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RDWHAHB - WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING IN 2019?


Titan

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A quiet night tonight... but a nice drop with a sneaky Szechuan Chinese... the ol' extract beers sure don't have the issues of clarity like (my) All Grainers seem to have... 

Anyway - I have a few of the KnK in inventory still and they are nice from time to time... Temp Controlled Golden Crown Lager - very nice and refreshing...

Mmmm funny the little bottle is still half full - with the big Spiegelau beer glass near full --> got the water into the little swingo for soaking 😝

When you have the bottles standing upright in fairly cool conditions for a  long time - the yeast consolidates quite well!

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5 minutes ago, Lab Rat said:

What style of beer is the Real ale?

I believe it is as per the "Campaign for Real Ale" in the UK...   was a big thing when I was over there years ago... going back to basics... hand pumped... cellar temperature...  So I guess modelled on good quality British Real Ale...  Burton-on-Trent style... harder water... ale malt... ale yeast... ABV usually in the 4s... quite malty... but I am sure there are loadsa people more qualified than me to answer this question.  There are so many different "Real Ales" in England alone... dunno… maybe this Coops Kit with a reasonable amount of kilo added might come out somewhere near London Pride which runs out at 4.7%.  Not really sure whether that helps much or not ; )

The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...

 

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28 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

dunno… maybe this Coops Kit with a reasonable amount of kilo added might come out somewhere near London Pride which runs out at 4.7%.  Not really sure whether that helps much or not ; )

London Pride - cracking beer that is. I suppose I’m gonna have to get a Real Ale kit now...😄

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25 minutes ago, Gazzala said:

London Pride - cracking beer that is. I suppose I’m gonna have to get a Real Ale kit now...😄

Well you will be able to advise me how WRONG I was 😝

Problem I have got is that I brewed the Coops Real Ales ages ago... and liked it a lot... and drank the London Pride more recently... and liked it a lot... so whether my memory was right or not!?!

 

Thing is Gazz… you'll be able to advise us all on how to tune the Real Ale Kit with some adjuncts to get it closer to London Pride then mate !?!

Reckon you would need at least 1.4kg of Dry Malt... but the business would be to get 1.5kg of Liquid Malt to add.. maybe 0.2kg of LDME...  Ian's Spready says that gets you to 4.8% in the bottle which is pretty close.

And I don't reckon you would need any hopping - let the malt do the talking - and the Real Ale Kit will have the appropriate hopping anyway.

Using the liquid malt would provide so much better creamy mouth feel and head retention... 

If you have a crack let us know!!!

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1 hour ago, Lab Rat said:

What style of beer is the Real ale?

That is a good question ... there has been a few answers and mine is:  it reminds me of the beers I have tasted that have come off the wood...I know that some may cringe at this: but one of the best beers i have had was in the late 80's was XXXX at the Breakfast Creek Hotel in Brissy when the public bar  would have beer of the wood at lunch... a wooden keg up on the bar tapped straight  and poured direct ... It was the old XXXX bitter Ale ...  yep XXXX .... they still do it but it is not the same ... when I 1st went there it was not the tendy place it is  now  but it was an old school wharvies pub and one could smell sedition in the air in the public bar at lunch ...  icey cold beer off the wood ... 

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11 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

That is a good question ... there has been a few answers and mine is:  it reminds me of the beers I have tasted that have come off the wood...I know that some may cringe at this: but one of the best beers i have had was in the late 80's was XXXX at the Breakfast Creek Hotel in Brissy when the public bar  would have beer of the wood at lunch... a wooden keg up on the bar tapped straight  and poured direct ... It was the old XXXX bitter Ale ...  yep XXXX .... they still do it but it is not the same ... when I 1st went there it was not the tendy place it is  now  but it was an old school wharvies pub and one could smell sedition in the air in the public bar at lunch ...  icey cold beer off the wood ... 

They were the good ol' days at the Brekky Creek Marty!

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1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

I believe it is as per the "Campaign for Real Ale" in the UK...   

Yeah, I remember the start of CAMRA as a push back to the homogenising of watery lager in brewery owned pubs. But Real ale isn't a style, just a generic description.

