Stonch and Goon's Third Brew

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
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Stonch

Stonch and Goon's Third Brew

Post by Stonch » Tue May 22, 2007 4:34 pm

Tonight we're going to do our third brew.

This time we're using the budget John Bull Bitter kit that was thrown in free with some equipment we bought from Lee Otway at HomebrewUK.

Our latest order from Hop & Grape has yet to arrive :roll: so we're using whatever we have lying around.

That means budget Young's yeast + nutrient from Wilkos, a full 500g bag of light DME, about 200g of DME we have left over from a bag we opened last time, about 300g of Cane Sugar

Questions:

1. YEAST NUTRIENT - do you just pitch in a table spoon of this at the same time as our rehyrdrated yeast?

2. Is the 70/30 split of Muntons Light Spray Malt to Cane Sugar ok? Presumably using a relatively small amount of sugar like that will be ok, as the DME will give it some body? If we want to bump up the strength, would it be ok to stick in a bit more sugar without harming the flavour/body too much?

A write-up on the blog will appear tonight, with photos! Cheers!
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Tue May 22, 2007 4:47 pm

Thanks for the advice DaaB, we'll follow it!

By the time we move into the barrel our Hop & Grape stuff will have arrived - which includes a bag for dry hopping. We'll be whacking that in for secondary. Is it normal practice to then leave it in until the barrel is spent?
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Tue May 22, 2007 4:55 pm

When there are two paths, both of which have their advantages and disadvantages - CHOOSE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE

We'll just leave it in for the duration.

How do you sanitise the hop bag? And why do they say they are reusable -surely a few weeks immersed in a batch of beer will render it spent?
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stevezx7r

Post by stevezx7r » Tue May 22, 2007 5:12 pm

Hi Stonch (nice blog btw). I use nutrient but usually add 1 teaspoon to the wort just before adding the yeast although I put a coopers lager together last night and decided to try two teaspoons. As Daab said, go steady on the caster sugar as it may impart some bad/funny flavours to your brew. Do you have any supermarkets/shops that sell dextrose nearby? A couple of quid spent on that now may save you from "unsavoury" tastes later... :roll:

I'll pop over to your blog for the latest tonight.
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Tue May 22, 2007 5:39 pm

I find corn sugar / dextrose / glucose to be a difficult creature to find, in that i've hunted for it in every loca supermarket without success!
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fivetide

Post by fivetide » Tue May 22, 2007 6:26 pm

My current dry-hop plan is to dry-hop in secondary with about an ounce of seperated out vaccum hops in a mussy. I've been well impressed with how much more yest sediment drops out during this secondary period, and it meant my second brew went into the barrel much clearer. My third is currently finishing secondary, smells lovely and hoppy and again has a further 1/4 inch of sedimant over and above what I left in primary.

Finding dryhop varieties is my new favourite thing :)
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subsub

Post by subsub » Tue May 22, 2007 7:02 pm

Stonch wrote:I find corn sugar / dextrose / glucose to be a difficult creature to find, in that i've hunted for it in every loca supermarket without success!
I picked sum up from T**cos the other day from their chemist counter. Had to ask for it though, they didn't have any on the displays :(
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Post by Andy » Tue May 22, 2007 8:27 pm

Stonch wrote:I find corn sugar / dextrose / glucose to be a difficult creature to find, in that i've hunted for it in every loca supermarket without success!
Boots (as in the chemist) sell it.
Dan!
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Tue May 22, 2007 10:34 pm

Brew three is on its way - and we combined the brewing session with a bit of a beer tasting -

http://stonch.blogspot.com/2007/05/cler ... rew-3.html
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BarryNL

Post by BarryNL » Tue May 22, 2007 11:22 pm

Stonch wrote:I find corn sugar / dextrose / glucose to be a difficult creature to find, in that i've hunted for it in every loca supermarket without success!
Hop & Grape has it for £1.29 a kilo; just stick a couple of bags on your next order.
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jaytee1

Post by jaytee1 » Tue May 22, 2007 11:50 pm

Stonch wrote:
How do you sanitise the hop bag? And why do they say they are reusable -surely a few weeks immersed in a batch of beer will render it spent?
Like one or two other here i simply use the bag that come with washing machine tablet stonch. Boil it for 10 mins with either marbles/stones (anything inert and heavy), pop the hops in and let it do it job. Even after 7 days in the fermenter they are easy enough to clean and use again.

Seen the blog of the new brew, good write up. :D
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jaytee1

Post by jaytee1 » Tue May 22, 2007 11:56 pm

P.S. you asked for suggestions for the name of the next brew

how about 'SGB'?
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Wed May 23, 2007 12:07 am

jaytee1 wrote:P.S. you asked for suggestions for the name of the next brew

how about 'SGB'?
Good effort - not bad at all.

Sounds like a proper beer, too!
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BarryNL

Post by BarryNL » Wed May 23, 2007 9:18 am

DaaB wrote:Good work Stonch, nicely documented 8)

I reckon your blog might just entice a few more people into homebrewing :D
Well, he won't do it with his beer! :=P :wall

(Sorry, couldn't resist)
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Stonch

Post by Stonch » Wed May 23, 2007 9:53 am

BarryNL :lol:

To be honest, six months ago I wasn't even thinking of doing homebrewing. It all came about because Dave the Goon was given a Tom Caxton kit (presumably purchased in Wilkos) by his sis at Christmas.

It's just such as easy and fun hobby, and each time you do it you learn more. For someone who is as interested in beer as I am, doing this has opened up whole new vistas on the subject.

Mind you - not quite ready for the jump to AG yet! :?
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