Homebrew Beer Howto

cuculainn

oblivious wrote: »

Another is a nice pale ale crystal and DME and some generous hop additions or and nice mild with choclate (around half of what used for the porter/stout), crystal ,some Carapils and DME.

Hope this is of some help

Hey oblivious could you give more detail on what you described above. I like the sound of that recipe but would you be able to post actual quantities

Thanks for your help

oblivious

cuculainn wrote: »

Hey oblivious could you give more detail on what you described above. I like the sound of that recipe but would you be able to post actual quantities

Thanks for your help

Hi cuculainn

I will try and put something together, when did I make that post?

oblivious

cuculainn wrote: »

Hey oblivious could you give more detail on what you described above. I like the sound of that recipe but would you be able to post actual quantities

Thanks for your help

Hi cuculainn

Here is a Guide to extract brewing called Extract Brewing: An Illustrated Guide for Irish craft brewers. There is also a recipe included


http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=37

Hope this is of help

cuculainn

oblivious wrote: »

Hi cuculainn

Here is a Guide to extract brewing called Extract Brewing: An Illustrated Guide for Irish craft brewers. There is also a recipe included


http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=37

Hope this is of help

Thanks Oblivious I will check it out

simonw

Is there anywhere in dublin that i can buy brewing yeast? preferably champagne yeast? or would i have to get it off the net?

BeerNut

Pretty sure you'll have to buy it online.

oblivious

simonw wrote: »

Is there anywhere in dublin that i can buy brewing yeast? preferably champagne yeast? or would i have to get it off the net?

Beer yeast

http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=62_63

Wine yeast

http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=62_65

simonw

oblivious wrote: »

Beer yeast

http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=62_63

Wine yeast

http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=62_65

haha yeah good luck, 7e delivery charge for something worth 1.50...

oblivious

simonw wrote: »

haha yeah good luck, 7e delivery charge for something worth 1.50...

They could also post it to you

Mr Magnolia

I'm considering a brew brew and looking for some advice please. This looks like it's very fairly priced to begin with. I'll need some (brown) bottles and some caps, the kit has a twin lever capper which seems to be the best option. Is there anything else I need to included to get started apart from the brew kit? Is this about the best option to kick off with?

I've also read that I may be better off paying extra for a good kit as the budget ones sometimes aren't the best option. I really enjoy a nice fruity ale, now I don't want to raise the expectations of what to expect but, is there a fruity ale available that I could try to begin with? Any other suggestions or recommendations on a decent kit to begin with? I'll probably put this together in the spare room which is normally 16-20 degrees celsius.

I'm partial to stout but don't know if I should try one out to begin with as it may be too different to the stout I'm used to drinking (mainly Guinness), I may not get a fair idea of the quality of brew that can be produced at home.

Is this a decent guide for reference? Sorry for the barrage of questions

noby

That kit pretty much covers it alright.
As for kits, you're right - you get what you pay for. Look for the 3Kg+ all malt kits. There's no additional sugar to add to these to bulk it up . They may be twice the price of the budget kits, but are well worth it.

I've not read that guide, but have a look at www.irishcraftbrewer.com for good guides/articles.

gaz wac

Hi M,

Only starting myself but I found the guide on www.irishcraftbrewer.com much better.

Good luck

p.s use malt instead of normal sugar

What Nobo said :-)

oblivious

Hi Mr Magnolia


The Woodfrods wherry is a great beer and the brewery I believe is involved with the kit which has gotten good reviews

http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_13&products_id=22

noby

Indeed, the Wherry is good. All the Woodfordes range get good reviews.

BeerNut

100 caps are included with that starter set. Everything else but the bottles is included (I think). Try asking a pub for any non-returnable brown ones -- the Bull & Castle usually sets them aside for any home brewers.

As regards picking a fruity ale kit, Brewferm Ambiorix is one of the best I've tasted. Woodforde's Wherry, as oblivious and noby say, has a very good reputation.

Stout is a very forgiving style to make, so is worth giving a go at some point if you like stout at all. The Krakatoa stout which won second prize on the Oz and James show was kit based.

Mr Magnolia

That's brilliant info, thanks very much all.