Buy yes, Fullers do some cracking beers - London Pride, ESB and 1845. Luckily these are available at my local international beer shop. Brewing something in this ballpark would be good

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2 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Looks GREAT Marty.  Funny Coops Real Ale was one of my faves when I very first started out...  Guess myself I would be putting in 2kg of LDME (I bought a great sack last year before AG time so was about $7 per kg) to boost it up a little...  but it is all about personal choice!

I can understand the 2kg of LDME as the kit with no secondary ferment is only a mid strength  ...  I have always had bottles of Real Ale sitting as a fall back for when the hopped IPA's and APA's have run out and the older the RA's have got better they have tasted ... I have thought several times that it was the best, for my taste, that I have made ... A bit spooky for a straight simple kit ...  

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22 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

They were the good ol' days at the Brekky Creek Marty!

Bloody oath .... and I know XXXX has had its knockers over the years but anyone who tasted it off the wood would understand where i am coming from ... Nothing lager about it ... 

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1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Thing is Gazz… you'll be able to advise us all on how to tune the Real Ale Kit with some adjuncts to get it closer to London Pride then mate !?!

Reckon you would need at least 1.4kg of Dry Malt... but the business would be to get 1.5kg of Liquid Malt to add.. maybe 0.2kg of LDME...  Ian's Spready says that gets you to 4.8% in the bottle which is pretty close.

And I don't reckon you would need any hopping - let the malt do the talking - and the Real Ale Kit will have the appropriate hopping anyway.

Using the liquid malt would provide so much better creamy mouth feel and head retention...

Hmm, tempting. Real ale, 1.5 can liq malt, 500g LDM and a coupla yeast? Checking the IBU on the Real, it's at the upper end of the scale, so like the Innkeepers I used in the Scotch Ale, shouldn't need hopping.

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5 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Bloody oath .... and I know XXXX has had its knockers over the years but anyone who tasted it off the wood would understand where i am coming from ... Nothing lager about it ... 

I drank imported XXXX in the UK in the late 80s. I thought it was the ducks danglies. Looking back maybe my beer palate was crap, but maybe they sent some decent stuff offshore.

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17 minutes ago, Lab Rat said:

I drank imported XXXX in the UK in the late 80s. I thought it was the ducks danglies

yep it was ... however, it was made under licence and it was a lager .... i have said is one of the threads about ales and lagers ... the only place i have seen XXXX lager was in the UK ... I too have tasted it and it was terrible ... sold on mass cheap on tap in London in the late 80's and 90's ... 

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18 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

yep it was ... however, it was made under licence and it was a lager .... i have said is one of the threads about ales and lagers ... the only place i have seen XXXX lager was in the UK ... I too have tasted it and it was terrible ... sold on mass cheap on tap in London in the late 80's and 90's ... 

I only bought the cans and I believe those were fully imported. I thought it was pretty good. When I got over here, I changed my mind.

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14 hours ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

Bloody oath .... and I know XXXX has had its knockers over the years but anyone who tasted it off the wood would understand where i am coming from ... Nothing lager about it ... 

Mate even the XXXX Bitter megaswill was way better back then - I reckon it was 4.8 or 4.9% ABV - and actually had some taste.  What's it now - joke beer at 4.4%.  With negligible barley content, mostly sugar, polycationic coagulants for floccing and propylene-glycol for head retention. Disgrace.

But even tho XXXX Bitter was good back then we did stop buying it when filthy Bondy bought it and put the Bond Corp symbol on it... so we all jumped across to Bernie Power's Bitter - backed by Wally Lewis Wooohooo ; )

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15 hours ago, Lab Rat said:

Hmm, tempting. Real ale, 1.5 can liq malt, 500g LDM and a coupla yeast? Checking the IBU on the Real, it's at the upper end of the scale, so like the Innkeepers I used in the Scotch Ale, shouldn't need hopping.

Reckon that does sound like a good start Ratticus.  Am assuming in 23L? 

Would go with the hops in the Kit already and let the malt do the talking.

Ian's spready suggests in the bottle you will come out around 5.3% ABV which I reckon would be excellent.  Others may prefer a lower ABV. 

If  you dropped the LDM you come in at around 4.5% but for me that is a bit too low... but it is all about personal choice.

Note mate that the extra liq malt really does make a positive difference.  If you have not used extra liquid malt before - I believe you will see a marked positive change in brew quality.

As for yeast - I defer to the Yeast Kings on this site... I think one sachet would work... but there may be positives upping your dry yeast input.  Or maybe one sachet and make a starter.

