Return to brewing - the score so far

[kt88man]

The story so far...

Well, last brewed around twenty plus years ago. There does now seem to be a far greater range of kits available so it was a little difficult to know where to start.

First off was a Muntons Gold Old English Bitter. Sod's law, only a few hours after I had pitched the supplied yeast I read of the Muntons/Woodfordes stuck fermentations. "Best I get some Safale 04 and dry beer enzyme just in case" methinks, (thanks DaaB).
Fermented out using the supplied yeast, FG of 1017. In my enthusiam to get started I omitted to measure the SG - doh! Experimented a little with the priming as I only like my beer slightly carbonated, adding only 1/3 and 2/3 of the recommended amount with some of the bottles.
At a mere 3 weeks young I must say I am a little disappointed, not too bad as a session bitter but not as good as I expected. Will see what it's like after a month or two, also I've squirreled a few away and will keep those longer.

Next off, Woodfordes Great Eastern. Again fermented with the supplied yeast. Incidentally, both yeast sachets were labelled "Premium", but with no other information, I wonder what the yeast actually is?
Now, what a difference, after only just a few days and now almost bright in the bottle, I must say it is rather nice! Even my good lady quite liked the "sample" I tried, and she's not really a beer drinker, (maybe that's just as well). It's going to be difficult to keep this one!

So, what next? Must be another Great Eastern. I see Brupaks keep on getting good press on here so I think I'll be trying an Almondbury Old or perhaps the Kirkburton Ale, hmmm, 7 percent that one.

Beginning to feel the urge to Mini Mash (again, thanks DaaB). After reading what you guys on here are up to, I just can't remain an AG virgin much longer, this seems an easy way to get the feel of things. Trouble is, I've read that once you do an AG brew then nothing else matches it.

Ever noticed how typing makes you thirsty?

[Andy]

Trouble is, I've read that once you do an AG brew then nothing else matches it.

I don't see a problem here

[moorsd]

Go on....you know you want too!!

AG needs a bit more kit, but once you've got it that's that! I started brewing AG only after doing a hand full of kits. My advice is if you are confident you have mastered brewing beer from kits...make the move to AG, it needs a bit more knowledge but its well worth it!!

I only buy kits now if I'm being lazy and don't have the time to do an AG recipe!

[Vossy1]

Do a Brupaks Fixby Gold..a gr8 beer, and a fav with many on the forum, including DaaB.....

AG, do it asap, you wont look back...well I didn't....except when I want Fixby or Nelson's revenge

Btw....why haven't we got a FG clone....anyone

[guest5234]

If you are doing a kit, try something a little different and have a go at a Brupaks kit, check out the desctriptions on the Hop and Grape website to help you choose which one.
I definately recommend all grain brewing though, if a full 23L batch is still a little daunting or the equipment is a little expensive considering Christmas is almost here, have a go at Mini-mashing, it'll teach you everything you need to know and give you a good insight into all grain brewing.

Daab any links to a mini mash.

[kt88man]

Going for Brupaks Almondbury Old together with a Fixby Gold.

Thanks all for the words of encouragement on the all grain brewing. I want to get a couple more kits brewed first to stock up the beer "cellar".

Most certainly intend to have a go at all grain brewing but don't really want to commit to all of the equipment until I've tried it! So a mini mash or two is on the cards fairly soon.

Picked up these today, just need to drill the holes and fit the tap. (lousy image, must get a real digital camera one day).



Equipment wise seem to have everything else needed for the mini mash. Not too sure yet which recipe, for starters probably the simple bitter as per DaaB's mini mash article.

What I've really got my eye on is eskimobob's Hobgoblin Clone but I feel that's probably to ambitious for a mini mash and will have to wait.

When (see, not 'if') I start on all grain proper, unfortunately I won't be taking the shiny road, somehow don't think the old finances will stretch to that, plastic all the way I'm afraid... well to start with anyway.

[eskimobob]

What I've really got my eye on is eskimobob's Hobgoblin Clone but I feel that's probably to ambitious for a mini mash and will have to wait.

It's got quite a few different grains in it but is probably do-able as a mini mash. Having said that, you're probably right to keep it as simple as possible for your first go otherwise you might end up being put off if something was to go pear shaped.

Good luck with it. Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

[kt88man]

Dont forget to mount the tap as low as possible. Use the back nut as a guide as this is the limitation. The tap will have to hang over the edge of a work surface.
Good luck

Drilled the holes, mounted the tap with one of the flats of the backnut touching the base of the fermenter.

Had a trial run with plain water in the oven to set the temperature, went well.

Looks like we'll have a go for lift-off soon. Quite looking forward to it, may even take precedence over brewing one of the kits.

It's got quite a few different grains in it but is probably do-able as a mini mash. Having said that, you're probably right to keep it as simple as possible for your first go otherwise you might end up being put off if something was to go pear shaped.

I'll stick with a very simple recipe for the first one or two attempts. Hobgoblin is one of my favourite beers at the moment, I wouldn't want to attempt to clone that until I had a few AG brews completed.

Looking at your final recipe, if I did give it a try as a mini mash, would I be correct in saying that 5/19 of the grain/hop quantities is correct for a 5 litre brew?

I must say looking at the picture of the bottled result in your follow up post made me quite thirsty.

Thanks all for the words of encouragement.

[Andy]

Don't forget that the mash will retain heat better than water alone so the oven temp you've found which keeps water at the required temp may be too high for the mash. Regular checking is the way to go I guess.

I think I'll give DaaB's method a go in the New Year, I want to experiment with a recipe containing elderflower* and don't want to brew 5 gallons of what might end up tasting awful.


* have a load of dried flowers in the freezer which I collected in the summer.