Mr Magnolia

Will these clear bottles do the job or should I look elsewhere for brown ones?

oblivious

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Will these clear bottles do the job or should I look elsewhere for brown ones?

Brown bottle are the one you want

noby

Clear bottles aren't ideal, and neither is buying bottles, in my book anyway.
Ask family/friends to hold on to any 500mL brown bottles over the next couple of weeks - you'll soon gather enough for your first batch. Or, as TBN said, try your local friendly publican.

You can, of course use clear PET bottles. Just keep them out of direct sunlight.

Mr Magnolia

Hmm, they don't seem to stock them, I'll get onto my local and see if they can do anything for me.

Mr Magnolia

By the way, is there much of an aroma through-out the fermentation process? Is it mild or will it stink the room out?

BeerNut

There's very little smell from fermentation -- but be sure to protect the surface you're fermenting on in case of a foam overspill. The (delicious) smelly bit comes from boiling ingredients, but you won't be doing that with a kit.

oblivious

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

By the way, is there much of an aroma through-out the fermentation process? Is it mild or will it stink the room out?

It can be fruity, but some yeast especially lager give of strong sulphur aromas

Mr Magnolia

Great, thanks again to everyone. I'll have a look into the bottles, a mate of mine owns a bar so if the bulmer's 500ml's will do I may use them.

gaz wac

Has anyone ever tried screw on caps? I have 60 bottles ( silly woman charged me €9.99 for 20 bottles of Baviara, so i bought 60 ) with screw on's and I tested to see if i recapped them, to see if they spilt but they looked fine? any thought?

BeerNut

They might not be as fully airtight as crown caps or flip tops. Screwcaps give a good seal on plastic, but I've never heard of anyone using them with glass.

mazza

I'm a newbie working on my first batch (Woodfordes Great Eastern 'Golden Ale') which I started on Sunday evening.

Its fermenting nicely now and all going according to plan I think, but I have some doubts about secondary fermentation and maybe one of you experts could help?

Firstly, should I do it for this particular brew? I've read some advice saying that it only makes sense for certain types of beer etc. I'd like to get the nicest, clearest beer as possible (plus the experience), so would gladly do it if it makes sense. Or does it make more sense to keep things simple for this initial brew?

Have I got it correct that I should use an airlock in the secondary fermentation vessel too and not just a fully closed lid (which really wouldn't make sense if there is still some fermentation happening)?

And finally, clearly the brew protected by a layer of CO2 now, but if I move it to another vessel this will be lost. I guess this increases the risk of infection, but I guess it will build up another protective layer of CO2 as it ferments in the secondary vessel?

Many thanks for any advice and for this great stickie which was really interesting and helpful!

Mazza

oblivious

mazza wrote: »

Firstly, should I do it for this particular brew? I've read some advice saying that it only makes sense for certain types of beer etc. I'd like to get the nicest, clearest beer as possible (plus the experience), so would gladly do it if it makes sense. Or does it make more sense to keep things simple for this initial brew?

You don't need to do a secondary, its really only needed for high gravity beers or one with some additional bugs. Give it three week and then bottle or keg it an this also reduce the risk of infection and oxidation

mazza wrote: »

Have I got it correct that I should use an airlock in the secondary fermentation vessel too and not just a fully closed lid (which really wouldn't make sense if there is still some fermentation happening)?

If your are going to do a secondary then I would use an airlock

mazza wrote: »

And finally, clearly the brew protected by a layer of CO2 now, but if I move it to another vessel this will be lost. I guess this increases the risk of infection, but I guess it will build up another protective layer of CO2 as it ferments in the secondary vessel?

Its the alcohol, ph and hop acids that are protecting the beer. Yeast don't really need oxygen for metabolism as with wild yeast and bacteria are similar

Whisko

Has anyone here experimented with using heather instead of hops when brewing beer.

Anyone have a recipe?

Wallacebiy

Whisko wrote: »

Has anyone here experimented with using heather instead of hops when brewing beer.

Anyone have a recipe?

I'd be interested in this too ,

I read an article once about a couple of achaeologists from Louth ( I think) brewing a Heather beer in a fulacht Fia. Facsinating if it gave a decent enough result .