What are you drinking in 2023?

[Kegory]

2 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Well, I bought a box of this. I'm a bit disappointed. It's nice, but my Dark Ale HB is far superior. 

 

Would you put that down to a better recipe or a superior technique?

[Kegory]

2 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Well, I bought a box of this. I'm a bit disappointed. It's nice, but my Dark Ale HB is far superior. 

 

I'm drinking one of mine right now. Theirs is better although mine is improving.

[Oldbloke]

2 hours ago, Kegory said:

Would you put that down to a better recipe or a superior technique?

Well, I don't know. 

1 can Coopers Dark Ale

100g Corn syrup

500g LDM or DDM

Fermented about 19-20c

Can yeast.

Aged about 3-4 months

Edited August 7, 2023 by Oldbloke

[Brauhaus Fritz]

11 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Well, I bought a box of this. I'm a bit disappointed. It's nice, but my Dark Ale HB is far superior. 

 

I like the Dark Ale, wouldn't have it after a stout so. Made one recently and mine is pretty good too

• Coopers Dark Ale can
• ABV 6.0
• OG 1053
• FG 1012
• BE3 1kg   
• Dextrose 200gr
• BE1 0.5 kg
• East Kent Golding dry hop
• Kit Yeast x2  

[Brauhaus Fritz]

On 8/4/2023 at 5:29 AM, ChairmanDrew said:

Drinking my Jasmine Green Tea Lager. It's not bad, the Nelson Sauvin I reckon is a good match. But I'd probably go a bit less on the tea if I did it again. Seems to have added a little more bitterness than I would have liked.

How did you add the tea? Did you steep it? and at what stage did you add it. I am asking because once it is warmer I like to do a Lemon Myrtle Pale Ale again and the recipe says to add the teabag after five days into the wort. Wouldn't I have to sanitize them first in some form? 

Nice looking beer by the way

[ChairmanDrew]

10 hours ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

How did you add the tea? Did you steep it? and at what stage did you add it. I am asking because once it is warmer I like to do a Lemon Myrtle Pale Ale again and the recipe says to add the teabag after five days into the wort. Wouldn't I have to sanitize them first in some form? 

Nice looking beer by the way

I steeped 20 teabags in 2l of water and added it to the wort for a 20l brew. Later I added 5 more bags with the dry hop. I was roughly following this recipe as a guide...

https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/tranquili-tea-ipa.html

Edited August 8, 2023 by ChairmanDrew

[DavidM]

Started my night (Yesterday) with a 

Voyage Amber Ale

This one is coming along nicely, 2.5 months in the bottle and It's getting better!

Later (after a Pale), I had a Stout. 3.5 months in the bottle, very smooth. 

 

 

[Oldbloke]

12 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Started my night (Yesterday) with a 

Voyage Amber Ale

This one is coming along nicely, 2.5 months in the bottle and It's getting better!

Later (after a Pale), I had a Stout. 3.5 months in the bottle, very smooth. 

 

 

Yes, you can't beat 2 or 3 months ageing in the bottle. Mmmmmm

[Classic Brewing Co]

57 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Started my night (Yesterday) with a 

Voyage Amber Ale

This one is coming along nicely, 2.5 months in the bottle and It's getting better!

Later (after a Pale), I had a Stout. 3.5 months in the bottle, very smooth. 

 

 

No beers get time to age at Classic Brewing Co, too much traffic through here to give them a chance. 

The few I bottle these days would last on an average of 3-4 weeks as they are normally drunk in between kegs.

Apart from the odd Stout which I might leave for a couple of months if I'm lucky.

I brew mainly Pales/IPA/APA/XPA etc. but they are all hoppy so no point storing them for obvious reasons.

 

[Oldbloke]

There is no doubt in my mind, all beers get better with time. But some are 100% at about 2-3 months. Dark need longer and stouts don't reach their peak till they get at very least 6 months.

12-18months for a stout, in some cases.

 But, they are all pretty good at 3 months. Also it depends on your storage situation, drinking habits and inclination/preferences. 

 

Edit: the addition of 500 to 1000g of malt, any malt really can make a huge improvement on any HB, IMHO.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Oldbloke

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, Oldbloke said:

There is no doubt in my mind, all beers get better with time. But some are 100% at about 2-3 months. Dark need longer and stouts don't reach their peak till they get at very least 6 months.

12-18months for a stout, in some cases.

 But, they are all pretty good at 3 months. Also it depends on your storage situation, drinking habits and inclination/preferences. 

 

Edit: the addition of 500 to 1000g of malt, any malt really can make a huge improvement on any HB, IMHO.

Maybe that carton of Coopers Dark you got the other day is too young. Check the Best After date and maybe you could put some away to try later.

I recently brewed the k&k clone of that. The recipe does actually state that they are a good candidate for aging.

[Oldbloke]

23 hours ago, Kegory said:

Maybe that carton of Coopers Dark you got the other day is too young. Check the Best After date and maybe you could put some away to try later.

I recently brewed the k&k clone of that. The recipe does actually state that they are a good candidate for aging.

Just checked. Best After 7.7.23.

I guess I was just expecting better. Like a Tooheys old. (Licking chops)

Edited August 9, 2023 by Oldbloke

[Kegory]

2 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

Just checked. Best After 7.7.23.

