Topic: Homebrew thread

[NattyDread 2]

I had thought up Hope Lies With The Voles but Voletariat is even better, cheers.

Going to put some toasted coconut in the next batch. Trying to think of something vaguely tropical or Caribbean that rhymes with "vole" but drawing a blank.

Creole.

That sounds like a good wee system, bottling from the pressure barrel.

[Blue Jam]

Kid Crevole and the Coconuts, cheers!

Yeah, siphoning into the bottles looked like it was going to be a pain in the arse with a tap, and that it would still be a pain in the arse even with a bottling wand. As long as the pressure vessel is properly sterilised it should be fine.

Had fun "autoclaving" all the caps and bottles with tinfoil over them. Felt like I was back in the lab.

[touchingcloth]

Voletally Tropical

Going to put some toasted coconut in the next batch. Trying to think of something vaguely tropical or Caribbean that rhymes with "vole" but drawing a blank.

Piña Volada.

[Blue Jam]

Voletally Tropical
Piña Volada.

Dammit, you are all so much better than me at this, why don't you come and be our marketing department?

[touchingcloth]

Dammit, you are all so much better than me at this, why don't you come and be our marketing department?

If it keeps me in beer and if you say you’ll make a Vole-based Punk IPA killer (without ten million hops, pls) then my marketing services are gratis. You could say i vole-unteer them!!!!

Has Vole In One been nabbed yet? Or High Voletage?

[FerriswheelBueller]

Why is this brewery vole themed?

[FerriswheelBueller]

Double post twat. Posted in the “amazing stuff” thread.

You can tell the (geological) time by checking the teeth of the local voles.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole_clock

[touchingcloth]

Why is this brewery vole themed?

Why is Brewdog dog themed?

[Blue Jam]

Why is this brewery vole themed?

Mr Jam knows a rude anecdote about voles. One time we went for a walk on Cramond Island and saw a vole run out across our path and we took that as a sign. I used to work with someone who did research into vole behaviour, mainly on pair bonding and monogamy, because they are loyal and romantic animals. Also voles are just a good comedy animal and "vole" is just a funny word.

[Dex Sawash]

I like vores but I couldn't eat a whole one.


_{That's a quality joke looking for an appropriate thread}

[FerriswheelBueller]

Mr Jam knows a rude anecdote about voles. One time we went for a walk on Cramond Island and saw a vole run out across our path and we took that as a sign. I used to work with someone who did research into vole behaviour, mainly on pair bonding and monogamy, because they are loyal and romantic animals. Also voles are just a good comedy animal and "vole" is just a funny word.

Well that’s all very nice. Carry on.

[Blue Jam]

Sat at a table in the shared garden pretending I'm at the pub and will you just look at the head on that:



Bloody gawjus it is too. Yes, I know I brewed it from extract and St. Peter's brewery really did all the work, but I'm still really proud of my first effort, even if it's just because my aseptic technique kept it tasting clean and serene.

Got a load of dessicated coconut to toast, so it's Kid CreVole up next. Cheers, NattyDread 2!

[NattyDread 2]

Nice one Blue Jam. May I recommend stashing a few of those away until at least Autumn. Dark beers can really improve over time. It's also quite interesting trying one every few weeks to see how it's developing.

I'll be bottling my concoction of out of date bits and bobs this weekend I think. I hope the hops will drop to the bottom by then otherwise it can be a right pain in the hoop trying to syphon out the beer.

Edit to add - Just been rooting around in the shed and found two out of date kit tins. 2016 and 17! Don't know what they are as snails have destroyed the labels. I might as well put them on to brew for a laugh.

[Sebastian Cobb]

OH FUCK I NEED TO PUT THE HOPS IN MINE.

I don't really know how it's getting on; I widened the hole to fit the bung for the heating element, which left a bit of an edge and it didn't seal well. I sanded it down a bit before setting this one off but i've still not seen the airlock gurgle. It has been sitting for a few weeks at a couple of degrees higher than ambient and the foam was big and was smaller last time I looked, and it smelt beery so I suppose it's doing something. I guess I need to check it with the hydrometer and chuck the hops in and leave it a few days and it'll be ready.

Edit: just had a look through the bunghole (lol) and there's barely any foam in there now and it smells of beer.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Right so I've gotten the hydrometer on it and it's reading about 1018. The pamphlet said I should bottle at around 1008-1014 but I'm using different yeast so it might be a bit weaker I suppose, when I googled the kit homebrew forums suggested it was pretty aggressive yeast in the original kit.

The box says the kit should've been 1061 at the start. So do I just give it a few days and see if it's budged?

The stuff in the vase tasted alright.

Edit: according to some online calculator those numbers (assuming the start is right etc) would result in 5.6%. The box ambitiously says 'up to' 7.5, but given I'm using different yeast, I'm quite happy with that.

[NattyDread 2]

How long has it been on? Definitely take another reading in a day or two. Did you take a reading at the start? It's still on the high side but that's not to say it isn't done. I'd be tempted to give the whole thing a bit of a shoogle (just lift it up slightly and give it a shake side to side) if it's already been fermenting a while. Won't do any harm if you're giving it another few days anyway. I've given loads of brews a wee kick up the arse like that, but then mine are usually sitting at under optimum temperature so they tend to take that bit longer.

