friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Not sure who makes their kits for them mate. What size kit is it and do you have to add sugar? Tesco have coopers kits reduced at the moment
Home Brew Questions
- Thread starter Voley
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Mation
real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
Nope!
Black treacle v molasses in a homebrew? I'm not normally a stout / porter drinker but I'm thinking of doing a BIAB next brew day and have seen a recipe that asks for molasses. On reading more about molasses, I've read somewhere that although there is a subtle difference between the two products (blac treacle contains molasses), you can certainly use black treacle AND, it's cheaper, too! 
Onket
Je suis [CONTENT REMOVED]
Doesn't look like you have to add sugar.Not sure who makes their kits for them mate. What size kit is it and do you have to add sugar? Tesco have coopers kits reduced at the moment
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Yeah had a look last night. There's some okish reviews on them and £20 is alright for what is more or less a two can kit. Apparently the wort is in a bag.
All depends on what you want to make really though. I wouldn't buy one of those just on the basis they were cheap because if you don't like the brew you're stuck with 40 pints of it but then again if you can get it all in one go and you just see your first brew as an experiment then it saves you the hassle of traipsing around town listening to old men in brew shops chatting about bitterness and cascade hops
My first two can kit was a Muntons Old English Bitter which I think was £22. The best stout I've done up to now was a festival ales kit, London porter jobby.
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Fair doos then. The reviews I read on the kit were also when sainsburys were selling them off for similar price too £12.50. Give it a gogo then our kid
There's a fairly decent review on the larger but as any foo knows it wont be a proper larger if it's done with ale yeast
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Add some spray malt or some sugar/honey/vimto/gravy granulesThey're a bit weak for me- 3.7% for the bitter and 4.1% for the lager. Any tips on making it worth drinking?!
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
It was the strength that kinda put me off them
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
You could also make the brew length a bit shorter and say make the kit to 36 pints but it's always worth just doing your first kit to instructions and choosing a kit that suits what you like to drink. If you have a good first brew you'll be more inclined to use the stuff again where as if it turns out shit it's end up on your next car boot
I've used both before in different brews and I find the taste of treacle a bit overpowering in the finished product. Some folk like that taste though so It's down to what you like. I've found toasted/malted oats is nice in a porter or stout as it gives a thicker mouth feel and a nice creamy head.
Black treacle v molasses in a homebrew? I'm not normally a stout / porter drinker but I'm thinking of doing a BIAB next brew day and have seen a recipe that asks for molasses. On reading more about molasses, I've read somewhere that although there is a subtle difference between the two products (blac treacle contains molasses), you can certainly use black treacle AND, it's cheaper, too!
I've used both before in different brews and I find the taste of treacle a bit overpowering in the finished product. Some folk like that taste though so It's down to what you like. I've found toasted/malted oats is nice in a porter or stout as it gives a thicker mouth feel and a nice creamy head.
Dovydaitis
Official fishco fish groupie
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Hmmm... As with all of my brews there's not really a recipe just a general theory and hope for the best...
I used about 3kg of ripe or over ripe bananas peeled and chopped in to small pieces, boiled and then mashed with about 1/2 kg of sugar and enough water to make about 3 - 4 litres of revolting looking sludge.
Transfer to a demijohn / whatever and add two banana skins (for the tannin in theory but it probably doesn't matter), high tolerance yeast and nutrient if you use it when cool enough. The reaction can be quite violent and you'll need the extra 1 litre space in the demijohn for foam. At this point it will look like vomit but nil desperandum.
Leave to ferment for however long it takes and when the fermentation has almost stopped rack off through a sieve to remove most of the sludge (and the skins). Add another 1/2kg of sugar, a 250ml bottle of white grape concentrate (Wilcos sell it), a healthy dose of pectic enzyme and enough water to make up to 5 litres. This should get it going again.
When fermenting has finished rack off again through a sieve or filter to remove most or all of the remaining sludge. This should yield about 4 litres of wine.
Keep racking off and standing and it should clear... eventually.
That's it basically...
Dovydaitis
Official fishco fish groupie
New year new brew shop! Picked up some dried sloes and the milestone dasher kit in the sales
kwaimaisabai
Well-Known Member
I've got a batch of St Peters IPA on the go. It's been on for about 10 days and it's stuck around 1020 SG. The instructions said to leave it until 1014.
It's in an unheated room which has been between 10c and 12c every time I've looked. I don't want to move it somewhere warm because the last batch I did over the summer was too estery.
Keg it now or leave it alone for a bit?
It's in an unheated room which has been between 10c and 12c every time I've looked. I don't want to move it somewhere warm because the last batch I did over the summer was too estery.
Keg it now or leave it alone for a bit?
If you don't feel like moving it, can you not wrap something else around it (presuming it has something wrapped around already?) Do you know of somebody with a heat-belt you could borrow? Or alternatively, put the bloody heating on, you tight arsed bugger!
kwaimaisabai
Well-Known Member
put the bloody heating on, you tight arsed bugger!
I don't want to warm it up, beer tastes loads better when fermented cold.
I kegged it this evening anyway, it was still at 1020.
