Beer brewing

[trout]

I get the general feeling from posts on this forum that a few of you
are into BEER.

I was just wondering if you brew your own, and if so, do you use
the can concentrate or do you brew from scratch. ie barley and hops?

cheers Lou

[Mantis]

All grain here Lou. Grain, hops, yeast and water
47L mash tun, 50L stainless kettle and fowlers boiler for HLT
Two kegs in shed fridge with tap in fridge door. Old chest freezer with temp controller as fermenting fridge
Takes 5 hrs to brew a 40L batch but it keeps me out of the house and away from the 3 women for a while :D

[trout]

Hi Richard

Glad to hear that you brew from scratch.
I was wondering if I could ask a couple of questions.

1/ What is the quality/taste compared to commercially made brew.

2/ Have you ever made a stout that is very close to guiness.

3/ what is the raw ingredient cost to make 40L

4/ What weight of grain/hoops is required to produce 40L.

Thanks again

Lou.

[Byron]

i used to use light malt, dextrose, hop oil extract, dry enzime.

now i use a tin, im lazy.

[Mantis]

Hi Richard

Glad to hear that you brew from scratch.
I was wondering if I could ask a couple of questions.

1/ What is the quality/taste compared to commercially made brew.

2/ Have you ever made a stout that is very close to guiness.

3/ what is the raw ingredient cost to make 40L

4/ What weight of grain/hoops is required to produce 40L.

Thanks again

Lou.

Tastes better than commercial beers IMO
Havent made a stout from grain yet
About $20 worth for 40L
9kg grain, 100-200g hops, two packets dry or liquid yeast

[trout]

Thanks for the info

This forum is very good for information.

By the end of this year I should be drinking my own beer
and in october there's a cheese making course at Ceres park
that I'll be doing. Do you think people will notice if I smuggle a sheep
into my backyard in suburban Melb. I will need a supply of raw milk
to make roquefort cheese. (current cost $100.00/kg)

Cheers Lou

[Mantis]

Heres one I prepared earlier drinkanim

[Byron]

oo fancy pants! i drink mine out of old jam jars. just to give it that true HOMEBREW feel :)

[bill newton]

luxury!!! -- we had to drink ours out of a rolled up newspaper!!!

apologies to monty python!!!

[bigdaddy]

Fancy a bit of light entertainment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDaSvRO9xA

Cheers.

[bill newton]

actually there were only two of the monty python crew on that particular sketch - john cleese and graham chapman - the other two were tim brooke-taylor and marty feldman - lot of talent there though

thanks big d

carna pies - three games left!!!

[Mantis]

LOL funny sketch that one. Havent seen it for years

[bill newton]

yes - i'm allowed two cans of essence per month from SwAmbo (She who ALWAYS must be obeyed) - and a make 60 stubbies from each can - it keeps me out of trouble!! - it says to add 1 kilo of sugar to the essence - but i add half a kilo of sugar and 500ml of honey (we live next door to apiarists) - it seems to enhance the flavour a little bit

carna pies - three games left

[trout]

Hi All

I've just finished bottling my first brew kit (munich lager)
My question is how long must I let it sit before it improves
enough to be drinkable?
I tasted some and found it to lack body and bitterness.


cheers Lou

[Mantis]

The bitterness will improve once the beers is carbonated. Leave them for two weeks in a dark spot and then try one. If not to your liking leave them longer, but they will be cardonated in two weeks for sure
And dont expect it to taste like a lager. Lagers need to be fermented at 8-12C with special yeasts. I am guessing that you fermented it at room temp so it will be more of an ale.

[trout]

Yes you're right, it's an ale and looks like I need to learn patience.

thanks

Lou

[Ben]

I'm about to get stuck into some brewing again. It has been an on again, off again type of hobby for the past 10 years.
Wife has forbid me to bring filled bottles into the house after 1, only 1 bottle, the first ever bottle in hundreds made, just happened to explode in the kitchen when left on the bench.
It sure did send glass everywhere, lucky we were not home!

I've found that a low (18c) and stable temperature is the key to a top beer. Just bought a cheap digital thermostat off ebay to turn the fridge on and off to keep the temp very stable.