Rainy Day Brew Day - Back to Basics

[Scottie]

Hey Brew Dudes,

It's been slow going at Valley Brew over the past two years, only 13 brews put down.  I even got lazy and went from All Grain to Fresh Wort Kits.  A couple of things I’ve noticed since the kits and bits days when I laid down 55 brews in two years.

1. There is a sense of accomplishment from brewing with All Grain.

2. All Grain brewing is not ideal for the time poor, which is what I have become.

3. Fresh Wort kits are fast and easy.

4. There is absolutely no sense of accomplishment from Fresh Wort Kits.

5. Brewing with a Mash Tun is better than Brew in a Bag.

So today I put down a Coopers Extract kit, Motueka Hop Slam IPA. Just 1kg of Dry Malt and 250g of Crystal Malt (120EBC) just to freshen it up. Used a yeast I haven't seen before, Lal Brew Verdant IPA. This leads me to:

6. There is sense of accomplishment from brewing kits and bits, it may cost more in ingredients, but there is a significant saving in time.

I reckon I’ll be doing a few more over the next few months, probably revamp some of my own favs as well as some from the Cooper’s guru PB2. I might even see if I can get an order in in time for a recipe of the month.

Can’t wait to keg this brew, I feel like I’m starting over.

 

Cheers and Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

[Classic Brewing Co]

16 minutes ago, Scottie said:

Hey Brew Dudes,

It's been slow going at Valley Brew over the past two years, only 13 brews put down.  I even got lazy and went from All Grain to Fresh Wort Kits.  A couple of things I’ve noticed since the kits and bits days when I laid down 55 brews in two years.

1. There is a sense of accomplishment from brewing with All Grain.

2. All Grain brewing is not ideal for the time poor, which is what I have become.

3. Fresh Wort kits are fast and easy.

4. There is absolutely no sense of accomplishment from Fresh Wort Kits.

5. Brewing with a Mash Tun is better than Brew in a Bag.

So today I put down a Coopers Extract kit, Motueka Hop Slam IPA. Just 1kg of Dry Malt and 250g of Crystal Malt (120EBC) just to freshen it up. Used a yeast I haven't seen before, Lal Brew Verdant IPA. This leads me to:

6. There is sense of accomplishment from brewing kits and bits, it may cost more in ingredients, but there is a significant saving in time.

I reckon I’ll be doing a few more over the next few months, probably revamp some of my own favs as well as some from the Cooper’s guru PB2. I might even see if I can get an order in in time for a recipe of the month.

Can’t wait to keg this brew, I feel like I’m starting over.

 

Cheers and Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

I need to put more water with it, 15 minutes ago you looked quite different.

[Shamus O'Sean]

5 hours ago, Scottie said:

Used a yeast I haven't seen before, Lal Brew Verdant IPA

I think you will be happy with how this one will turn out.  The Verdant IPA yeast produces a fruitiness that will suit the Hop Slam recipes.

 

5 hours ago, Scottie said:

I reckon I’ll be doing a few more over the next few months, probably revamp some of my own favs as well as some from the Cooper’s guru PB2

I look forward to seeing what you get up to.

[Tone boy]

Good work @Scottie  I like the addition of the crystal in your recipe.

Motueka is a great hop I reckon - I should do this recipe. 
It looks as though the recipe suggests to add the hops right at the start of fermentation, whereas I usually add them later on towards FG…

Good luck with the brew. Cheers, Tone

[Tricky Micky]

12 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

It looks as though the recipe suggests to add the hops right at the start of fermentation,

Yeah Toner, done a few of those lately. Recipe's asking for a Hop addition to the FV at "high" Krausen and then late at FG. I'm not smart enough to understand why. 

[ben 10]

16 hours ago, Scottie said:

Valley Brew

Welcome back Scottie

[Aussiekraut]

Yeah, the weather is crap here too and I really can't be bothered to sit outside in the miserable weather, so I got myself an FWK. TOday's brewing will consist of sanitising a fermenter, pouring in about 12 of the 15l in the FWK (the rest will go on the floor as always), topping it up with water and then sprinkling some yeast on it. Not as fulfilling as a nice AG brew day but every now and then, it's ok to brew somebody else's beer  

[Malter White]

I take my hat off to those of you that have the skill and patience to all grain brew but for me personally extract brewing with additions is sufficient to meet my drinking needs and to fulfill that sense of accomplishment Scottie mentions above. As Aussiekraut also points out, it's OK to brew someone else's beer - I endorse this wholly, especially when that someone else has 160 more years of experience than I do. Cheers all.

[DavidM]

6 minutes ago, Malter White said:

I take my hat off to those of you that have the skill and patience to all grain brew but for me personally extract brewing with additions is sufficient to meet my drinking needs and to fulfill that sense of accomplishment

I agree, I'm happy with Kit's and Bit's

But I do tip my hat to the all grain's..

[BlackSands]

Interesting.  I've got tomorrow put aside for another stove-top AG brew session.  I don't call it a brew "day" because I can usually get the job done in 3.5hrs or so.   BUT even though that's not too much time to set aside I have been thinking about getting back into kits 'n' bits brewing for a while.  AG is a tad cheaper of course, the last 20-litre brew using yeast slurry only cost me around $20 for grain and hops, but taking advantage of regular specials I reckon I can do a decent kit-based brew for perhaps $26 - $28.   And, I remind myself that the beer I've actually enjoyed the most this year was in fact a kit + hops brew brewed back in the Summer!    