I won't taste better if it hasn't fermented properly. As with anything in life, there are no hard or fast rules, but experience dictates that ale yeast ferments more efficiently between 18c to 22c. Yes, there may be times that it can do so at lower temperatures, but it's quite obvious, that in your case, it's stuck as it's not hit the right numbers.
Anyway, enjoy your beer.
Ground Elder
Well-Known Member
I've just racked off a St Peter's IPA, which had been fermenting away at a regular 20 degrees for the last week. Tasting very IPAee. Might prove to be the best 'brewed to the instructions' brew I've made yet
kwaimaisabai
Well-Known Member
The IPA is looking good, still needs to clear properly but it's on its way. Tastes more bitter than anything else.
Looking good there, kwaimaisaba. I love that orangey / amber colour. I can only imagine the hoppiness oozing from the glass.
Bob_the_lost
Elsewhere
I'm not going to ask if i can join, i've got the kit and something rotting next door, you can't stop me. I'm in.
They told me home brew would be a cheap way to get beer, they lied. No one pointed out that to hold 40 pints of ale you will need around 45 bottles, no one pointed out that the only cool solution, the flip-top bottle, is fairly expensive in the shops. No one told me that i'd just end up buying Grolsch instead and keeping the bottles, leading to a forced drinking session to ensure sufficient supply is available before bottling time...
Most of all no one told me that i'd end up losing this much time spell-checking my posts, how are you supposed to touch type drunk!?
They told me home brew would be a cheap way to get beer, they lied. No one pointed out that to hold 40 pints of ale you will need around 45 bottles, no one pointed out that the only cool solution, the flip-top bottle, is fairly expensive in the shops. No one told me that i'd just end up buying Grolsch instead and keeping the bottles, leading to a forced drinking session to ensure sufficient supply is available before bottling time...
Most of all no one told me that i'd end up losing this much time spell-checking my posts, how are you supposed to touch type drunk!?
Bob_the_lost
Elsewhere
On a serious note, i'm three days into a Wilkinson's Pilsner brew and i'm wondering if i should invest/waste money on a secondary fermentation vessel or just chuck the lot into the pressurised barrel (in a few days once the fermentation has died down a bit more). It's still got some fermentation to go but it's slowing down (based on CO2 emissions). Another bucket is only £10-15 but it's clearly the start of an ever steepening beer sodden slope.
Dovydaitis
Official fishco fish groupie
I'm waiting for my gaff to warm up a bit before this years carnage begins, although I do have a cheeky sloe voddie sitting quietly in the corner
If it's one thing I hate besides sanitising the kit, it's bottling as it's so time consuming and boring. What I've decided to do now, is instead of bottling off 20 pints (I'm currently doing BIAB and my stock pot only holds 14 litres but I sparge to make up 20 pints), I bought several 1.5 litre bottles of ginger beer (I poured away the ginger) and I now use them to bottle with. I know for a fact that I will drink at least 3-4 pints in one sitting, so getting through a bottle or two is par for the course during a normal session.
I've also got a couple of barrels too, which when I'm doing my festival kits, I just whack the 40 pints' worth in one of those and help myself to a pint or two when I'm passing the barrel in the kitchen.
Bob_the_lost
Elsewhere
Fermentation is almost complete, it's starting to clear at the top and the CO2 production is right down. So the way i see it it's almost time to transfer to the keg. My first siphoning, how exciting. I'm going to leave it till tomorrow evening as i can't take the risk of pouring beer down myself first thing in the morning.
This stuff is almost all going to go into the keg, with three bottles just to see how they turn out.
This stuff is almost all going to go into the keg, with three bottles just to see how they turn out.
kwaimaisabai
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd keep you posted with the IPA. Looking good, lots and lots of head which makes it difficult to pour but I guess that'll be easier when there's more space and less pressure in the keg.
Tastes very bitter, not a lot of aroma but a big grapefruit bitter hit and a bit of a homebrew overtone. Hopefully this will get better as it ages but it's quite drinkable now. I'm going to give it another week.
And with a backlight. You can't really tell from the picture but it is completely clear.
I've now got a Young's American IPA on the go, in my bucket in the background. This one came with 3Kg of malt extract _AND_ 1Kg of brewing sugar and had a starting gravity of 1060.
I've got high hopes for this one, I tested it yesterday and got a SG of 1028 and the sample tasted very nice. When this reaches 1010 or there abouts I'll dry hop it with the provided sachet and I intend to keg around 1007.
Tastes very bitter, not a lot of aroma but a big grapefruit bitter hit and a bit of a homebrew overtone. Hopefully this will get better as it ages but it's quite drinkable now. I'm going to give it another week.
And with a backlight. You can't really tell from the picture but it is completely clear.
I've now got a Young's American IPA on the go, in my bucket in the background. This one came with 3Kg of malt extract _AND_ 1Kg of brewing sugar and had a starting gravity of 1060.
I've got high hopes for this one, I tested it yesterday and got a SG of 1028 and the sample tasted very nice. When this reaches 1010 or there abouts I'll dry hop it with the provided sachet and I intend to keg around 1007.
Looking good there, K. I've just started doing the Young's APA tonight. I thought my SG of 1058 was good, but 1060 - that's going to be a good 'un.
