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Post by Doodles on Mar 18, 2013 11:37:03 GMT
Here is my first pour of a bottle of dark ale that has been in the bottle for 2 weeks. Has a good head and is well carbonated the head actually became quite creamy after settling for a bit.It tasted like a stout but that is understandable as not matured yet and i made to 20 litres instead of 23 for more flavour and colour.I think left for a couple of months this will taste pretty dam good will let you all decide at the meet.Will be cracking a bottle of the wheat beer tomorrow this has only had a week in bottles but wanting to take notes on taste/carbonation through out the whole process.Will put some pics up here tomorrow evening
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Post by Firefox on Mar 18, 2013 15:51:38 GMT
It looks mouth watering! It's a complicated process this brewing lark eh ?! If you get a taste you really like, is it easy to achieve it again in the next batch?
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Post by Doodles on Mar 18, 2013 16:47:54 GMT
It looks mouth watering! It's a complicated process this brewing lark eh ?! If you get a taste you really like, is it easy to achieve it again in the next batch? Brewing is very very easy all you need is patience.I always make notes when starting a batch so if I crack it with a great one then I can repeat the process exactly as was. 99.9% of time it comes out the same as last time remember all you are doing is getting yeast to eat sugar and fart alcohol it's that simple
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Post by Firefox on Mar 18, 2013 16:56:48 GMT
I had some friends who have tried it but they had problems with it going bad, probably because they didn't sterilize the equipment properly. So it kind of put me off trying myself probably wrongly.
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Post by Doodles on Mar 18, 2013 17:37:43 GMT
I had some friends who have tried it but they had problems with it going bad, probably because they didn't sterilize the equipment properly. So it kind of put me off trying myself probably wrongly. It is so important to keep all your equipment sterilised all of the time every time you start and finish a brew.That is also the same with the bottles you are putting the liquid into as well it is the main thing that will destroy your brew.As long as you do this there should never be a problem.If you want to make some I recommend buying a coopers full starter kit it has everything you would ever need including bottles and you first can of malt to make a lager.After making a few kits and feel confident then you can experiment with hops and different malts etc even partial grain which are easy as well.If you ever need any help or tips I will only be happy to help how I can.
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Post by Doodles on Mar 20, 2013 17:13:20 GMT
So below is the latest brew a Belgian Wheat/White beer name given as instead of using malt wheat is used in process this causes the whitish/cloudy appearance to it.This has been in the bottle for a week but flippin heck its gonna be a good one it has really good carbonation and already has notes of citrus and coriander and is very very refreshing.The head didnt last for the whole drink but this may change during maturing if not oh well.This is most definatley a session beer and could easily spend a hot summer day drinking vast amounts of it :)I think i will have to make up another batch as this one may not make it to the meet
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Post by Pollik on Mar 21, 2013 13:11:51 GMT
Do you use kits, or start with basic ingredients? I have thought about making some, myself, lately, but sometimes I spend months at a time away in the van and I am not sure that would work so well. Those beers look great, though.
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Post by Firefox on Mar 21, 2013 16:07:05 GMT
Yes, the home brewing seems a good idea if I get some time. The only problem is, I am pretty much van based now. The only kind of things I think I could do in a van are ginger vodka or sloe gin.
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Post by Doodles on Mar 21, 2013 16:13:23 GMT
Do you use kits, or start with basic ingredients? I have thought about making some, myself, lately, but sometimes I spend months at a time away in the van and I am not sure that would work so well. Those beers look great, though. I always use kits Coopers to be exact as they are so good they actually produce their own home brew in bottles to buy shows how much they believe in the product.What I do do though is if I have made a kit a couple of times and I know how it will turn out I will tweak them either buy doing a partial grain I.e. I might get some malted barley and extract sugars instead of using spray malt or dextrose.If you want to brew you will need to know that you will be at home 5-7 days after setting it to ferment as this is the normal time it takes.After that you can bottle it and leave it as long as you want in fact the longer the better.I might make a video next time I'm making a batch and post it to show just how easy it is in mean time any questions ask away will do best to help.
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