Homebrew thread

[Ferris]

I'm back in the game, by the way. Picked my new gear up last weekend - came with a free extract kit so will take a stroll down memory lane and do that at some point. Promised the father in law and brother in law I'd let them help me brew next time I did it, so will have to get my mash tun and grain bag ready for round 2.

First brew in 2+ years, kit so it took about 30 minutes beginning to end.

[TommyTurnips]

Is that mineral water? I really should try that. I just use tap water.

[Ferris]

Good eye, yeah we got our lead pipes replaced a few months back and you're supposed to filter all your water after the replacement for 6 months (god knows why). At this point I think it's a bit daft (it's been 3 months, how much lead can possibly be left?!) but considering I'll likely give a lot of this away I wanted to avoid the idea of it being toxic lead-beer.

The big gallon jugs are only 2 quid a go so I've kept a clear conscience. I've never bothered before and won't use it after this 6 months is up - I know people go in for all that distilled water and adding mineral salts to adapt their water profile but I consider that the epitome of wanky-ness.

[Ferris]

Separately, I haven't used a kit/extract tin for brewing in nearly 10 years. It's efficient isn't it?! Definitely get the appeal of it.

[TommyTurnips]

When I made that wilko chocolate stout kit I had the same feeling. My brewday lasted about 30 mins and now the yeast is pitched and that's it. It's all over so fast.

There is one kit that I would love to have another go at and that is the Woodfordes Wherry Bitter kit, because it was my first ever extract kit and it came with a home brew starter kit (bucket, barrel, plastic spoon hydrometer, etc). Basically I fucked this kit up so badly. I didn't sanitise anything and I racked the beer out of primary after about four days due to impatience and without being to graphic, everything I drank some of this brew I would have stomach issues afterwards. So I want to try again. This time though it will be getting the luxury treatment as it will be fermented in a stainless conical fermenter and then kegged since I got it so badly wrong the first time.

[TommyTurnips]

Kegerator build finished! Just need a drip tray now and a better gas set up. I'm using a basic regulator and soda stream bottle at the moment which is ok for now but will be no good for running two kegs at once.

[Ferris]

Kegerator build finished! Just need a drip tray now and a better gas set up. I'm using a basic regulator and soda stream bottle at the moment which is ok for now but will be no good for running two kegs at once.

Looks great!

I'd edit your post and remove the google link though, it has your name on it which you might not want associated on here. The image can be hosted on imgur pretty quick

[Sebastian Cobb]

Looks decent!

[TommyTurnips]

Looks great!

I'd edit your post and remove the google link though, it has your name on it which you might not want associated on here. The image can be hosted on imgur pretty quick

Thanks and edited. I'm still a bit of a noob when it comes to this stuff.

[Ferris]

Yeah I'd love one but I'd be on a one way trip to Wasteman City. Might get into kegging in the future because I hate bottling so much though.

[TommyTurnips]

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/refrigeration/fridges/hotpoint-rla36g-1-undercounter-fridge-graphite-10215433-pdt.html

This is the fridge I used. It has a huge 149 litre capacity to easily fit two kegs and there are no electrics or gas lines anywhere near the area that needs to be drilled on the top. I was reassured by finding some one else online who had turned one of these into a kegerator without hitting anything vital. If you are nervous about drilling into a fridge though I heard that there are never any electrics or pipes in the door so some people have their taps coming out of the front. Also there will be less foam as a tower will allow the beer near the point of dispense to get warm. I really wanted a beer tower though and got flow control taps to try and mitigate the foam.

[Ferris]

First brew in 2+ years, kit so it took about 30 minutes beginning to end.

Just bottled this - has cleared up very nicely to the point I haven't bothered with any fining agents.

I didn't dry hop this either which felt very odd. Looks alright so will leave it three weeks and see.

In the mean time, I think I'll get some grains and a brewing bag and set a second batch going in the next week or two. I'm back!

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nice. That ginger beer that took ages to brew for some reason got bottled a few weeks ago, it's very clear, in fact it looks more like white wine than beer but it's quite flat most probably due to the slow yeast.

I'm keen to do that again as it's cheap, simple and tastes alright (and a bit of a novelty... I think if I visit a couple I know the coeliac can drink it rather than having to leave them out... they usually have to stick to cider). Although I've gotten a different batch of yeast and some proper nutrients to try and make the next one a bit more sprightly. I think it was in the bucket about 6 weeks at least.

