West End Draught

[tangent]

thats a fair point Murray
although Darren makes a good point that there are some drinkable SA beers out there if you look past the norm.
Take Coopers for example

 

[Uncle Fester]

Why not have a go at replicating WED, and then be totally rapt when the result is so far superior to what you intended.

If WED tastes far better after 2 schooners, then you will be pissed and amazed (literally) at the outcome of your experiment.

Soon you will be thinking... 'What if I add a little bit of malt, and maybe steep some grains.... And what about some extra hops..."

Soon you will be prepared to put your own inventions up against any of the commercial megaswill in a blind taste-off.


Oh, and has anyone mentioned the comparative lack of hangover you can look forward to? (All bets are off if you finish the night off with a Port or two.... h34r:

I got back into brewing after 15 years on a quest to replicate Hahn Premium. Thank god I overshot that target!

Things have certainly changed during my absence. There were only Brigalow and the first basic Coopers kits available at the supermarket then. And HBS were non existant. At least we used Aussie cane sugar :blink:


Have a go, and report back on your results.



Festa

 

[houso]

Dude,
The whole point of homebrewing is to brew something that tastes good.
Why bother assing about trying to clone WED when you can buy it for feck all at the bottlo?
By the time you buy the ingredients, and factor in a few hours or screwing around, you will have spent more than the carton of piss would have in the first place.
I think alot of people in Australia undervalue their time, and sheesh, 10 hours spent trying to re create a crap beer for scratch, seems like either some truly false economy, or fanaticism.
But if you have time to waste, be my guest.

I can afford to buy any Beer i like and alot of it, i guess the idea is that it is a hobbie to make it yourself and try different things and maybe my beer will end up better than what you can buy?
If you are making a kit beer and kegging it it doesnt take that long at all really. :chug: :chug:

 

[dicko]

Hi houso,
Back in my kit days I used to get a tin of Bi Low/Coles brand lager and 500 gr of dextrose 350gr of light dried malt and 125 gr of dried wheat malt and brew it with the yeast that was under the lid.
It turned out a good beer (relative to ingredients and methods) and while I dont think anyone will replicate that West End taste at home it was a good substitute (read better).

In the late '70's I used to dring a beer they(west end) produced called West End Bitter.
IMO it was streets ahead of Southwark and during that time I met a bloke who was a maintenance electrician at the brewery.
Now, he told me that the West End Bitter and the Southwark Premium of the day were the same beer.
Apparently, it was an economic decision to brew large batches of the Southwark Premium but as it was a premium beer it was retailed at a higher price (of course) and therefor didnt sell the quantities as quick as the Southwark.
To move stocks along they sold the same beer as West End Bitter according to my electrician friend.
I dont know how true all this is but I guess this guy had no reason to BS.

I do know that since LN got there grubby little mits on this state icon that their product, IMO, is on a downhill slide.
Good luck with your brew Houso.

Cheers