Unsure newbie needing guidance: Kegland Helles Fire Munich Larger

[MHB]

Off to judge at the local comp, so very briefly: -
Pretty much 100% agree.
Good brewers make good beer, if you know what you’re doing a couple of plastic buckets and a keggle will make as good a beer as the world’s most automated bling box brewery. Most important is learning how to brew.
Mark

PS Have a Braumeister and love it, mostly for the repeatability it gives, which makes fine tuning recipes so easy.
M

 

[yankinoz]

ndrew QUOTE

I've (perhaps unfairly) assumed the supplied dried yeast is going to be a big downgrade on a good quality liquid yeast.

"Supplied" yeast can be, but is not necessarily, problematic for reasons already noted.

Yes, dry vs liquid yeast is a recurring issue. My take is everything depends on the style you're aiming at. For most American ale syles other than NEIPAs I like US-05 as well as liquid yeasts that are from the same source. Pacman and San Diego are liquid, have their special characteristics and no dry equivalent that I know of. But the house yeast in my imaginary brewery is dry BRY-97. And yes, there are commercial breweries that use dry yeasts,

In other styles it gets more complicated. For some lagers and British ales there are quite good dry yeasts, but for others and most Belgian styles and those NEIPAs, the makers of dry yeasts are improving their methods and selection, but you'll generally do better with liquid yeasts if you're aiming to clone or emulate a particular beer.

 

[Morgz]

next year I will have been home brewing off and on for 50yrs (longer if you include watermelon rum in my mom's stocking aided and abetted by my dad, don't ask, I come from a strange family)

50 years, that's one hell of a ride. I bet there are a few more of those stories you're holding out on.

 

[ndrew]

Here it is, 24 hours post cold crash. FG is stable at 1.012 and it doesn’t taste like complete scheiße, so that’s a win!

So, obviously it needs to clear up a lot yet. But I really wanted to dry a glass!

Wow, there were a lot of lessons out of this for my first brew. I’m grateful for all the feedback provided and I’m already implementing lessons learned and the advice in batch number two.

Cheers!

— andrew

 

[Grmblz]

Nice head, shame about the orange watch strap
Mate, so glad it wasn't a drain job, welcome to "our" world.
And now it begins

 

[Morgz]

Well done mate.

It's a slippery slope down the rabbit hole, watch all that money you may have saved get lost in all the new gadgets.

 

[ndrew]

Chucked some gelatine into the fermenter before I transferred it off to the keg then gave it other couple of days. Cleared up a heap and no doubt would continue to clear if I left it in the keg long enough. That, however, is unlikely to happen as I keep drinking the stuff!

What do you think of the final colour?

Lots learnt and loads of fun had. Main thing is this stuff tastes pretty good. Like Carlton Draught but with a bit more flavour and character. Piss poor explanation, but I’m a pretty simple bloke!

Cheers!

 

[Grmblz]

Correction @ndrew, you were! "a pretty simple bloke" before sticking your head down the rabbit hole
Prepare yourself to become a lot more complicated
As already mentioned a Helles it aint, way too dark, but it turned out drinkable/enjoyable and really that's all that matters unless you're into comp's.
Just remember that 19L might seem like a lot, but you'll be surprised at just how quickly the dreaded foamy/gurgling of an empty keg comes along, I hope you have something in your fermenter.

 

[yankinoz]

Rename it Herr Ndrewsens Helles Dunkel. Problem solved.

 

[A33a18]

View attachment 120637
Chucked some gelatine into the fermenter before I transferred it off to the keg then gave it other couple of days. Cleared up a heap and no doubt would continue to clear if I left it in the keg long enough. That, however, is unlikely to happen as I keep drinking the stuff!

What do you think of the final colour?

Lots learnt and loads of fun had. Main thing is this stuff tastes pretty good. Like Carlton Draught but with a bit more flavour and character. Piss poor explanation, but I’m a pretty simple bloke!

Cheers!

what was your recipe? i'm looking at trying my first ever brew next week. Cheers Aaron

 

[ndrew]

what was your recipe? i'm looking at trying my first ever brew next week. Cheers Aaron

Used this recipe kit from Kegland. As you'll read upthread, perhaps it wasn't the best choice as a first brew, but it's certainly wound up OK in the end.

Currently have a Coopers XPA clone and Coopers Dark Ale clone going in the fermenters following the recipes on diybeer.com/recipes. They're pretty simple and easy to follow recipes. I'm fermenting the XPA clone with Kveik Voss and it's 90% done 24 hours after pitching The gravity sample I took today tasted beautiful too!

Good luck!

 

[Morgz]

Ahh, the dreaded blow. The only thing that can make that feeling a little less ****, is if you're lucky enough to have 3/4 of a pint in your hand.