bartron
Active Member
- Joined
- 11/3/05
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi......first time poster.
I'm fairly new to home brewing and wasn't expecting any world class stuff but was at least hoping for some enjoyable beer.
I've done 2 brews now, 1st was a kilkenny-esk brew that my local homebrew shop gave the recipe for. Tasted brilliant except for the big fat bubbles...and lots of them. Was down to the last 8 bottles before I realised I could release the gas and re-cap them...those last 8 were rather nice...not much gas left. Still, I chalked that one down to experience (wee bit too much priming sugar methinks).
2nd brew was a coopers lager. Nothing special, although I got the same 'too much carbonation" problem even though I was careful not to use too much sugar. Also it is rather watery. This one was done with malt extract and Coopers brew enhancer 1. Still tastes ok though. Did I use too much water perhaps? (I filled to 23 litres)
Both brews I made sure to wait until fermenting stopped and SG was stable so for my third and fourth I was hoping to try bulk priming but I don't have a 2nd fermenter. Is there an easy way of doing this? (I was thinking of disolving some dextrose and pitching it into the wort...bad idea or no?).
Lastly, I have an old fridge that I'm going to replace the thermostat in and keep it at around 18C so I can ferment in summer (I've been kicked out of the laundry ). Any suggestions for winter brewing? The fridge is in the garage so will get quite cold in the winter months (Canberra temps around -4 -5 at night mostly) so I'll need a way of warming up the interior if it gets too cool.
Sorry for the long post. My wife thinks she has unleashed a monster (and a messy one at that after spilling wort on the laundry bench....hence the eviction). So far I'm enjoying the act of brewing more than the brew itself. Hoping eventually to try an all grain brew.
Cheers,
Bart
I'm fairly new to home brewing and wasn't expecting any world class stuff but was at least hoping for some enjoyable beer.
I've done 2 brews now, 1st was a kilkenny-esk brew that my local homebrew shop gave the recipe for. Tasted brilliant except for the big fat bubbles...and lots of them. Was down to the last 8 bottles before I realised I could release the gas and re-cap them...those last 8 were rather nice...not much gas left. Still, I chalked that one down to experience (wee bit too much priming sugar methinks).
2nd brew was a coopers lager. Nothing special, although I got the same 'too much carbonation" problem even though I was careful not to use too much sugar. Also it is rather watery. This one was done with malt extract and Coopers brew enhancer 1. Still tastes ok though. Did I use too much water perhaps? (I filled to 23 litres)
Both brews I made sure to wait until fermenting stopped and SG was stable so for my third and fourth I was hoping to try bulk priming but I don't have a 2nd fermenter. Is there an easy way of doing this? (I was thinking of disolving some dextrose and pitching it into the wort...bad idea or no?).
Lastly, I have an old fridge that I'm going to replace the thermostat in and keep it at around 18C so I can ferment in summer (I've been kicked out of the laundry ). Any suggestions for winter brewing? The fridge is in the garage so will get quite cold in the winter months (Canberra temps around -4 -5 at night mostly) so I'll need a way of warming up the interior if it gets too cool.
Sorry for the long post. My wife thinks she has unleashed a monster (and a messy one at that after spilling wort on the laundry bench....hence the eviction). So far I'm enjoying the act of brewing more than the brew itself. Hoping eventually to try an all grain brew.
Cheers,
Bart