" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

[The_blue]

Will it last till xmas like i planned??

Yeah. As f**king If!

'Tis a bit pokey, at 18, isn't it? I kegged my last one at that, just for sh!ts and giggles. One I'm amongst now though? I topped it up to twenty with some treated water I had sitting around. Better now.

Just finished the last punt

Matured from mid October.

Was sad to see the end

[Ditch]

I gave a mate of mine a keg of the stronger stuff. Saw him, yesterday, and he'd had a pint the night before. Reckoned it was great! His son came in and asked what he was drinking, so Hugh just gave him a pint and said nothing. Left him to decide what he thought of it, without getting into the whole Home Brew thing.

Lad sat down and drank it. Gave it the thumbs up, even though he could barely put his finger on quite what he was drinking.

I thought that was a very fare result too!

[gxprice]

Well, any "recipe" with a thread that's 33 pages long and several years old deserves attention so I finally pulled the plug on brewing the "entirely above reproach" Ditch's Stout yesterday

It's only my third kit (since a brewing hiatus of 20 years), first brew (Geordies bitter) turned out well although slightly too bitter while the second (Muntons IPA) turned out far too sweet for my liking. Identified the problem in both cases once I started preparing the stout yesterday - thought my measuring jug was a litre in size but discovered (on trying to be accurate for the stout that it was in fact 1/2 a litre!). wondered why the FV and keg were only half full and I seemed to have too many bottles over when I transferred!!)... What a dork ...

Anyway, back to the stout: tried to follow the recipe with 1kg Dark DME, a mug of brown sugar, Coopers Stout kit, soft tap water and the yeast that came with the kit. Brewed to 23 Litres (slight variation to the recipe).

Beat the hell out of it but not with a drill - very good head though. Only (bad) variation was that I rushed as it was late in the evening and pitched the yeast / stirred it before checking the temp. Hydrometer said 1041 but that was at 16C. It has the fish tank heater in there set at 23C though so hopefully, it'll be fine albeit an extra day to kick off. May turn the temp down to 21 though based on comments in this thread (yes, I've read it all!).

Very much looking forward to having a taste in 10 days to 2 weeks when it should be ready and the large chunks have sunk already.

Still in 2 minds to either keg or bottle My keg is a little tricky when it comes to holding any pressure (budget keg with a finnicky screwtop) and I don't get through anything like the quantity of beer that some people get through (it'll take me several months at least) so obviously, bottling offers me more of guarantee of keeping the beer fresh ... However, I'd like to at least experience the Ditch approach so may try a split of some sort.

Thanks again for the recipe Ditch

Best,

Gary.

[Fish'n'Chips]

Started a Ditch's Stout yesterday.Only my second ever HB.Pitched the yeast straight into the mix at 28C (didn't leave the aquarium heater in the mix for a load of hours first so hope this is ok.Should go down to 21C).Looks like after 1 day the bubbles are already at the top of the FV ready to overflow.Can't wait til it's racked and ready

[Ditch]

Gary; Ye were doing so well there mate. Till ye got to the bit about potentially bottling the stuff

Go read the fourth and fifth posts on this thread, Here.

Regards ye 'BK with a duff cap'? So check the ring seal. Replace that. Or simply buy a new cap! What's that? Couple of quid?

As you're such a slow drinker, I guess ye could use a Sparklett type, silly little CO2 bulb. That'd throw a blanket over ye beer and all should be fine. I have the bulb holder thing here. May have a bulb or two. IF I discover I still have a lid with the right brass? Hell, it's yours. No earthly use to me. I'll look, next time I can be arsed to wander back to my work room. I know the box to look in.

All my BK's are capped with the brass for the big CO2 cylinders. But, I no longer use gas at all. I'd be perfectly happy with plain, solid plastic caps. No brass at all. But then, yeah; I do empty my kegs at an alarming rate!

[Ditch]

Can't wait til it's racked and ready

Don't worry; It won't be long!

[Fish'n'Chips]

Can't wait til it's racked and ready

Don't worry; It won't be long!

Unfortunately I only have bottles at the minute Ditch so not a true Ditch's Stout have it on the shopping list though so my next one will be kegged

[Ditch]

Damn. Bottles again, eh? Then you too, I'm afraid, really should go read the fourth and fifth posts on this thread, Here.

Of course, when all's said and done? I suppose there might be people out there to whom beer simply Must come out of a bottle. They'd say the bottled stuff is better.

Whatever .....

[gxprice]

[quote="Ditch"]Gary; Ye were doing so well there mate. Till ye got to the bit about potentially bottling the stuff

Go read the fourth and fifth posts on this thread, [url=http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... 89#p496189]Here[/url].

Regards ye 'BK with a duff cap'? So check the ring seal. Replace that. Or simply buy a new cap! What's that? Couple of quid?

As you're such a slow drinker, I guess ye could use a Sparklett type, silly little CO2 bulb. That'd throw a blanket over ye beer and all should be fine. I have the bulb holder thing here. May have a bulb or two. IF I discover I still have a lid with the right brass? Hell, it's yours. No earthly use to me. I'll look, next time I can be arsed to wander back to my work room. I know the box to look in.

