Hi all, well my first brew since joining was part Coopers LME and part Crystal malt + Hops, Ok so I didnt realise that i should have used 2 tins of the stuff, BUT that aside, my neighbour who is an ex-publican was spellbound by the clarity and taste of which I achieved!!
(I will post a pic soon)
The Beer is (was nearly all gone!) a nice brown colour and crystal clear... considering I only had a small boil pan to do this on the hob with I can be proud of the first batch! (albeit a little watery and only 2-3% I guess)
Ok, next up I wanted to do AG! But how to achieve this as I had recently been laid off and needed to do as cheap as possible!
I found a way.. I bought a 2nd hand tea-urn relatively cheaply and would use this as my boiler.
Up in the loft was an unused cool box which I immediately set out to dig a hole in to get the tap in (yes a hole saw would have been nice)
Ok so it leaks..slightly and the filter slowed up the sparging (not a copper filter , I used a flexi pipe and removed the plastic)
The recipe? Badgers Golden Glory...
ANYWAY! what happended? I ended up using the old boil pan as well as the tea-urn for quantity, but all the spring water (27L was reduced to around 13!!!!) So in the end I had to filter the tap water and just make up the 23L
I used Safeale Yeast from the local Homebrew shop.
Well, the fermenting started off much quicker than before.. after 11 days it was still going (too cold last week)
I couldnt resist...I sterilised a metal soup spoon and lifted 1-1.5 litres out of the bin..filtered using the coffee filter (cleaned) and then looked at the glorious Golden colour!
What would it tasted like? Would I be able to taste the hops? Would it be just like a beer in the pub anywhere?
The result: Yes it tastes like some vaguely familar Real Ale once sampled in a pub, with lovely hop taste etc Beautiful!
Ive had to Keg now and chuck the first brew into a coke bottle whats left of it!
I cant believe I have brewed a beer thats this good!
Last tiime in my teens & 20s it was boots kits or some kit or other and speed was of the essence!
Yes it did its job then, but the taste was not very good! But now, Ive totally shocked the neighbours with the quality and clarity of what can be achieved!
Trouble is , im finding 23L just isnt enough..our regular Friday night drinkies are depleting stocks rapidly!
Anyway tomorrow im having a go at a London Pride style beer. Ill take pictures this time!
