Home Brewing

[3175darren 1,100]

My brew bubbling away. Is there any way to find out how strong beer is given the fact I forgot to take a hydrometer reading before fermentation?

there could be a way some instrument, I would take a guide from what the instructions say it should end at, I think that’s your only option now,

[crowsnest 55]

drinking a batch of wheat beer at the mo, got another under the stairs ready, got another upstairs, that one a porter,and going to start another in a couple of days, enough for a siege i think, you could say i was a keen homebrewer

[DIDO.1 22,627]

Our kid brews cider but the last ones I tried were a bit rough...think he's finally cracked it though, had one last night and it was great. Totally clear and fizzy, looked just like thatchers and tasted better. I didn't realise that when you brew cider you don't add anything, the apples use their own yeast, he just adds a bit of sugar to prime the finished bottles. Any way him and my mate have pooled their apples and it was pressing day....so I decided to get in on the act...was had work with a 12 litre press....6 hours!

We are going to buy a big press between us for next year...need to find a better way of crushing them as well.

[3175darren 1,100]

Our kid brews cider but the last ones I tried were a bit rough...think he's finally cracked it though, had one last night and it was great. Totally clear and fizzy, looked just like thatchers and tasted better. I didn't realise that when you brew cider you don't add anything, the apples use their own yeast, he just adds a bit of sugar to prime the finished bottles. Any way him and my mate have pooled their apples and it was pressing day....so I decided to get in on the act...was had work with a 12 litre press....6 hours!

We are going to buy a big press between us for next year...need to find a better way of crushing them as well.

did they keg it or stick it in a jar with air lock, they recon a garden shredder works well for pulping the apples,

[DIDO.1 22,627]

Half in a big bucket half in demijohns....all with air locks

[Blackbriar 8,569]

drinking a batch of wheat beer at the mo, got another under the stairs ready, got another upstairs, that one a porter,and going to start another in a couple of days, enough for a siege i think, you could say i was a keen homebrewer

....or a keen drinker ?

[ryaldinhio 4,502]

My old man makes wine had some good ones had some double bad ones. Have to sah tho that bananna wine he makes is amazin. Tastes lovely and kicks like a mule on speed.

[J_Edwards 70]

The Woodforde’s kits are brilliant, especially the Wherry. If done right, it’s better than any pint I’ve had in a pub. Tasty and goes down like you’re not even drinking it. I’ve made dozens of these, and they just keep getting better and better. You don’t need to add any sugar to Woodforde’s kits, only 40g or so when you put it into a barrel. They taste exceptional.

 

The Cooper’s kits can be good, but make sure to use spraymalt or dextrose instead of sugar. I’m not a fan of using supermarket sugar, my first few kits were terrible this way.

 

Brewferm kits are bang-on, but ideally these need to be bottled and saved for six months before drinking. Much stronger Belgian-style beers, to be drank in small chalices. They taste so much better with age, and will pack up to 11% ABV. Tripel is just like Duvel, and Abdij is just a generic Trappist beer.

 

In my experience, the key to brewing an excellent pint is consistent temperature control. If you can keep a consistent 20 degrees, you’ll be surprised at how much better the brew is. I built a temperature controller for this reason.

 

A golden rule is that a home brewer always has a few bottles hidden away, which is completely true. The amount of times we’ve ran out of booze and I’ve stumbled across an old bottle of mead or damsen wine is uncountable.

[DIDO.1 22,627]

Mines sitting at 22 degrees constantly

[3175darren 1,100]

Half in a big bucket half in demijohns....all with air locks

I only ask as I say Hugh fearnly doing some on river cottage, and they seemed to just pour it into a wood barrel and seal it, I often wondered why it didn’t blow,

[3175darren 1,100]

The Woodforde’s kits are brilliant, especially the Wherry. If done right, it’s better than any pint I’ve had in a pub. Tasty and goes down like you’re not even drinking it. I’ve made dozens of these, and they just keep getting better and better. You don’t need to add any sugar to Woodforde’s kits, only 40g or so when you put it into a barrel. They taste exceptional.

The Cooper’s kits can be good, but make sure to use spraymalt or dextrose instead of sugar. I’m not a fan of using supermarket sugar, my first few kits were terrible this way.

Brewferm kits are bang-on, but ideally these need to be bottled and saved for six months before drinking. Much stronger Belgian-style beers, to be drank in small chalices. They taste so much better with age, and will pack up to 11% ABV. Tripel is just like Duvel, and Abdij is just a generic Trappist beer.

In my experience, the key to brewing an excellent pint is consistent temperature control. If you can keep a consistent 20 degrees, you’ll be surprised at how much better the brew is. I built a temperature controller for this reason.