And ferment at 18 deg C - am a big believer in the positives of Temp Control.  Possibility also at the end for a diacetyl rest and take it up to 22 deg C for a  few days to finish off.

That's what the LHBS/Microbrewer Rusty Penny recommends and do for their Ales.

Yeast Experts your input please?

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41 minutes ago, MitchBastard said:

Came home from Germany to a carbonated Raspberry Wheat. Nice thirst quencher. Dry and enough tartness to make you wanting more. Not sure if I’ll do it again but glad I did this one.

Looks nice MB.  I do like Wheaties but am not big on the Fruity thing.  Each punter to their own race I say 😜

But it does look the business.  Great work.

However, there is another important question - did you savour any lovely brews in Germany that were of special note?

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14 hours ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

yep it was ... however, it was made under licence and it was a lager .... i have said is one of the threads about ales and lagers ... the only place i have seen XXXX lager was in the UK ... I too have tasted it and it was terrible ... sold on mass cheap on tap in London in the late 80's and 90's ... 

Yeah on tap it was brewed at 3.5% for the pommy lager swillers' market.

I always believed that was done so that they could sell more of the dishwater.

Not sure regards the XXXX Cans in the UK - suspect if fully imported - they would still have been the better original 4.8/4.9% brew from Milton Road.

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16 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Reckon that does sound like a good start Ratticus.  Am assuming in 23L? 

Would go with the hops in the Kit already and let the malt do the talking.

Ian's spready suggests in the bottle you will come out around 5.3% ABV which I reckon would be excellent.  Others may prefer a lower ABV. 

If  you dropped the LDM you come in at around 4.5% but for me that is a bit too low... but it is all about personal choice.

Note mate that the extra liq malt really does make a positive difference.  If you have not used extra liquid malt before - I believe you will see a marked positive change in brew quality.

And ferment at 18 deg C - am a big believer in the positives of Temp Control.  Possibility also at the end for a diacetyl rest and take it up to 22 deg C for a  few days to finish off.

 

My last 2 were both done with liquid malt - the Yorkshire square and Scotch ale. Still conditioning. I'm liking Notts for English style ales. I sued it a while back, and find it fast and predictable.

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3 minutes ago, Lab Rat said:

My last 2 were both done with liquid malt - the Yorkshire square and Scotch ale. Still conditioning. I'm liking Notts for English style ales. I sued it a while back, and find it fast and predictable.

Sounds good.

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3 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Yeast Experts your input please?

I am no yeast expert but I am doing my next with some Nottingham ...I am expanding the yeast bank and thought Nottingham would be a welcome addition and think it will go well with a good ale ...  will harvest it and add it to my others ...  

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Here we go... AG2... Lottie Lindner Lager.

Was going down the Vienna Lager pathway in the planning, but suspect I have gone too hard on the Medium Crystal Malt, and in my Bulk Prime gone a little low (prolly inadvertently hit the wrong internet site in a big hurry) on the Secondary Ferment fermentables - apologies All Grain Kings and Queens.

HOWEVER, notwithstanding, it has turned out a lovely drop.  Maybe a bit more like a Märzenbier one of which an Uncle of a mate of mine in  Seßlach in Bayern (God rest his soul) brewed and I was honoured to be able to savour.  Vale Onkel Hans! That night every time my glass neared empty a new fresh glass would arrive… and I drank a bucketful, seven bucketfuls. My bed was a bench in the bar, and obviously I had to wait until everyone had left (woohoo).  Gotta be happy with that!!!

And the next day I felt absolutely fine… Hans did everything himself… grew the grain, did the lot. And the resulting brew was just so good. The garlic schnapps (he also had a licenced Still) he made for the local GP was a cracking heart starter the next morning!

Anyway – Vienna Lager – I am so far off my Vienna  Lager target – I am calling this one Lottie Lindner Lager in honour of the beautiful Lottie Lindner a character in Colin Thiele’s Labourers in the Vineyard book re German immigrants in the beautiful Barossa Valley in the early 1940s.

Cheers Brewers!

PS apologies for the lack of green grass in the paddock but in NSW we are in a fair old drought...  (and I am running out of rainwater as well)

And thanks to PaddyBrew2 and Hairy for recommending the Spiegelau glassware... has really enhanced the experience.

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