Hi all, just put down the first wort of home brew for this year.
This year I'm starting with a Corona style beer along with a few runs of Coopers Lager and black beers to boost the stocks.
I suppose that I could call this my summer daytime hobby, I find it quite fascinating in the way that you change the flavours by adding different ingredients and changing the types/levels of sugars.
One of my favourites is a home made Chilli Beer, while your wort is brewing slice open 3 or 4 chillies and drop them in seeds and all, of course the earlier you add them them the stronger it will be. What you end up with is a beer with kick and on a hot summer day it is amazingly refreshing.
I've been brewing for a few years now, only just perfected my methods. Brewing season is coming to a close very quickly as the mercury is rising and my ales just aren't the same when brewed above 18C. At the moment I've got batches of Pale Ale, Stout, Dark Ale and an experimental "Draught" (which is actually a little ripper!) conditioning in the brew shed (garage). When I'm not brewing, I'm usually fussing over the hop vines (Chinook and Saaz) growing out back.
Are you doing all-grain, partial mash or "kit & kilo" brews? Personally I use the kits as a base, with a decent stove-top boil and hop additions... never enough time for a full mash!
You'll have to let me know how the Corona clone turns out, I've been looking to do this style for some time now. Would be great with some noble hop additions such as Saaz.
a few friends of mine down here in Melbourne have a brewing competition a couple of times a year. best brew, best newcomer, best this and that. of course, whilst a few are serious brewers the competitions are very friendly (the award for second place is a silver foil covered stubby!).
anyway, I have brewed a few ciders and was happy with the results.
have tried mead but that has not worked, although I believe mead can be difficult.
Cherry beer (brewed by a friend) seems to be a favourite with a few people, even my wife, who does not drink beer.
we have a competition in january, which is not enough time to brew a good cider so will have to resort to brewing a beer, even though I rarely drink it. so, any ideas for a good beer for summer?
Homebrewer here too.
I'm an AG brewer so it's usualy a long brew day(or days!) but the effort pays off in a big way.
Like Wade I also have Hop bines; Hallertau, Goldings, Hersbrucker and Cascade.
Don't realy have much time for it now, but will have to do another brew soon, spending too much money on good German beer.
My father when he was alive and I was just a kid use to make fruit brandy %100 and I still remember when water was added it turned from a clear liquid into a milky color, every body use to love it, never tasted it my self
I love home brewing. Been doing it for years. I usually brew semi mash brews by getting pure malt, boil up the crystal grain in a boiler with either fresh saz hops or pride of ring wood hops then keg them up after a few weeks of racking and aging. Comes out great on tap and have put this brew on many 21sts and engagement parties for friends and it alway goes before the commercial beers do.
Can brews are good and convient but you can pep them up abit with finishing hops in the top of the brew etc.
I have done a few full mash brews with malt grain as the base and then slow ferment them for 5 to 6 weeks at a constant 10 degrees in a warmish fridge, they turned out excellent but just too much work now for me.
Done alot of spirits as well but beer brewing is my favourite. Been a licsensed beverage / refrigeration tech by trade has had its advantages in setting up my chilled beer on tap on my bar at home.
My wife gets annoyed sometimes trying to get rid of my drunken mates sometimes.
Brewing can be a satisfying hobby that you can also enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Keenan, definitely give it a go. It's a rewarding hobby and these days a basic starter kit with everything you need goes for under a $100.
Hi Wade, at the moment I'm using the Kit & Kilo setup but I have been reading some books on brewing and the full and partial mashes and would definitely love to try them out. I see you mentioned that you grow your own hops that is also something I'd like to try as well.
Spirits is something that I haven't tried but also intrigues me. I have visions of the highway patrol chasing me on my old Beemer full of moonshine down the backroads of Wamboin.
I used to brew it back in the 70's- early 80's. In Townsville. Friends used to come over with commercial beer to watch the cricket. The commercial stuff was left on the bench. No one wanted to drink it. We all agreed the home brew stuff was better.
I was in the Army. It was a time when we would sit out on the front deck, high up. The six regulars, eating mud crabs, full of beer and bad manners yahooing at the young ladies walking past on the street.
We were all from the electronics and vehicle mechanics trades. Bad soldiers. Lots of fun.
Ahhhh just reading this thread was like sipping on a homie.
I prefer the dark Ales myself. Stouts being the Rolls Royce.
Black and Tans go well (mixing two cans into one kit).
Definitely brewers sugar every time, no residue.
I love the fact that home brew has less preservatives in it and
so , even after a decent session on the gear , I have virtually
no hangover.
I have made a few ciders too and the kids love the ginger beers.
I'm trying to perfect my holy grail beeyar though...the elusive
Guinness. If I could reproduce that baby, I'd lock myself away from
society and never be heard of again.
