Christmas brew for 2013. Ideas please.

[Dave S]

Well, well, the Sensible Mole himself! Thank you for being here. Drop in whenever you can manage, we'd love to hear more from you.

Cheers!

Yes indeed we would. Hopefully you are still brewing.

[minesapint]

Hello Dave S
That was the way I got my copy of Ken Shales book.
My brother borrowed it from one of his drinking cronies and never had the book with him when they met and never met when he took the book to the pub.
Its in my bookshelf now. The old boy that originally bought it will be pushing up the dasies long ago.
It has had some good use has that battered old book.
Cheers.

[Dave S]

Hello Dave S
That was the way I got my copy of Ken Shales book.
My brother borrowed it from one of his drinking cronies and never had the book with him when they met and never met when he took the book to the pub.
Its in my bookshelf now. The old boy that originally bought it will be pushing up the dasies long ago.
It has had some good use has that battered old book.
Cheers.

Do you know what? I've just bought it again for 1p + £2.80 delivery. I just couldn't resist it. I know I'll never brew the way it advocates ever again, but I thought it might make an interesting/amusing read, and it also might be interesting to try converting some of the recipes to AG. After all, Ken was one of the pioneers of HB back in the 60's.

[Dave S]

P.S. have you settled on your Christmas brew yet?

[minesapint]

Its going to be Twelfth Night at Toad Hall.
The only major changes will be the use of high alcohol yeast, Safale S-33, and also instead of the Green Bullet hops I will do the Alpha Acid sums and substitute a load of Styrian Golding.
Green bullet hops dont seem to be available in the brew shops that I frequent. They also dont appear in any of my brewing books.
Finding a substitute for Green Bullet took a fair old time trawling the internet. Styrian Golding was the only substitute that I could find.
It is not worth buying a pack of Green Bullet mail order for the amount that I would use in my three gallon brew.
I already have plenty of small oddments of hops.
Must make an effort to use them up in a hotch potch brew.
Maybe I should call it a "Hop Potch Brew ".
Once my India Pale Ale by Dave Lines is out of the brew bin I shall crack on with Twelfth Night at Toad Hall.
Cheers.

[a-slayer]

I found Ken Shales books a great starter for making good beer, I wonder how many more of us he inspired.
Might look out to buy a copy again myself. Just had a look and there is half a dozen of them on Ebay at the moment and most under £3 delivered.

[seymour]

Where's the H.E. Bravery love, guys?

[minesapint]

Hello seymour
I had never heard of H.E.Bravery until you just mentioned him or her.
Written a shed load of books according to amazon.
Can you suggest a good one with all grain recipes?
Cheers and thanks for the enlightenment.

[seymour]

Well, I was half-joking, but he was an Englishman, and one of the earliest advocates for homebrewing, even before it was strictly legal, from what I gather. I am the proud owner of his 1965 book, Home Brewing Without Failures. It's laughably out of date. Most recipes contain ungodly quantities of sugar, the dark colour comes from gravy browning, etc, BUT many of the defenses made for Dave Line would apply to Bravery as well. He probably made the best beer you could make at home from the ingredients/equipment/lay-knowledge available at the time. I've taken useful nuggets from his books (such as how to make your own invert sugar, using tea to add tannin to mead which helps the yeast, etc) but I've never been brave enough to replicate a whole batch of his beer.

As far as all-grain recipes, I don't think he ever wrote any. In any case, he's as big a part of your country's homebrew history as Charlie Papazian is mine.

[Dave S]

I found Ken Shales books a great starter for making good beer, I wonder how many more of us he inspired.
Might look out to buy a copy again myself. Just had a look and there is half a dozen of them on Ebay at the moment and most under £3 delivered.

You can get through Amazon too. Still available at 1p + £2.80 delivery.

[crafty john]

Well, I was half-joking, but he was an Englishman, and one of the earliest advocates for homebrewing, even before it was strictly legal, from what I gather. I am the proud owner of his 1965 book, Home Brewing Without Failures. It's laughably out of date. Most recipes contain ungodly quantities of sugar, the dark colour comes from gravy browning, etc, BUT many of the defenses made for Dave Line would apply to Bravery as well. He probably made the best beer you could make at home from the ingredients/equipment/lay-knowledge available at the time. I've taken useful nuggets from his books (such as how to make your own invert sugar, using tea to add tannin to mead which helps the yeast, etc) but I've never been brave enough to replicate a whole batch of his beer.

As far as all-grain recipes, I don't think he ever wrote any. In any case, he's as big a part of your country's homebrew history as Charlie Papazian is mine.

