Yep - been an occasional brewer for 30 years plus! Good luck with your first full mash. I assume you've done some kits before so you you know that the main thing is to make sure you keep your equipment clean.
Yep - been an occasional brewer for 30 years plus! Good luck with your first full mash. I assume you've done some kits before so you you know that the main thing is to make sure you keep your equipment clean.
Indeed. I used to make Alsace Wine (hence the nic!) for a number of years so I am not moving to far out of my comfort zone. Really getting excited about it (book in for the weekend) I am aiming for a Christmas style ale to start with.
Just about to go all grain myself. Getting the bits together and doing a few kits in the mean time.
Best of luck, I have found some great forums if you need them.
I am also still getting kit together but have decided to go for it in time for a Christmas Ale with what I have. (will end up running out for a few bits at the weekend when I lay the kit out!)
I'm a Master Brewer who started at home and then moved on to bigger batches: currently 80,000 litres per brew.
I'm happy to give advice: the first thing I would say is try and prevent your fermentation getting too warm, either with cooling of some kind or just by fermenting in a cool place (say max 20 degrees C), separate your yeast from your fermented beer as soon as you're happy your fermentation is finished, and as uboat already said, keep your equipment clean. Pathogens (bugs that can make you ill) do not grow in beer due to the low pH, alcohol content and hop content, but they can make your beer taste bad.
I'm a Master Brewer who started at home and then moved on to bigger batches: currently 80,000 litres per brew.
I'm happy to give advice: the first thing I would say is try and prevent your fermentation getting too warm, either with cooling of some kind or just by fermenting in a cool place (say max 20 degrees C), separate your yeast from your fermented beer as soon as you're happy your fermentation is finished, and as uboat already said, keep your equipment clean. Pathogens (bugs that can make you ill) do not grow in beer due to the low pH, alcohol content and hop content, but they can make your beer taste bad.
Happy Brewing!
Oi! That was me, not Uboat - he was quoting me! ;-)
I'm a Master Brewer who started at home and then moved on to bigger batches: currently 80,000 litres per brew.
I'm happy to give advice: the first thing I would say is try and prevent your fermentation getting too warm, either with cooling of some kind or just by fermenting in a cool place (say max 20 degrees C), separate your yeast from your fermented beer as soon as you're happy your fermentation is finished, and as uboat already said, keep your equipment clean. Pathogens (bugs that can make you ill) do not grow in beer due to the low pH, alcohol content and hop content, but they can make your beer taste bad.
Happy Brewing!
Killer can I ask who you brew for? Or are you the owner?
I brew for Lion, with breweries in NZ and Australia, brands like Tooheys, XXXX, Hahn, James Squire, Steinlager and Mac's. I'm an "HQ" brewer these days, helping the local brewers to make the best beer they can.
Before coming to Sydney I was at the Murphy Brewery in Cork, and before that Commonwealth Brewery in the Bahamas. I started back in 1983 with Whitbread, at Fremlins in Faversham.
Charlton and beer are my two main interests, although I am also into astronomy and wanted to be an astronaut when I was a little boy!
ps sorry "Saga" credit where credit is due: "cleanliness is next to godliness" as far as brewing is concerned ;-)
It has been a fantastic way to make a living and whether a home or commercial scale brewer there is a lot of satisfaction in seeing people enjoying your beer.
One of my proudest moments was when I came over from the Bahamas for the "Greatest Game" and put a case of my Kalik lager behind the bar at The Royal Oak when I met with some other "expat" fans from places like Boston and Thailand the night or two before the game.
I have always enjoyed this type of activity and would love to move into back into it as a Career but this time in making beer. Only problem is the field I work in (IT) pays well and with the job market the way it is I will have to entertain myself with doing it at home.
I'm not aware that he is a lifer but a Charlton season ticket holder was brewer and part owner of the now sadly defunct Flagship brewery which was based in the Chatham Dockyard.
I'm not aware that he is a lifer but a Charlton season ticket holder was brewer and part owner of the now sadly defunct Flagship brewery which was based in the Chatham Dockyard.
I'm not aware that he is a lifer but a Charlton season ticket holder was brewer and part owner of the now sadly defunct Flagship brewery which was based in the Chatham Dockyard.
Has this not become the Nelson place now?
Yes. The Charlton fan is no longer involved though. I think he stopped when it became Nelson rather than Flagship.
Well I did my first brew yesterday, mixed success my sparging (cool box) needs a redesign buy apart from that it came out ok. It is a Christmas beer and but one thing I was not expecting was the 1060 Specific Gravity. Hopefully not all of that will be alcohol!
Well I did my first brew yesterday, mixed success my sparging (cool box) needs a redesign buy apart from that it came out ok. It is a Christmas beer and but one thing I was not expecting was the 1060 Specific Gravity. Hopefully not all of that will be alcohol!
Sounds good! I always get less alcoholic strength than I am expecting, meaning I am not getting an efficient mash. One way to counter that is to make up less (i.e. add less water). In your case, if you want a weaker beer, add more water. I'm planning on doing a "winter warmer" to drink over Christmas, but if I don't do it more or less now, it won't be ready.
Not brewing, but I'm making Sloe Gin for the first time this year - picked a kilo of sloes after the first frost, and mixed them with sugar and two bottles of gin, now just agitating them every day before straining and rebottling just in time for Christmas. Not sure whether I'll have got the recipe right, but the colour is gorgeous after a month.
Comments
I'm a Master Brewer who started at home and then moved on to bigger batches: currently 80,000 litres per brew.
I'm happy to give advice: the first thing I would say is try and prevent your fermentation getting too warm, either with cooling of some kind or just by fermenting in a cool place (say max 20 degrees C), separate your yeast from your fermented beer as soon as you're happy your fermentation is finished, and as uboat already said, keep your equipment clean. Pathogens (bugs that can make you ill) do not grow in beer due to the low pH, alcohol content and hop content, but they can make your beer taste bad.
Happy Brewing!
I wish I was the owner!
I brew for Lion, with breweries in NZ and Australia, brands like Tooheys, XXXX, Hahn, James Squire, Steinlager and Mac's. I'm an "HQ" brewer these days, helping the local brewers to make the best beer they can.
Before coming to Sydney I was at the Murphy Brewery in Cork, and before that Commonwealth Brewery in the Bahamas. I started back in 1983 with Whitbread, at Fremlins in Faversham.
Charlton and beer are my two main interests, although I am also into astronomy and wanted to be an astronaut when I was a little boy!
ps sorry "Saga" credit where credit is due: "cleanliness is next to godliness" as far as brewing is concerned ;-)
Didn't we all Killer, didn't we all!
Second best has to be being a brewer.
It has been a fantastic way to make a living and whether a home or commercial scale brewer there is a lot of satisfaction in seeing people enjoying your beer.
One of my proudest moments was when I came over from the Bahamas for the "Greatest Game" and put a case of my Kalik lager behind the bar at The Royal Oak when I met with some other "expat" fans from places like Boston and Thailand the night or two before the game.
There is a fantastic app for home brewers called brew pal. Well worth 99 cents!
Not sure whether I'll have got the recipe right, but the colour is gorgeous after a month.