ditch`s stout..

[KevP]

I am going to also do a spiced Winter Warmer this Christmas with Coopers (aren't we seasonal here mate!!)

Can't wait

[brysie]

well ive drunk the last one tonight whilst making my european lager kit.

however i picked up another one today and a kilo of the dark stuff to make it with.

thanks ditch mate for putting me onto this one. credit where its due.

[brysie]

just an update.
made the bad boy up this afternoon with an extra 100g of demarara sugar [i know...i should know better]...

the dark side beckons......

[KevP]

just an update.
made the bad boy up this afternoon with an extra 100g of demarara sugar [i know...i should know better]...

the dark side beckons......

Are you sure Torquay has a dark side Brysie? Do the bluerinse brigade allow it?

[brysie]

its not the old ladies that worry me down here kev its the [______] and [_______] that cause all the trouble.

for pc reasons, feel free to insert your own offensive slurs in the brackets provided, or select from the options listed below...

a. doleys and hoodies
b. lib dems and labour
c. pregnant teens and benefit scallys
d. winging tourists and ncp officials.

wow. that was way more satisfying than i expected it to be.

[jimjamjamie0]

put my ditch's stout in to the keg two days ago, had a craft taste today and i can not belive how good it is really please with this brew will get another going asap

[brysie]

all hail to the ditch.

[brysie]

any news on ditches cooperstoutfest then?

[Ditch]

Rather lost touch with the land, haven't ye, mate? Have I not said I plan it for the end of the Hay Harvest ~ IF we manage a harvest this year! That'll be a couple of months away yet, at least.

I'd also like to rope in " Small Horse " too. My mare just foaled, last Thursday, and it was an unmitigated friggin' disaster from start to finish. Looks, today, like I've managed to pull her through. I couldn't have done it without some help from my friends and neighbours. I'd like to show them my appreciation. But, maybe Mr Jameson could step in there? Save people getting the idea I've forgotten them before I can kick off with the 'Fest.

Anyway, with Small Horse now on her feet and, seemingly, feeding herself? I've just had the first, real kip since wednesday night and I'm so relaxed I'm floppy. Now I can get back to thinking about the work I have to do around here. Part of that work is preparing the big room for the biggest Coopers brewing extravaganza this place has ever seen!

[brysie]

thought youd been quiet lately ditch. [sorry im still on turkish time since me holiday]
glad you got things sorted tho` and hope its smooth running til ya harvest.

[batemans fan]

Well I started my first Cooper's/Ditch's Stout yesterday afternoon (1kg LSM) - topped up the FV to about 19L - the level (not the foam) has gone down a bit since then (thank goodness I put a towel under the FV - wouldn't usually do that, but I've read the threads ) - it's a bit lively



Here's the airlock a few minutes ago:



The bit of string on the side of the FV is threaded through an eyeleted plastic CD sleeve - I keep my notes and hydrometer readings in it - it gets attached to the pressure barrel when I keg it (with ABV calculation) and then filed after I've drunk it

[Ditch]

Aah, That's what we like to see; FV spewing its guts! A good, honest Blow from a Coopers brew! What kept ye so long, Batemans Fan? We'll make a 'Coopers Convert' of ye yet!


Brysie; Devastated to say I buried the foal today, mate Mare simply seemed to hate her, from the moment she was born. I did all a man could do ~ and then some. But, she crashed and died friday night.

I shouldn't moan. Breeding horses is like Russian Roulette. Heard of a man lost a foal a couple of weeks ago. Next week he lost the mare and foal!

At least I still have my gorgeous mare. I'll never breed her again. She was in foal when I bought her. She's my transport. Not a breeding machine.

(Sorry to veer for a moment there. Just responding to a post).

[rikpo]

Hey don't apologise Ditch, the nearest I get to wildlife is midges in the back garden.
It's really interesting reading your stories (I feel a book coming on ) I live about 6 miles from the centre of Manchester and as you can guess, the country side and me are virtual strangers.
I love driving through it and spending a few hours there but I'm born and bred in the city and don't really know much else.
Sorry to hear about your foal, I don't really have anything to compare it with as I'm not even a doggy or cat person, but I do feel for my pond fish.
Anyway enough of that lets get back to our Friend coopers stout.
I made my first one about 2 months ago, and it ain't half bad. I made it with 1kg of dark malt extract, I did ask for dark spray malt but was given this and didn't realise until I got home. I Kegged half and bottled half, I have drank mainly from the keg which is now at such an angle that if I tilt it any more it will fall over, in other words it's nearly empty.
Out of the two I prefer the bottles, taste wise there isn't much in it but I'm fed up with keep gassing the keg, as I try to drink only at weekends to stop me getting any fatter than I am and by the next weekend its going flat again.
Next week I'll start my second stout and this time I'll use the Ditch method using 1kg of medium spray. I'm not sure about the no sugar for conditioning but I'll try a few bottles that way just to see and if your right, if so the next brew may save me a couple of pence in sugar.

Now It's my turn to apologise, this time for going on, you can blame the stout for that.

Rikpo.

[Ditch]

I'll never understand why people get sheepish about having said more than a sentence in a post. If ye have something to say? Say it. Better to express ones self in several paragraphs than try to convey the same in terse sound bites. My view anyway.

Not priming bottles? I'm not at all sure that'd be the best idea, mate. Bottles, as far as I'm aware, really do Need that pinch of sugar. If not, I'm sure some body'll be along to put us right. But I'd prime a bottle ~ I think.

No, as I'm so often at pains to point out; I don't prime my kegs, simply because I never had any sugar in the place when I started. The beer was fine. Now I just don't see the point of bothering. What I get does for me.

Theoretically, I suppose; Priming a keg with sugar should lead to the use of less gas? Entirely up to you what ye do, of course.

[slayerking]

Ok so I'm gona make me up a batch of Coopers stout.
I was thinking using 1kg of DSM with the kit.
Or is Medium better?
Or what about the best of both worlds 500g of Medium and 500g of Dark?

What do people think would taste better or would there be much of a difference at all?