm also not getting much in the way of flavours from the grain additions and not much, if anything, from the hops either. I'm getting subtle peach flavours, which was surprising. But that's about the only flavour I'm getting from it. It's a bit bland and I'm not sure what I'll be doing with the other 19+ litres of it! I can't imagine myself drinking it to be honest.

Not exactly sure what went wrong, but I would guess the variable high fermenting temperature probably didn't help much/at all because the wort going into the fermenter wasn't terrible at all. The last kit brew I made, about two years ago, the Coopers DIY beer kit, was significantly more tasty than this one.

The saving grace, if it is one, is the colour which is fantastic! It's quite clear, all things considered and it's got this wonderful medium dark sherry or muscat colour. Shame it doesn't taste of it.

 

[Mozz]

Welly the beer you describe sounds very similar to what I've got with a TUBS brew- Qld lager. Easy drinking and no off flavours even though it brewed at 30C but at the end of the day it basically tastes like sweet, slightly malty carbonated water. I will drink it however.
There is no real info as to what the ingredients are in the kits other than a malt extract (? Type), a brew enhancer (ingredients not specified) and a few grams of hops. Their Y1 yeast seems very temp tolerant but I wonder if that is at the cost of flavours. Disappointed the steeped grain didn't add much as I wanted to try this next.
I can't knock them too much because they make for an easy reliable start into brewing.
I wonder if the coopers kits brewed with the Y1 would taste different to the Coopers yeast?
Will be getting ferment fridge ASAP in any case. Just kegged a cider and the fusel alcohols are out of control. Hope it mellows with age. The TUBS with the Y1at same temp has no fusel alc taste

 

[welly2]

Welly the beer you describe sounds very similar to what I've got with a TUBS brew- Qld lager. Easy drinking and no off flavours even though it brewed at 30C but at the end of the day it basically tastes like sweet, slightly malty carbonated water. I will drink it however.

Yep, that's exactly what it is. I'm going to give it another week in the bottle and see what happens re: the carbonation. Next batch will be an all grain now I've got my AG gear sorted.