A golden rule is that a home brewer always has a few bottles hidden away, which is completely true. The amount of times we’ve ran out of booze and I’ve stumbled across an old bottle of mead or damsen wine is uncountable.

Mines sitting at 22 degrees constantly

i agree about temp consistency but how do you lads achieve it, I have a brew heater, it’s similar to a fish tank heater,I am up on the borders, and the temp is up and down like a brides knighty, also how do think barometric pressure affects it, or even if you agree it does,

[antg 1,765]

 

The Woodforde’s kits are brilliant, especially the Wherry. If done right, it’s better than any pint I’ve had in a pub. Tasty and goes down like you’re not even drinking it. I’ve made dozens of these, and they just keep getting better and better. You don’t need to add any sugar to Woodforde’s kits, only 40g or so when you put it into a barrel. They taste exceptional.

The Cooper’s kits can be good, but make sure to use spraymalt or dextrose instead of sugar. I’m not a fan of using supermarket sugar, my first few kits were terrible this way.

Brewferm kits are bang-on, but ideally these need to be bottled and saved for six months before drinking. Much stronger Belgian-style beers, to be drank in small chalices. They taste so much better with age, and will pack up to 11% ABV. Tripel is just like Duvel, and Abdij is just a generic Trappist beer.

In my experience, the key to brewing an excellent pint is consistent temperature control. If you can keep a consistent 20 degrees, you’ll be surprised at how much better the brew is. I built a temperature controller for this reason.

A golden rule is that a home brewer always has a few bottles hidden away, which is completely true. The amount of times we’ve ran out of booze and I’ve stumbled across an old bottle of mead or damsen wine is uncountable.

Mines sitting at 22 degrees constantly

i agree about temp consistency but how do you lads achieve it, I have a brew heater, it’s similar to a fish tank heater,I am up on the borders, and the temp is up and down like a brides knighty, also how do think barometric pressure affects it, or even if you agree it does,

 

easiest way is to set up a fridge with a small tube heater and a temperature controller. very easy and works a treat. have a look on youtube for vids.

[J_Edwards 70]

Bang right Ant, that’s what I’ve done. I bought a temperature controller from eBay (£20) from China, and with a few quid of electrical supplies from Screwfix and PoundStretcher, made a module. You pretty much plug a fridge into one end, and a belt heater into the other. You put your fermenter into the fridge, the heating belt around the fermenter, drop the temperature probe into the wort, and set the controller to 20 degrees.

 

It’s just a closed-loop system, like air conditioning. You set your temperature, when the probe feels it getting half a degree too cold, the controller turns-on the heater until the temperature’s back up again. Keeps it bang-on 20 degrees.

 

In the British climate, you’ll find the fridge never turns on, as the ambient temperature is very rarely above 20 degrees, so the wort never needs to be cooled. The heater just keeps turning off and on again to keep it at 20 degrees. I brewed a lager once, and had the temperature set at 11 degrees as far as I can remember. That was the only time the controller had more of a job keeping it cool, rather than warm.

 

On the topic of lager, a decent one is much more difficult to brew than an ale. Ale has a lot more character, and you have a lot more room for manouvering with an ale. Strange tastes are easily disguised as “character”. You don’t have that luxury with a lager. Lagers have to be crisp, cool, and have a taste within certain limits. If you can brew a proper “true” lager, you can brew anything.

 

I’ve always had the opinion that “true” lagers are from lands east of Germany, with cold climates, such as Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, etc. The stuff you get in a can from your off-licence in my opinion isn’t lager, it’s just pale, cold, fizzy ale that’s refreshing and pleases most people. Fosters, Carling, etc. No thanks. Try Pilsner Urquell, Svyturys, or Baltika, now that’s lager! Lagers use a bottom-fermenting yeast, pale malt, soft-water, and are brewed in much colder temperatures. Back in the day they stored barrels of this in caves. The German word for “to store” is “lagen”. Hence the word “lager”.

 

Another bit of trivia is that lager becoming so popular was a bit of an accident. The Czechs had been brewing it for a while, and glass-making became a big industry in the area. The beer glass came about, and people were amazed at being able to see this pale, fizzy beer for the first time. That’s where the word “Pilsner” comes from, relating to the town of origin, Pilsen in the Czech Republic.

[Blackbriar 8,569]

 

On the subject of commercially sold lagers, I have to agree that East European brands are much tastier.

 

My best mate is Hungarian, so we usually hammer Dreher, Arany Aszok or Pecs. Commercially made, but each is very distinctive, and nothing like any lager from the pub.....one or more should be in your nearest East European shop. Worth a try !

 

My bit of beer trivia.....

 

Never try to clink glasses with a Hungarian ! The story is that they never do it, as Austrian soldiers celebrated that way, after executing Hungarian partisans.