I guess I was just expecting better. Like a Tooheys old. (Licking chops)

That's only a month old, it's a young'n. Do you have any left? If you reckon three months is about the sweet spot why not save a few and give them a taste in early October?

[Oldbloke]

29 minutes ago, Kegory said:

That's only a month old, it's a young'n. Do you have any left? If you reckon three months is about the sweet spot why not save a few and give them a taste in early October?

Lol. I dont disagree.  Currently not in the position to wait. I'll be drinking the box over the next couple of weeks.  

Edited August 9, 2023 by Oldbloke

[jennyss]

12 hours ago, Oldbloke said:

Currently not in the position to wait

I can relate! I am currently calculating how much my husband and I can tighten up our brewing schedule, to avoid buying beer from the shop. Craft beer is so expensive, and the other beer.....My husband likes Tooheys New, but I can't drink it, and it is $60+ for a 30 can block - still very expensive.  Mixing a brew on a Tuesday and bottling 10 days later on Saturday; then mixing again the next Tuesday will just about do it. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

I can relate! I am currently calculating how much my husband and I can tighten up our brewing schedule, to avoid buying beer from the shop. Craft beer is so expensive, and the other beer.....My husband likes Tooheys New, but I can't drink it, and it is $60+ for a 30 can block - still very expensive.  Mixing a brew on a Tuesday and bottling 10 days later on Saturday; then mixing again the next Tuesday will just about do it. 

Jenny you should consider buying another Fermenter, it would make the world of difference.

If you plan it, you can have one brew fermenting & be drinking another brew.

Even a smaller craft kit would be a valuable addition.

[Kegory]

5 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Jenny you should consider buying another Fermenter, it would make the world of difference.

If you plan it, you can have one brew fermenting & be drinking another brew.

Even a smaller craft kit would be a valuable addition.

+1

There are some nice "craft" recipes in the Recipe section. I was quite impressed with the basic recipe that comes with the 8.5L kit. Just the Mr Beer Amber ale plus water and the brew can yeast produced quite a nice beer.

[Classic Brewing Co]

22 minutes ago, Kegory said:

+1

There are some nice "craft" recipes in the Recipe section. I was quite impressed with the basic recipe that comes with the 8.5L kit. Just the Mr Beer Amber ale plus water and the brew can yeast produced quite a nice beer.

Yes, I have two of them, I have tried all of the Mr. Beer range & they are all good.

The Craft fermenters are also great to do split brews, you can brew 2 beers at one with different yeast & hops if you have 2 of them, you just 1/2 the can (1.7kg)

[Back Brewing]

If you have the bottles get the 2nd fermenter and put 2 brews down at the same time you will get a good rotation going

[Kegory]

46 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yes, I have two of them, I have tried all of the Mr. Beer range & they are all good.

The Craft fermenters are also great to do split brews, you can brew 2 beers at one with different yeast & hops if you have 2 of them, you just 1/2 the can (1.7kg)

Yeah, I like the potential to do split brews. I'm not planning any at the moment but I'm sure I will at some stage.

I was thinking you could just pour the wort from the big fermenter into the smaller fermenter rather than trying to measure the goop into halves. That probably wouldn't be practical for bittering hops but for late and dry hoping, and trying different yeasts is there any reason that wouldn't be practical?

[Classic Brewing Co]

19 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Yeah, I like the potential to do split brews. I'm not planning any at the moment but I'm sure I will at some stage.

I was thinking you could just pour the wort from the big fermenter into the smaller fermenter rather than trying to measure the goop into halves. That probably wouldn't be practical for bittering hops but for late and dry hoping, and trying different yeasts is there any reason that wouldn't be practical?

If you weigh the 1.7kg tin of extract, it's not hard to divide it between 2 fermenters. just add the water/malt etc.

You can pretty much do whatever you want with the yeast/hops.

[Kegory]

8 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

If you weigh the 1.7kg tin of extract, it's not hard to divide it between 2 fermenters. just add the water/malt etc.

You can pretty much do whatever you want with the yeast/hops.

Hmm, I've only tried that once, when I was making the Coopers Dark Ale. My measurements weren't very accurate, it was just an approximation. The goop was very viscous and even after I hit the target and stopped pouring the trailing goop kept running. I had to pour some back but I settled on "near enough is good enough" as it looked as if it would take an eternity to reach correct weight.

I guess it's a case of getting better with practice and judging how soon to stop pouring before reaching the target so the trailings get you close.

[Kegory]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Jenny you should consider buying another Fermenter, it would make the world of difference.

If you plan it, you can have one brew fermenting & be drinking another brew.

Even a smaller craft kit would be a valuable addition.

The 8.5L kits have just come on sale for Father's Day.

[Classic Brewing Co]

19 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Hmm, I've only tried that once, when I was making the Coopers Dark Ale. My measurements weren't very accurate, it was just an approximation. The goop was very viscous and even after I hit the target and stopped pouring the trailing goop kept running. I had to pour some back but I settled on "near enough is good enough" as it looked as if it would take an eternity to reach correct weight.

I guess it's a case of getting better with practice and judging how soon to stop pouring before reaching the target so the trailings get you close.

Well in that case do what you said before, mix it all in one fermenter & use the tap to transfer it to the smaller one - about 11.5l in each FV.

[Red devil 44]

AG Balter XPA Clone, very very nice, close to the real thing. 
‘Firing up the Grainfather tomorrow to brew a second batch, yum yum.