[Ferris]

I've been meaning to set a few ciders and a mead going now that I have space to leave them to it out of sight. Ginger beer is an interesting one - I'm a big fan of the super spicy stuff, I bet I could make a better one than most of the efforts I buy out here. Getting slightly pissed would just be a side-benefit.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Mine has a bit of a kick... I definitely added chilli flakes (which was a pain 'cos the syphon passed a few in to my bottling bucket, which then got stuck in my bottling wand!), I think I may have added cayenne too.

[Ferris]

Nice one - my measure of success is "if I can chug this in one go, it is not spicy enough".

I know you didn't ask, but ciders are a piece of piss. Really no excuse not to have one bubbling away.

[TommyTurnips]

Great efforts everyone!

Dry hopping eh? What's your method? I hate hop pellets as they dissolve into this green hoppy mush that is hard to filter out of the beer. So I use whole leaf hops and they all float on the surface of the beer, so I would put them in a hop bag and stir them in every few days to make sure they all made contact with the beer. I heard a great way to make your dry hops sink the other day and that is to add some marbles to whatever you put your dry hops in as they are heavy and easy to sanitise, so I will be trying that next time.

I'm normally a tikka masala sort of person so I doubt I will ever make a chilli infused beer.

In the fermenter right now I have a Belgian black ipa, it's my first time playing with Belgian yeast so hopefully it turns out good. After that I'm going to make a session pale to use up all the half used bags of hops that I have.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Dry hopping eh? What's your method? I hate hop pellets as they dissolve into this green happy mush that is hard to filter out of the beer.

When I used citra the first time it wasn't really pellets as such, more like a... mass of stuff that felt like very light chipboard that had gotten damp and dried out.

The first time I did it, I chucked them in a big pint mug with boiling water for 10 minutes and then chucked that in the brew, it all spread out and made a mess of mulch on top of the beer. This didn't ruin the beer, but it meant the syphon tube keept blocking.

So now I just do the same but put it in a bit of knotted cheesecloth.

[Ferris]

The hop tea boiling is to get bitterness out of the hops which you don't really need, you just want the aromatic oils to infuse into the beer. I'll typically throw in 2oz of pellets into the bucket a day or two before I bottle and the weight of the solids means they drop out fairly quick and the beer is still fairly clear.

This year I have about 50 feet of hop bines on the back deck - as soon as I have cones I'll post photos but I'll be using them for dry hops because I can't really determine the AA% so won't be able to bitter with them effectively.

I'm waiting for the cones to appear, then will do an IPA (or two depending on yield) and do a wet hop with the freshest fuckers you can get. Exciting stuff.

[TommyTurnips]

I'd love to grow some hops! I heard that the first yield can be disappointing as the roots are not yet fully established, so hang in there if that's the case. I tried picking wild hops a couple of years ago, found loads of them growing by a river bank and made a beer with them. It was kind of underwhelming and made a weird musty tasting beer. They were probably fuggles or goldings or some other earthy middle of the road British hop, but they didn't impart much flavour. I tried picking hops last year and there were none, so hopefully this year will be better and instead of drying them I can finally make that wet hop harvest ale.

[Ferris]

Interesting! I was inspired to grow hops after visiting a friend's dad in country who has them growing like weeds in a neighbouring field and I though "well how hard can that be? I've inadvertently grown shitloads of weeds in the past".

Re: first year hop crop - I bought two rhizomes and planted them both at the same time and have given them the same attention. One has barely really sprouted, 4 or 5 bines of very papery nothing, probably a foot or two total of growth and I expect about 2 cones total. The other has grown like mad - it's throwing up bines like you wouldn't believe, and I'd guess each one is growing 3" a day? Maybe more. High hopes for that, I think I'll get a full crop whatever that looks like, and more in the next two or three years.

You don't need a lot of space though, mine are in 20 litre pots which are 50cm wide and 70cm tall. I have them growing around some railing but a 6' trellis cone would more than do the business I reckon. They're also pretty indestructible so if you have only half a clue what you're doing, it's tough to go wrong. This is our first year with any outdoor space at all and I've really enjoyed having them, if I got a single hope cone I'd be delighted but looks like I'll do significantly better. Will only use them for dry/wet hopping for the issues you described, but I'm so delighted to have grown an actual plant I don't care if they contribute fuck all.

We shall see!

[Ferris]

Opened a bottle of the kit stuff early - it's alright!

Carbonation is low (well, I've opened it a few days early so that's my fault) but still quite good, and I reckon it'll be completely acceptable beer when finished. Delighted - I've still got it!