All my BK's are capped with the brass for the big CO2 cylinders. But, I no longer use gas at all. I'd be perfectly happy with plain, solid plastic caps. No brass at all. But then, yeah; I [i]do[/i] empty my kegs at an alarming rate! [/quote]

Ditch, thanks for your kind words, encouragement and offer Believe it or not, I actually have both types of cap for the barrel (both are "unreliable" it seems hence I suspect the barrel thread itself) .... My problem is that even knowing this, I could use Sparklet lid and keep topping up but I can't get the sparklet bulbs where I live (in Switzerland). I was briefly in the UK over Xmas but there were no brew shops in the local area and I didn't have time to shop around much Hence, bottling is the easy option since I have a bunch of "Grolsch" type bottles (with the clip down lid). I do like a little life to any beer though hence the desire to prime but I will leave some in the barrel just for the true "Ditch" experience.

As for the status of the brew, Iam SO GLAD I took the trouble to read the whole thread. As soon as I got home yesterday, I saw a couple of bubbles appear from the airlock so took a large black bin and put the bucket in that. Checked this morning and sure enough, as predicted here, the airlock lid had blown off and the whole top was covered in froth!After only 24 hours Can't wait to try it!

Best,

Gary.

[Fish'n'Chips]

Damn. Bottles again, eh? Then you too, I'm afraid, really should go read the fourth and fifth posts on this thread, Here.

Of course, when all's said and done? I suppose there might be people out there to whom beer simply Must come out of a bottle. They'd say the bottled stuff is better.

Whatever .....

Have read the whole thread a couple of times....just haven't got a keg yet.It's only my second HB ye know

Turbo on the car went last week else this one would be gettin kegged.Feckin skint right now.Next one will be sorted

[snap9]

Hi Ditch, bin & bort me sen a coopers stout kit 2day & a kg of dark malt extract. Before i start it can you give me any other tips that mite help. Should i rehydrate my yeast ? etc. Thanks mate.

[Ditch]

Fish 'n Chips; Look on the bright side, mate; Ye'll know that, what ever ye get out of those bottles, there's better to come!


Snapper; As I said, just the other night on another thread; I have rehydrated my yeast a couple of times. Just to see what it was all about, really. F**k that though. All that pissing about and waiting for the water to cool to just the right temp' .....

Listen; This is Coopers yeast we're dealing with here. This stuff's so viable it's unreal! Just cut the top off the sachet. Sling the granules into the FV. If ye have it at about the 22 C mark? Expect it to unleash hell inside of 48 hours.

Air locks are a complete and total waste of time. Trying to snap the lid down completely is tantamount to suicide. Because these bastards build up such an unimaginable head of steam that trying to in any way contain it amounts to foolishness. It's Going To Blow and spew all over the place. Period. Try to contain that energy and ..... well; I think one poor guy did, actually. Showed us the photo's of his walls and ceiling, dripping with it


Put simply? I reckon Coopers Stout is The simplest and most unfailingly reliable kit out there. I stipulate the stout, simply because I haven't had much experience of their other 'flavours'. This stuff though? I've made them in triple figures. Lost ONE. And that was when I had a very bad turn and left five FV's sitting there for about a month. Other four were as superb as ever

[snap9]

about wot alcohol percentage will it be. approx? How long do you normally leave it to ferment? Cheers..

[Ditch]

I've honestly no idea the alcohol content, because I really don't care. I also can't be arsed to attempt mind bending calculations with a Hydrometer.

I'm a notoriously, inveterately lazy bastard and cut so many corners I go round in constant circles. That's fine by me. The stuff tastes good and, after drinking it all night, I go to bed, contented. I put down at least eight pints a night. If I cock up and end up without any of my own gear, I buy this Polish tramp juice lager (I know. But, it's 5% and cheap as chips) I also do eight pints of that a night.

Maybe we can extrapolate from that then that my stuff too must be around the 5% mark? My tolerance means I need 8 x 5 to reach contentment. (Oh, alright; So I also have four shots of Jameson .....) What's yours? Do ye like eight pints of 5%? More? Less? Work that out and ye'll have an idea of how this stuff will suit ye.

I make 20 Litres, by the way. I have made it to less. But, f**king hell! That stuff's a hell of an 'Acquired Taste'. Gets me talking rubbish too!

Listen; If ye simply must know the FG on this stuff? Try dropping MickHew a line. I know he's an absolute bugger for the stuff too. Not certain exactly how he makes his. But, I'm sure it'll be similar to my way and I'm also sure he'll have used a Hydrometer at some time. He'd be the man to give ye a good idea.

Then, maybe ye could come back here and tell us. It'd be good to have a figure on this thread

[snap9]

ok dude ill do a hydometer test when i start mine & let ya know. I only drink at weekends kos of work in the mornings. Used to drink every nate but this age thing is catching me up a bit now. I usually have about 6 pints of brew & harf a bottle of smirnoff vodka per nate. Nowere in the same league as a proper drinker like your self. This way i look forward to me weekend drinks, put it this way i can never remember going to bed. Gonna crack open my first now, its Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiday. Rave on Dude....