Last night the missus had to work late. So what better time for a brew! It`s truly amazing how quickly this can be done with the knowledge that if SWMBO arrived home before I had made all evidence of my activities disappear, there is a very tangible danger of my testicles staring at me from inside a jar of formaldehyde on her bedside cabinet within the hour. She does NOT like my newfound enthusiasm for my hobby and seems to think that finishing the wardrobe that I started last summer is a priority. Over making beer. PSH! Why do they not understand, I keep asking myself
Anyway, since I had 2 hours to get set up, brew, clean up and pack away, there was no time to be creative so I did a semi-repeat of my second last (very simple) batch which turned out damn well. I had plenty of old Fuggles to get shot of so dissed the goldings. Recipe as follows:
(2 gal tap water in my newly made boiler for 60 mins)
1.6kg can John Bull light LME
1kg Muntons light DME
346g Brown sugar half way thru boil
100g Fuggles at start + 12g steep for 20 mins after boil
Irish moss as usual
Poured from a height into 3 gal tap water treated with 1/2 crushed campden tab
Some leftover young`s ale yeast that needed using
At a total cost of £23-11 or 58p/pint. Time to go AG, methinx... Watch this space for details, I`ve been researching lots, poaching tesco value kettle elements etc and making things, taking pics all the way through. Will post a complete AG equipment how-to-make when it`s all done. From boiler to mash tun to cooler, all-in-one. Have to avoid the missus while working on it, so covert construction is the oder of the day
it could take a whileNow some brew pics...
Filling the boiler from the tap
Sanitising
Heating LME can so it pours better
Some hops, and what would a brew be, without the last brew to keep me company?
In goes the LME, then the DME
And the hops (my hop strainer s/s mesh pipe hadn`t arrived yet so a bag was necessary
Gave it a good jab every few mins
(Kegged the previous batch at the same time, while the boil was going on)
After adding irish moss and steeping the hops for 20 mins, aerated the wort into the reserved 3 gallons cold water
In with the yeast
Give it a stir
Check gravity at around 40 for a decent session ale, so all good...
And into the magic cupboard under the stairs which just happens to ALWAYS be exactly 20C. There IS a god....
And that, as they say, is that. Start to finish in exactly 2 hours. In fact, the missus came in just as I was drying the last fermenter lid. So I swiftly stuffed it in the cupboard under the sink before she got to the kitchen. And blamed the smell on the chicken that I had for dinner. Aaaaah yessss, you`ve done it again, Clive. Your testicles are safe once more. Until next week. But then again, she`ll probably be fine with it then. Again
Happy Brewing, all!!
seleced `copy image location` and pasted it.. bah! I`ll have to have another attempt soon. just another excuse to do another brew 