Will order some grains and that this week or next, interested to try this kveik yeast strain that everyone is so excited about. Knock up a nice pale ale, hopefully dry hop it with some stuff from the garden if I time it right. Magic.

[TommyTurnips]

Which kit did you buy? I bought the Wherry Bitter kit that I mentioned a few months back and it's in a queue for the fermenter. Currently I am brewing in overdrive, two fermenters of beer because I currently I have no beer on tap as my wife decided to pour a beer from the kegerator when I was at work and left the tap dripping I guess? Anyway, the end result was my lovely amarillo ipa filled to the top of the drip tray and all over the garage floor. I really liked that beer too, delicious and clear pouring with no finings. I think I'm going to have to brew it again as soon as I have a vacant fermenter.

[Ferris]

Coopers Australian Pale Ale I think? Pretty sure. I didn't realize it required me to add 2lbs of sugar (whoops!) so it's about 3% I'd guess? I'm enjoying it though, it's like drinking mild which takes me back to my teenage years sitting in pubs in the West Midlands for entire afternoons and only getting slightly pissed. Very nice.

Not sure if this is the thread for it (though if not here, where?) but I'll likely make a pale ale next time round. Something along the lines of...

9lbs 2-row (pilsner if I can get it, but whatever's is cheap)
2lbs maris otter
1lb crystal 20L (might only use 1/2lb)
6oz chinook
Vial of hornindal kveik

90 minute mash at 154f (I'm of the opinion you can never mash too long)

60 minute boil, 1oz chinook at 60m, 3oz at flameout, another 3oz dry hop (from the garden??)

Pitch hornindal kveik (probably have to rehydrate and knock up a starter night before)

2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks bottle condition.

[TommyTurnips]

That coopers IPA kit was another one that I badly fucked up in my early days and would like to try again. Once again, I got way too impatient and bottled it after about three days and added priming sugar. How or why the bottles didn't explode I have no idea. The bottles were ridiculously over carbed and had a bicarbonate of soda flavour to them. The kind of taste that you get if you drink something fizzy after brushing your teeth.

The Wherry Bitter kit doesn't need any other sugar to complete it, everything is in the two cans of treacle that the kit provides, otherwise I would be adding a bag of beerkit enhancer.

I seem to get much better efficiency ever since I started mashing for 75 mins instead of 60 mins so I think there might be something in that.

[Ferris]

A friend of a friend used to get his water to strike temperature, pop the grain bag in, then turn the heat off and go to bed, and do the boil next day. He won all sorts of awards - it sort of makes sense, the more sugar/flavour you can leech from the grains, the better the beer.

[TommyTurnips]

I suppose there might be a risk of extracting too many unfermentable sugars and ending up with a stuck fermentation, but there's no real right way of doing a lot of these things and it's about what works for you. I watch a channel on YouTube called fast home brew where it's an Australian sounding guy who films his brew days and speeds up the footage and narrates over the footage in an entertaining way. Anyway, he does a similar thing but with cooling. Instead of a wort chiller, he puts all the wort in a big blue plastic bottle he calls a cube, fills it to the top so there's no air inside and seals it and leaves it overnight to cool. It's sort of what I used to do before I got an immersion chiller, only this method minimises the risk of infection. Personally I'd rather get it cooled as soon as possible to pitch the yeast though.

[Ferris]

I've seen those cubes! I'm a big fan of putting the brew pot into the sink full of ice water and leaving it with the lid on for 40 minutes. Probably not the best way but always been alright for me.

[Sebastian Cobb]

If you're doing IPA kits I highly recommend the John Bull ones.

Bit of citra added to them near the end works wonders and you can ram more sugar in if you want something akin to Punk IPA.

I've got one of their bitter kits on the go. Will need to check but I imagine it's ready to bottle this weekend.

[MojoJojo]

Instead of a wort chiller, he puts all the wort in a big blue plastic bottle he calls a cube, fills it to the top so there's no air inside and seals it and leaves it overnight to cool. It's sort of what I used to do before I got an immersion chiller, only this method minimises the risk of infection. Personally I'd rather get it cooled as soon as possible to pitch the yeast though.

Back when I used to do this, the reason you tried to reduce the temperature quickly was because it was supposed get proteins to clump and precipitate out, which would prevent hazes. Googling around now, this is occasionally mentioned, but seems to be a minor concern compared to speed/infection risk. I wonder if it's bollocks.

Wort chillers are cool because with not much work you use them to make a still, useful when one of your brews comes out awful. I never made anything you'd want to drink with it, but it was fun to chuck on a bbq.