I did one of his recipes a few years back when I started home brewing again, from memory it was pretty homebrewish (is that a word) anyway I think if you upped the grain and reduced the hop bill slightly to account for how much sugar used to be used and how badly kept the hops where in those days I think you could make a decent beer, Thank god for brewing software

[mcdonald_ajr]

Hello

Seymour kindly sent me an email directing my attention towards this thread; for which he has my grateful thanks. Sincere thank you too, for the many complimentary remarks and kind words about Sensible Mole - reading those caused my head to swell so much that I had difficulty in getting out of the room. In fact I’ve shown this thread to every member of my family (twice), all of my friends, Dixie the guinea pig and next door’s cat. It’s very gratifying to know my recipe and my web site have been greeted by some with such a positive thumbs up.

Dave is right, the site hasn’t been updated since 2007, and I have to say that is a deliberate ploy on my part. I used to be involved in writing for and looking after a web site about rugby; that site had a message board/forum thingy and because comments were made daily, the site had to be moderated all the time - so if you’re not careful, looking aifter web sites can take over your life. It‘s like looking after a baby, and I just don’t have the time. I just wanted Sensible Mole to be all about how a bloke can brew all grain quite simply, and leave it at that. Having said that perhaps the site could do with a spring clean, or something - I can’t believe it’s six years old. How time flies.

And in answer to Seymour’s question, yes, I’ve been a member on here for some time but I haven’t visited the site for years <hangs head in shame>.

Thanks again for your kind comments, they really made my day.

Happy brewing!

http://www.sensiblemole.com

Dear Sensible Mole,

I'm currently drinking your Dark Lantern recipe, which is also very nice. Lovely rich, full taste. Strongly recommended. I suspect it will continue to improve with age, but I'm drinking it too fast! So thanks for the recipes. I plan to do another Toad at Toad Hall soon.

Anthony

[Col Robinson]

Wow, more nice comments, I could get used to this
Cheers Dave, yes, I am still brewing and still enjoying it. I recently went through a period of brewing very simple recipes; in fact, so simple that I'm not even sure I should call them 'recipes' - I did a series of brews simply chucking in 5Kgs of any type of pale malt, a sachet of Safale, and I'd use different combinations and types of hop for each brew (including 'green' hops once complete with caterpillars and spiders), just out of curiousity really to see how the taste of the finished products differ.

I'm currently drinking your Dark Lantern recipe, which is also very nice. Lovely rich, full taste. Strongly recommended. I suspect it will continue to improve with age, but I'm drinking it too fast! So thanks for the recipes. I plan to do another Toad at Toad Hall soon.

Anthony

Hi Anthony, I'm glad you like Dark Lantern and you're right, it does get better with age. I spent two years on and off, experimenting with Oatmeal Stout recipes, and finally I settled on Dark Lantern as my Oatmeal Stout of choice. A meal in a glass, as they say.

... It is not worth buying a pack of Green Bullet mail order for the amount that I would use in my three gallon brew.
I already have plenty of small oddments of hops.
Must make an effort to use them up in a hotch potch brew.
Maybe I should call it a "Hop Potch Brew ".

.
Hi minesapint, totally agree it's not worth buying a pack of Green Bullet for such a small amount and where's the fun in slavishly following a recipe to the letter anyway? And isn't it amazing how often these 'Hotch Potch chuck-it-in-to-use-'em-up' brews turn out to be absolutely delicious

Happy Brewing!

Col

[Dave S]

Wow, more nice comments, I could get used to this
Cheers Dave, yes, I am still brewing and still enjoying it. I recently went through a period of brewing very simple recipes; in fact, so simple that I'm not even sure I should call them 'recipes' - I did a series of brews simply chucking in 5Kgs of any type of pale malt, a sachet of Safale, and I'd use different combinations and types of hop for each brew (including 'green' hops once complete with caterpillars and spiders), just out of curiousity really to see how the taste of the finished products differ.

That's very good news Col, I shall be paying your site, and your recipes closer attention in months to come. I've recently returned to brewing, (about 12 months ago) after a gap of nearly 20 years - young kids taking up all the time etc. I can't believe how I managed to stay away for so long, but really glad to be back. Next brew will be #14.

[Col Robinson]

I've recently returned to brewing, (about 12 months ago) after a gap of nearly 20 years - young kids taking up all the time etc.

Ah yes, I know that feeling Dave, I have three of my own. Isn't it strange how they take up all your time and money until it feels like you're constantly running around after them and you wish you could do your own thing - and when they do finally grow up and leave the nest and all your time is your own, you end up missing them.

Happy brewing!

Col