RDT2 415 Posted January 1 (edited) Just too hard to say a favourite, IMO I’ve brewed Stout, Porter, Pilsners a WC IPA and a couple of Smashes. enjoyed them all. The Wakatu Pilsner which is Ottos recipe which had the Saaz swapped for Wakatu was an easy drinker. My mum even wants me show her how to brew that now because of that one Its depends on my mood sometimes I just feel like a stout although I found some bonus smoked Porter from last year (2019)which was definitely one of my favourites be interesting to see what it’s like now will report next couple of nights in what are you drinking. Happy New Year Edited January 1 by RDT2 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pale Man 1,068 Posted January 1 2 hours ago, Hoppy81 said: My favourite would definitely have to be my chocolate, coffee and fig Stout. It's such a complex brew but so worth it and when I finally get around to finishing my licensing off I'll definitely be putting it into production Second would be my Pale Ale using Hort 4337 (aka Nectaron) hops, such an easy drinker. I'll vouch for both those beers But the fig stout is in another dimension. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aussiekraut 1,421 Posted January 1 Mötley Brëw was my favourite. It's a very simple beer but rather tasty and an easy drinker. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hairy 4,011 Posted January 1 9 hours ago, Hoppy81 said: My favourite would definitely have to be my chocolate, coffee and fig Stout. It's such a complex brew but so worth it and when I finally get around to finishing my licensing off I'll definitely be putting it into production Second would be my Pale Ale using Hort 4337 (aka Nectaron) hops, such an easy drinker. Nice! I made a coffee and fig oatmeal stout a few years ago and it was one of the best beers I have made. Are you going commercial? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stickers 448 Posted January 2 Maris 'larger' 1.7kg Coopers Lager Can BE2 1kg Maris Otter, 60 min mash @70c approx 30 min boil 20g cascade @30 min 20g cascade @10 min 20g cascade @ flameout 20 min rest, 15 min chill in freezer 30 or 40g cascade dryhop (new years resolution... write down my dry hop schedule rather than trying to remember what i did weeks later) verdant yeast going to try a similar one either later today or tomorrow with half as much citra at the same stages and nottingham yeast this time. my only issue with this brew is the verdant yeast took forever to get to FG. also, i know it's not a pilsner but that was the closest tab in the spreadsheet that gave me all goods. 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graubart 4,576 Posted January 2 1 hour ago, Lab Cat said: Should probably be Das Kölsch but WGAS it looks like a very nice beer well done mate ; ) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoppy81 564 Posted January 2 15 hours ago, Hairy said: Are you going commercial? Hey Hairy, Yes that is my plan, few hurdles to get over but hopefully in the next few months, meanwhile my store is up and running which has been going well. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotsh 514 Posted January 2 (edited) I enjoyed reading all the brews here so far! They are doing better than me! My favourite is actually “1, 11 and 13”: I brewed my first beer (1) with the support here at the start of this year, and it is drinkable but “Rubbish”. I really feel like Brew 11 (ROTM Belgian Chocolate) will set a starting “stone and arrow” for when I am targeting my dark beer. However, my 2020 heart goes to my Beez Nees nostalgia brew, brew 13, because after actually being guided and learning A LOT (thank you ALL!) I slowly felt like I could shape the direction of my own beer! It might still be “rubbish”, but at least it’s rubbish that I made! (Thank you everyone, I can’t list you individually or I will get callouses on my fingers from all the typing!) And yes, I will keep brewing and writing in my diary! again Edited January 2 by pilotsh fixing terrible grammmmaaar 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hairy 4,011 Posted January 2 6 hours ago, Hoppy81 said: Hey Hairy, Yes that is my plan, few hurdles to get over but hopefully in the next few months, meanwhile my store is up and running which has been going well. Awesome. All the best with it mate. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yab 17 Posted January 2 On 1/1/2021 at 1:51 PM, MUZZY said: I only do kits n' bits. In 2020 I discovered Brew A IPA. Mixed it with liquid light malt extract and the kit yeast, no other additions. I don't have a photo but I'd have to say it's the one I enjoyed the most in 2020. It doesn't require additions, IMO. Hi Muzzy, Sounds nice - how many litres of water do you add for this one? Mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MUZZY 2,520 Posted January 2 53 minutes ago, yab said: Hi Muzzy, Sounds nice - how many litres of water do you add for this one? Mark Hi Mark. As I add 1.5kg of liquid malt extract to the kit I make the wort up to 25 litres. There's a couple of reasons for this: It keeps my beer in the mid 4% ABV range so I don't get too sh1tf@ced and it gets me a couple of extra bottles. But if you prefer your beer with a bit more kick you could reduce the volume. It might even taste better. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green Blob 4,958 Posted January 3 Umm, favourite? Where to start. RIS, flanders, passionfruit catharina sour, aussie lager.... I like all my beers 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tone boy 87 Posted January 3 My favorite would have to be an extract summer ale which was an attempt to get somewhere near the Mountain Goat summer ale. It was really close except the hop flavour differed because I couldn’t get Wakatu hops. I used motueka and Nelson suavin. Everyone loved it and it was so pleasing to create something so good. happy new year legends 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graubart 4,576 Posted January 3 9 minutes ago, Tone boy said: Everyone loved it and it was so pleasing to create something so good. Happy New Year Mate! What a great result @Tone boy! And I guess you could always run another batch - when you have some of the specific hop you wanted - and review the difference ? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tone boy 87 Posted January 3 46 minutes ago, Graubart said: Happy New Year Mate! What a great result @Tone boy! And I guess you could always run another batch - when you have some of the specific hop you wanted - and review the difference ? Exactly right @Graubart. In fact I will make the same batch again, and a new batch with the wakatu hops. It’s so good when you stumble across a winner! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NewBrews 1,295 Posted January 3 My one favourite would be the MOTB Golden Ale brew from the first batch. Although the second brew of it used exactly the same recipe and process, I honestly didn’t think it was as good. Might have to revisit that one a bit as an AG, and see how it goes. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlackSands 2,411 Posted January 4 (edited) Difficult one to choose as they were all brilliant beers! Actually that's far from the truth... I had a few duds in 2020, ones that just didn't meet with expectations for on reason or another. But I think the 2020 stand-out for me was probably this one: 2.5kg GF Ale Malt 200g GF Redback Wheat 200g GF Med. Crystal 100g GF Biscuit 50g Carafa II 25g Nelson @35 25g Riwaka @15 25g Riwaka @5 25g Nelson - steep Kveik Voss I rebrewed a slightly modified version later and it was one of the 2020 dud's I mentioned above. I lightened it colour-wise by removing the 50g carafa and as I couldn't get Riwaka I sub'd in Motueka instead. The hop presence ended up being very subdued for some reason and I'm subsequently just not into it knowing how much more enjoyable it's predecessor was. I still have half a batch put aside - may be I'll like a little more in a few months!?? Anyway... this is a pic of the original. It was based on the specs for an English Ordinary bitter, but as you can see it's completely devoid of English ingredients! Edited January 4 by BlackSands 6 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iBooz2 723 Posted January 6 On 1/3/2021 at 6:58 PM, Tone boy said: My favorite would have to be an extract summer ale which was an attempt to get somewhere near the Mountain Goat summer ale. It was really close except the hop flavour differed because I couldn’t get Wakatu hops. I used motueka and Nelson suavin. The summer ale is probably my fav beer as I have done 8 x 23 litre batches of the stuff in slight variations in last 12 months. First AG brew will be one of these too this year so I can compare to K&K. @Tone boy What was your extract recipe ingredients and hop schedule. I would not mind making one with those hops to try it out. I can get Wakatu. Cheers - AL 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotsh 514 Posted January 7 On 1/3/2021 at 11:07 AM, Green Blob said: Umm, favourite? Where to start. RIS, flanders, passionfruit catharina sour, aussie lager.... I like all my beers They sound great! But the colour green is already taken..... at least for Pale Ale.... lol How can we buy your beer! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotsh 514 Posted January 7 (edited) On 1/5/2021 at 9:36 AM, BlackSands said: Who needs to record the hop schedule when you have a marketing/photography department that can take a photo like this! Edited January 7 by pilotsh spelling.... *face palm* 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tone boy 87 Posted January 8 (edited) On 1/6/2021 at 3:29 PM, iBooz2 said: The summer ale is probably my fav beer as I have done 8 x 23 litre batches of the stuff in slight variations in last 12 months. First AG brew will be one of these too this year so I can compare to K&K. @Tone boy What was your extract recipe ingredients and hop schedule. I would not mind making one with those hops to try it out. I can get Wakatu. Cheers - AL Hey AL. Here’s my Summer Ale recipe: 200g carapils 1.7 kg black rock pale ale can 500g LDME 500g wheat DME 250g Dextrose HOPS: 9g Galaxy, 20g Nelson Suavin, 20g Motueka (all at flameout and the steep for 20 minutes with no cooling) 20g Nelson suavin, 20g Motueka (dry hop when fermentation starts to slow). I steeped the carapils in 75 degrees water for 20 mins, then added the dry malts and dextrose with more water and brought to the boil for a few minutes then turned off the heat. Then added flameout hops. Strained into the fermenter after 20 minutes. Added the pale ale can to that. Topped up to 23 litres with cold water. Pitched rehydrated US 05. Next time my plan is to lose the NS hops and substitute with Wakatu if I can source some. Having said that I would happily brew the above beer again! Since that brew I have heard that hop utilization is probably best around a SG of 1.040 to 1.050, so I would probably adjust my fermentables in the boil to get around that number. Still lots for me to learn. Good luck with the AG version. Definitely a tasty beer to my mind. Happy brewing Tone Edited January 8 by Tone boy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
