A good brewer is......

[jennyss]

A good brewer is a magician, chemist, master chef and cleaner!

[Malter White]

I wouldn't know. I'm a mediocre brewer. The good thing about that is I'm always at my best.  

[GregT5]

1 hour ago, MUZZY said:

I wouldn't know. I'm a mediocre brewer. The good thing about that is I'm always at my best.  

Sounds a bit like me Muzz. Set the bar low enough to make it reachable!

[Malter White]

1 minute ago, GregT5 said:

Sounds a bit like me Muzz. Set the bar low enough to make it reachable!

Hahaha. Absolutely Greg. In our favour though is that we actually take that first step toward averageness. If we weren't so driven we probably wouldn't brew at all.

[GregT5]

Yeah, have to agree there,  although you would probably see more "Driven to Succeed " than "Driven to Mediocrity " signs out there. 

In reference to Jenny though, she is correct, brew is all of the things she said.  Although I am a kits and bits brewer I enjoy the "science " that is involved in brewing.  Also what different ingredients bring to a brew.  I wouldn't say I am very adventurous with experimenting, but have tried raspberries in a porter and cardamom seeds in a pale ale. Both brews were good but I wouldn't drink them constantly. 

Glad you are enjoying your brewing hobby Jenny.

[DavidM]

Kit's and Bit's is a great way to describe the way I brew as well. Also for me it turns out to be what I have on hand! If I see a recipe I'd like to try but you need an extra bit of whatever, i'm not a purest, I just add what I have on hand.

It's been great fun and has produced a lot of drinkable brews and a few Not so drinkable. Couldn't have done it with out the Help from people here. 

[jennyss]

Well I think turning water and other stuff into yummy beer, all in my own laundry is magic! And I  bottled my brew no.5 yesterday; so I know a brewer is definitely a cleaner too - all those PET bottles to sanitise, then the FV and other gear afterwards.

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 minutes ago, jennyss said:

Well I think turning water and other stuff into yummy beer, all in my own laundry is magic! And I  bottled my brew no.5 yesterday; so I know a brewer is definitely a cleaner too - all those PET bottles to sanitise, then the FV and other gear afterwards.

All part of the process @jennyss it helps if you thoroughly wash, shake several times & rinse your bottles as soon as possible after emptying them, it makes the actual final rinse/sanitise so much easier for bottling day.

With the FV I take it outside, hose all of the gunk out of it & just fill it with cold water overnight, once again it is easy to clean/sanitise for next brew day.

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

thoroughly wash, shake several times & rinse your bottles as soon as possible after emptying them,

@Classic Brewing Co cracking good point Phil 

For anyone doing any bottling ever - I believe this is the most important thing that you can learn - was taught this from Day 1 - drink beautiful Brew - but as you soon as you have poured last glass - hot rinse and shake - pour out - three times with hot clean water.... is the biz.  I love Coopers Largies.  If you buy them full on spesh a bit more cost effective - drink them - and then wash them out as soon as you have poured last glass - rinse with three hot rinses and let drain and dry - then cap with some old used clean caps and into a box to keep clean...

Then on bottling day -  all I used to do was give them a boiling water rinse before popping in a cuppla Coopers Brew Lollies.. cap and off you go again.  Not a drop of perc or stella san or any chemicals nothing.  Ever.  And never had any problems.  But it's cos you keep them clean from Day One!  IF you let them lie around and let mould start to grow in there or bugs n grubs get in there - the whole beautiful efficient progression has been compromised.  Of course you can overcome that with serious cleaning... but if you from day one - clean - then no worries.

 

Boiling water and plazzies don't go so well together... but three nice hot water rinses drain and dry still would set you up very well...  quick stellar san rinse and off you go I guess?

If you are on Town Water with Chlorinated water - maybe hot rinse - drain upside down - let dry - then cap - you might even get away without having to add any steriliser?

If you start getting into Saisons and Brettanomyces and Sours n stuff... I don't think that would work anymore.  But for mainstream brews reckon would be fine.

If you use sanitisers etc now then keep using them - as they supposedly don't affect flavour - and they WILL help with stopping infections with wild yeasts.

 

Am stoked @jennyss you are enjoying you foray into the BBJ* mate!   And honestly Coopers make great beers, great KnK Kits and as @interceptor me old mate 'Ceptor said recently - thanks to @Coopers DIY Beer Team Coopers and their Team and Frank we have a great little Community to discuss these important matters : )

(*BBJ = Beautiful Brewing Journey)

Here's a Blast from the Past - DunkelWeizen KnK in a lovely Coopers Largie ; )

That below is a 500ml Weissbier Glass that my mate @Aussiekraut AK would hopefully approve of for a Hefeweizen ; )

 

 

And the Gala Photo from the same Brew haha 

 

 

[DavidM]

Some great points in there for us Bottlers

Thanks @Itinerant Peasant , note taken.