[Graculus]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

I agree, I'm happy with Kit's and Bit's

But I do tip my hat to the all grain's..

I totally agree. I've been doing kits and bits for 8 years now & I'm happy with the result.

I have done my first fresh wort kits this year, although only two of them.

I really don't have the time for all grain, or the inclination at the moment.

[ben 10]

6 hours ago, Malter White said:

skill and patience to all grain brew

Wouldn't call it skill.

 

For me it was interest - and I like it, now more convenient for me as I generally have ingredients on hand.

@Aussiekraut - you guys are getting smashed down there. Hope it's not too wet

 

 

[Malter White]

27 minutes ago, beach_life said:

Wouldn't call it skill.

I would. I see the recipes you guys post and it's like trying to translate hieroglyphics to me. Don't sell yourself short. You've developed skills through your interest that some of us don't have. You might not be splitting atoms but they are skills all the same.

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 hours ago, beach_life said:

Wouldn't call it skill.

I agree with @Malter White.  Although I mostly all grain brew, many of my recipes are copies of other peoples brews that I adjust to my system and my batch size.

You guys knock together cracker recipes that, based on what you know, will go pretty well.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I agree with @Malter White.  Although I mostly all grain brew, many of my recipes are copies of other peoples brews that I adjust to my system and my batch size.

You guys knock together cracker recipes that, based on what you know, will go pretty well.

IMO having decades of experience with k & k /partials/stovetop & a short intro into AG I am at the stage where I feel there really is no skill, just a matter of continued experimentation with the fundamentals of the whole brewing system & learning from others & above all the desire to improve your beer to taste better than anything you can buy in the pub.

Wow, what a mouthful. I hope that made sense. 

[Oldbloke]

15 hours ago, Graculus said:

I totally agree. I've been doing kits and bits for 8 years now & I'm happy with the result.

I have done my first fresh wort kits this year, although only two of them.

I really don't have the time for all grain, or the inclination at the moment.

33 years for me. 

 

It's quick, easy, cheap. 99% of the time I get great beer. I have other hobbies and sports that need my time too. 

[Aussiekraut]

14 hours ago, beach_life said:

Wouldn't call it skill.

 

For me it was interest - and I like it, now more convenient for me as I generally have ingredients on hand.

@Aussiekraut - you guys are getting smashed down there. Hope it's not too wet

 

 

We're right down here, thanks for asking.

I don't know if it skill as such either. I just jumped into the pond, not really knowing what I was doing, but somehow learnt to paddle around without sinking  

 

[KeithC]

I'm on the side of getting enough sense of achievement from extract kits and 'playing' on the side with hops, malt etc.  I've done a few AG brews - in fact have one almost ready to bottle now - they have been good but ... I don't have the patience/ drive to undertake them as my normal brewing approach.  

[iBooz2]

On 10/23/2022 at 9:59 AM, beach_life said:

Welcome back Scottie

+ 1 @Scottie 

[iBooz2]

3 hours ago, KeithC said:

I'm on the side of getting enough sense of achievement from extract kits and 'playing' on the side with hops, malt etc.  I've done a few AG brews - in fact have one almost ready to bottle now - they have been good but ... I don't have the patience/ drive to undertake them as my normal brewing approach.  

Well done @KeithC.  Ya gotta have patience in spades bloke!   After all you have been a member here for 12 + years and this is your first post.  Now that is patience 

Congratulations on coming out.

[Classic Brewing Co]

Just now, iBooz2 said:

Well done @KeithC.  Ya gotta have patience in spades bloke!   After all you have been a member here for 12 + years and this is your first post.  Now that is patience 

Congratulations on coming out.

Maybe he doesn't like to rush things 

[kmar92]

38 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

Well done @KeithC.  Ya gotta have patience in spades bloke!   After all you have been a member here for 12 + years and this is your first post.  Now that is patience 

Congratulations on coming out.

Nothing wrong with that @iBooz2, some people like to read and learn and not make comments and that is fine by me. Others like to post a comment on every post here, sometimes with little to add, but I guess that is OK too.

We are a diverse lot and that makes this place interesting.

[Graculus]

On 10/24/2022 at 3:10 AM, Oldbloke said:

33 years for me. 

 

It's quick, easy, cheap. 99% of the time I get great beer. I have other hobbies and sports that need my time too. 

Well. Over 40 years since my first homebrew. Gave it up about 30 years ago for various reasons.

Back into it when I lost my job and had to save money.

Then realised I'd have to spend a bit of money to save money. Temperature control being a must.

[Scottie]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:21 AM, Tone boy said:

Good work @Scottie  I like the addition of the crystal in your recipe.

Motueka is a great hop I reckon - I should do this recipe. 
It looks as though the recipe suggests to add the hops right at the start of fermentation, whereas I usually add them later on towards FG…

Good luck with the brew. Cheers, Tone

Yeah, I haven't added the hops yet. I normally wait until four days before I cold crash.