[FerriswheelBueller]

What yeast strain did you use vs what was provided? It’ll be fine but will likely have different tolerances

[Sebastian Cobb]

What yeast strain did you use vs what was provided? It’ll be fine but will likely have different tolerances

This is the replacement:



Dunno what the original strain was, but it was this kit:
https://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/bulldog-brews-evil-dog-double-ipa-p1323

[Sebastian Cobb]

How long has it been on? Definitely take another reading in a day or two. Did you take a reading at the start? It's still on the high side but that's not to say it isn't done. I'd be tempted to give the whole thing a bit of a shoogle (just lift it up slightly and give it a shake side to side) if it's already been fermenting a while. Won't do any harm if you're giving it another few days anyway. I've given loads of brews a wee kick up the arse like that, but then mine are usually sitting at under optimum temperature so they tend to take that bit longer.

I put it on the 29th March apparently. So it'll  be 3 weeks at the weekend. It's been sitting at around 18 degrees which seems right according to the yeast.

[FerriswheelBueller]

This is the replacement:



Dunno what the original strain was, but it was this kit:
https://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/bulldog-brews-evil-dog-double-ipa-p1323

Ahh pain in the bollocks, it doesn’t give you a strain name. Not much I can do with that - I’m sure it’ll be alright. If the FG stays the same on the hydrometer for 2 days in a row, it is probably fine.

If you’re worried, you can stir up the slurry and give it another 2 days but I’d just bottle it and keep it under 2 atm pressures when bottle carbing and you’ll be gurgling your hooch in no time

[Blue Jam]

Vole Porter almost all gone now, Kid Crevole is GO. Just used the second half of the St. Peter's kit and added 200g of unsweetened dessicated coconut after first toasting it in a frying pan. Smells great already, can't wait to try this one. Also I'm guessing this batch will be a little bit stronger due to the natural sugars in the coconut.

[FerriswheelBueller]

Vole Porter almost all gone now, Kid Crevole is GO. Just used the second half of the St. Peter's kit and added 200g of unsweetened dessicated coconut after first toasting it in a frying pan. Smells great already, can't wait to try this one. Also I'm guessing this batch will be a little bit stronger due to the natural sugars in the coconut.

Sound really good! You might find it takes a little longer to get going and to finish due to the oils in the coconut (oils inhibits yeast growth), but toasting it is a really good solution to minimize that.

Bet it turns out very nice.

[Blue Jam]

I toasted the coconut to alter the flavour, I didn't know it would help the brewing process, so thanks for that tip. I know heating coconut oil causes it to hydrogenate and harden a bit so perhaps that's why. I do love a good coconut porter and the slightly oily texture they have, they're a bit oily in a good way. I shall post updates and get working on a new label design.

[Sebastian Cobb]

How long has it been on? Definitely take another reading in a day or two. Did you take a reading at the start? It's still on the high side but that's not to say it isn't done. I'd be tempted to give the whole thing a bit of a shoogle (just lift it up slightly and give it a shake side to side) if it's already been fermenting a while. Won't do any harm if you're giving it another few days anyway. I've given loads of brews a wee kick up the arse like that, but then mine are usually sitting at under optimum temperature so they tend to take that bit longer.

I gave this a go, but also gave it a wee stir with one of the hops bags I chucked in there. Looks like it's reading 1016-1014 so it's still slowly coming down and there was more froth on the top of it so it's still going I think. Will give it another couple of days. The hops bags have given it a hoppy taste already. Possibly too much for my liking.

[touchingcloth]

Who’d’ve thought some bags of hops would taste of hops?

[FerriswheelBueller]

Well they aren't being isomerized (no heat) so they’ll just give off nice aroma but no hop bitterness so if the hops taste a bit strong now, it’ll fade so that’s alright. Technique is called dry hopping and is all the rage these days.

[Blue Jam]

Beer yeast still alive and well btw. Added some flour, water and honey to make a starter for breadmaking and will try and keep it alive forever and ever. Made some of my best ever bread with that yeast, can't go back to crappy shop-bought fast action stuff now.

Next lot of yeast will be a bit coconutty so may try and make coconut bread and coconut and cherry scones with it. Would be a shame to throw it away, yeast is such a wondrous thing.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Well they aren't being isomerized (no heat) so they’ll just give off nice aroma but no hop bitterness so if the hops taste a bit strong now, it’ll fade so that’s alright. Technique is called dry hopping and is all the rage these days.

I brewed em up in a big mug of boiling water first as per the instructions though.

[FerriswheelBueller]

I brewed em up in a big mug of boiling water first as per the instructions though.

You made a hop tea? That seems very complicated but yeah you’re right, that’ll add bitterness to the beer (in a good way)

[Sebastian Cobb]

You made a hop tea? That seems very complicated but yeah you’re right, that’ll add bitterness to the beer (in a good way)

They were just two big teabags full of hops pellets, the instructions said to put them in a cup of boiling water and leave it for 10 minutes then chuck the lot in. It said to do it a week before the end of the brew for some kits and a couple of days before for American craft beers.