And that's a smashing brew and stunning photo

Well Done

[Pezzza]

2 hours ago, DavidM said:

us Bottlers

Cheers @DavidM mate all good - and honestly - I am only passing on good points that I learned from my very first encounter with it all many years ago...  and that three hot rinses really does work... I am on rainwater - so it is not quite as 'sterile' as chlorinated town water - but hot water rinse X3 drain, dry, cap and box really does make a difference.

The best way to destroy a great bottle is to leave it lounging around with beer dregs in the bottom.  

And what is quite sad is - if you leave great clean bottles with their lids off - in milk crates in the shed - terrible things also happen - cockies and spiders and bugs and grubs and dust and general living creature poo - and it is incredibly hard to clean well... 

My other KnK tip is - try some liquid malt - as an adjunct to your Coopers Kit one day... 

like a Coopers Light Liquid Malt can added to a Coopers Real Ale Kit for instance ; )

It is a bit more expensive - but I reckon is the biz.

I reckon a really nice combo is: 1 Coops Kit + 1 Coops Liquid Malt Can + 1 Box (or a half) of BE 2or 3 : )

... and mix n match the Kit with the three Liq malts dark amber n light... 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Itinerant Peasant

[jennyss]

9 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

terrible things also happen - cockies and spiders and bugs and grubs and dust and general living creature poo

Horror movie right there on my TV! Thanks for the great advice @Itinerant Peasant - get the bottle clean right from the start. And great photos; specially with the cows eyeing off the beer.

[Classic Brewing Co]

12 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Then on bottling day -  all I used to do was give them a boiling water rinse before popping in a cuppla Coopers Brew Lollies.. cap and off you go again.  Not a drop of perc or stella san or any chemicals nothing.  Ever.  And never had any problems.  But it's cos you keep them clean from Day One!  IF you let them lie around and let mould start to grow in there or bugs n grubs get in there - the whole beautiful efficient progression has been compromised.  Of course you can overcome that with serious cleaning... but if you from day one - clean - then no worries.

I would absolutely 100% back what @Itinerant Peasant has said with his post. There is no reason why you can't wash thoroughly your bottle as soon as it is emptied it. The longer you leave it the harder it becomes. I would also stress the use of a bottle brush at least every couple of months. 

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=d24dc3dfa05575a622e64ff542347a670ed3657cfc6e573309a40bf1e064e482JmltdHM9MTY1NTI0MTMzMSZpZ3VpZD01Y2M4ZTFmMC03MDZiLTQ5MjEtYmY2Ni1iMjVjNTZmOTk2MzImaW5zaWQ9NTQ0Ng&ptn=3&fclid=1ec89509-ec27-11ec-bbe0-9b5456ff8da2&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9kZWxpc2hhYmx5LmNvbS9iZXZlcmFnZXMvSG93LXRvLWNsZWFuLWJlZXItYm90dGxlcy1mb3ItaG9tZWJyZXc&ntb=1

This article is from the UK but it is very informative & covers everything & more of what has been said, there is even a mention of John Palmer's methods so you can be assured that is is worth reading. I don't personally use my dishwasher for beer bottle or beer glasses but it is also mentioned.

The same/similar could be applied to cleaning beer glasses but that is a whole new subject.

[Pezzza]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

The same/similar could be applied to cleaning beer glasses but that is a whole new subject.

And a mighty good one @Classic Brewing Co as I have been a bit underwhelmed by my glass bubble effect with some glasses of taschty home made brew recently...

I even grabbed a couple of Headstart with the bubble nucleation scratches in the bottom and perc'd them - Percarbonate cleaner - them being washed normally with detergent and rinsed very very well....

I tend to rinse my glasses quickly after use - and then they get washed up with PPPalmolive with everything else and then rinsed significantly...  but I do believe that maybe from time to time they may need a bit more attention.... sadly I do not possess a dishwasher as I think they do an excellent job for glasses. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

And a mighty good one @Classic Brewing Co as I have been a bit underwhelmed by my glass bubble effect with some glasses of taschty home made brew recently...

I even grabbed a couple of Headstart with the bubble nucleation scratches in the bottom and perc'd them - Percarbonate cleaner - them being washed normally with detergent and rinsed very very well....

I tend to rinse my glasses quickly after use - and then they get washed up with PPPalmolive with everything else and then rinsed significantly...  but I do believe that maybe from time to time they may need a bit more attention.... sadly I do not possess a dishwasher as I think they do an excellent job for glasses. 

I always wash the beers glasses immediately after use but NEVER with detergent, I have a dedicated dish brush & then they are rinsed thoroughly & turned upside to dry. I don't use the dishwasher as most of my beer glasses have branding/logos on & that wears them away. Bi-Carbonate of Soda in a sink full of clean water is enough to remove grime etc with the dish brush & then rinsed several times.

Another mistake is to use the same tea towel as your normal dish wash to dry the glasses, that is also a No No.

I have a few towels that only ever been used to wipe beer glasses. Finally I don't put my glasses in the fridge unless it is a dedicated bar/beer fridge otherwise they absorb the smells of everything in the fridge.

A lot of this may seem pedantic to some but I can assure you if you want a nice foamy head with nice tight bubbles it is the only way to go.