I'm trying to perfect my holy grail beeyar though...the elusive
Guinness. If I could reproduce that baby, I'd lock myself away from
society and never be heard of again.
Have you thought of scorching some hops, stewing them in a couple of pints of water then adding it to your carboy along with your tin of stout? That will add extra flavour.
I've some Bourbon I made from scratch. It's been sitting on french oak shavings these last 8 yrs. Haven't cracked one yet. It better be good.
My rums don't taste too bad either, made from molasses and good old bakers yeast. The wash isn't very strong, and you do need to be mindful of the amount of methanol you get at the beginning of your run. But that's par for the course when you use anything other than plain sugar.
For vodka I just use white sugar and turbo yeast for my wash.
The only flavourings I buy are Galliano and Southern Comfort. I prefer to flavour it myself.
Yep well i think its a lot easier if i just drive straight to the drive thru bottleshop straight after work Friday and smile at the guy who is already standing there with my UDL's waiting for me as soon as he sees the Jen number plates coming down the street hahaha talk about good service I have em all well trained up here lol
Ahhhh just reading this thread was like sipping on a homie.
I prefer the dark Ales myself. Stouts being the Rolls Royce.
Black and Tans go well (mixing two cans into one kit).
Definitely brewers sugar every time, no residue.
I love the fact that home brew has less preservatives in it and
so , even after a decent session on the gear , I have virtually
no hangover.
I have made a few ciders too and the kids love the ginger beers.
I'm trying to perfect my holy grail beeyar though...the elusive
Guinness. If I could reproduce that baby, I'd lock myself away from
society and never be heard of again.
Bottoms up fellas...
Steve
I have made a few killer stouts, using burnt or toasted brown sugar, works really well full flavour,creamy and dark.
The brew shop near here sells the sugar already toasted but you can easy toast your own if you are carefull.
Have you thought of scorching some hops, stewing them in a couple of pints of water then adding it to your carboy along with your tin of stout? That will add extra flavour.
I've some Bourbon I made from scratch. It's been sitting on french oak shavings these last 8 yrs. Haven't cracked one yet. It better be good.
My rums don't taste too bad either, made from molasses and good old bakers yeast. The wash isn't very strong, and you do need to be mindful of the amount of methanol you get at the beginning of your run. But that's par for the course when you use anything other than plain sugar.
For vodka I just use white sugar and turbo yeast for my wash.
The only flavourings I buy are Galliano and Southern Comfort. I prefer to flavour it myself.
Ahh rum, nector of the gods. you can tell your a Queenslander .
I use to use golden syrup for making my rums, works a treat.
Talking about all this I might have to dust off my still ( or should i say my essential oil extractor) soon, I have not used it for a couple of years.
It use to be funny going through the check out with about 50kgs of sugar in my trolley, it used to turn some heads. I had 4 or 5 25 ltr washes going at one stage several years back, friends and neighbours kept hasseling me for more.
My essential oil extractor is made from a 5lt pressure cooker.
Copper tubing is inserted into the top and the other end coils through a condenser made from a 25lt plastic drum and all the goodness drains from the tap at the bottom. On a big run I have to either add ice to the condenser or change the water regularly to keep it cool.
I've jammed copper scourers into the tube to get a little bit of reflux going.
You wouldn't believe what I use to seal all my joins. As you don't want super secure joins, (kaboom) I make up a paste with flour and water and the heat of the brew cooks it into place. If you do blow a seal it's easy to fix, after you've checked for blockages of course.
I learnt that trick from a little old lady in Jamaica.
Nice little oil extractor, and the old lady in Jamaica sure knows her tricks.
Mine is one the home brew shop sells, with a 25 ltr boiler and its a reflux tower so can get upto 90 % but carbon won't purify that high, I usually water it down to 45%.
I run the cooling water through an old refigeration fan coil like a radiator in a car and back into a bucket so i can keep the cooling water at ambient temp and use only 20 ltrs of water all weekend.
I enjoyed making my own extractor.
It's only small and it takes ages to go through a 25lt wash, 3lt at a time, but it does the job quite nicely.
I've never had a bad hangover from drinking my own home made.
!!!
Brewing season is coming to a close very quickly as the mercury is rising and my ales just aren't the same when brewed above 18C. At the moment I've got batches of Pale Ale, Stout, Dark Ale and an experimental "Draught" (which is actually a little ripper!) conditioning in the brew shed (garage). When I'm not brewing, I'm usually fussing over the hop vines (Chinook and Saaz) growing out back. 
straight after work Friday and smile at the guy who is already standing there with my UDL's waiting for me as soon as he sees the Jen number plates coming down the street 
) I make up a paste with flour and water and the heat of the brew cooks it into place. If you do blow a seal it's easy to fix, after you've checked for blockages of course.
