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Got a DIY beer kit for Christmas? Welcome!


Soundawake

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This espresso talk is concerning. But as usual, in time, i will give it a go.

 

I finally put a Lager on last night with S-23 yeast (attempting Lawnmower Lager). Had trouble getting the temp down. It was 24C over night and 22C now (from 2pm). I had (and still have) it in a bucket of cold water with a cold/wet towel around it and ice blocks strapped to it. Clearly the fridge is the only way for me to go. I will be collecting from sydney within the week, ready for my next brew.

 

However, I did come up with the idea of floating the ice bricks (inside sterilised snaplock bags) inside the brew while filling it up with water. anyone have thoughts as to why this wouldn't work?

 

I'm thinking of my next brew - cerveza or pale ale. Considering it will be 4 weeks away from drinking, i'm not sure summer is going to hang around long this year (in Canberra). So I'm leaning toward the pale ale.

 

Q: Are there any suggestions (simple) that could take my pale ale from very likeable to something great? Bear in mind, my beginner status and my love for belgian beer.

 

Looking forward to suggestions and hoping my Lager doesn't taste like bottled urine.

Sorry mate, I'm just a hop head and love hop aroma and flavor.

 

I can't recommend a fridge high enough... it makes it so simple to control the temps and your beer will love you for it.

 

Do you know what to do with hops regarding the boil?

If not right now then I suggest maybe dry hopping about 30g Cascade in the pale. Just wrap 30g hops up in a chux cloth and throw them in your FV on day 3. Alternatively just chuck them in as are but be prepared your bottler may get clogged.

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"Do you know what to do with hops regarding the boil?"

 

Nope not yet. I noticed dry hopping and thought that the simplest option at this point. What notes do cascade bring to the mix?

 

 

"If not right now then I suggest maybe dry hopping about 30g Cascade in the pale. Just wrap 30g hops up in a chux cloth and throw them in your FV on day 3. Alternatively just chuck them in as are but be prepared your bottler may get clogged.

"

 

Will definitely do the chux option. Is sterilising required? My wife has herb cloths for cooking (I'm living the life with a cook for a lover), is that better than chux or 'six of one...'

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Another easy hop method is to steep them. This is mainly for flavour.

 

Boil some water in a pot and then take it off the boil. Add the hops and let it sit there for 20-30 minutes.

 

Then strain the liquid into the fermenter.

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Another easy hop method is to steep them. This is mainly for flavour.

 

Boil some water in a pot and then take it off the boil. Add the hops and let it sit there for 20-30 minutes.

 

Then strain the liquid into the fermenter.

 

Is this done and added day 3 also or into the original mix?

 

Q: what's the difference between Canadian blonde and Aus. Pale Ale in terms of palate etc and brewing (temps etc)?

 

Wondering if the Canadian blonde is better for my next outing and ease of drinking in the warmer months.

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Will definitely do the chux option. Is sterilising required?

Chux are sterile when taken straight from a new bag so can be used with no further sterilization required.

 

I think Yob and Hairy covered the rest of your questions [cool]

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Dry Hopping isn't hard. Just grab some hops and throw into the FV isn't hard. No need to boil them and can just chuck them in as they are.

Oh, thanks, I was confusing 'dry hopping' with 'steeping' :)

 

I would recommend not doing any Lagers until you can do an Ale and if you don't have good temp control then don't even bother imo. Lagers are more complex than an Ale.

The following recipes on this site are easy and I liked them all...

 

Irish Ale

Unreal Ale

CPA

ESB

Coopers Sparkling Ale

Coopers Dark Ale

 

Thanks for the recommendations. After browsing those recipes I went to my local 'The Country Brewer' and discussed it a bit with him. In the end, my 2nd brew is as such:

- Rapid Creek (Pale/Golden Ale)

- Lt. Malt 500g [Light? Malt]

- Dextrose 250g

- Maltodextrin 250g

- Filled to 22L

 

All sugars came in a single 'Ultrabew' pack, which is very convenient :)

 

Only thing is, instructions call for 18-24C fermentation and the guy at the shop recommended pitching the yeast at 18C but I ended up pitching it at 14C (was in a hurry; too much ice). I was worried I'd kill the yeast. But, 2 days later, it is fermenting. But it took a while to start and is not going very strong. Hardly any foaming, just enough to cover the top and very little cold break... should I be concerned?

 

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All sugars came in a single 'Ultrabew' pack' date=' which is very convenient[/quote']

Just for future reference, this is the same make up as the Coopers BE2.

Not quite Hairy [innocent]

 

BE2 is 50% dex, 25% LDM and 25% maltodextrin

Whereas this "ultrabrew" pack appears to have only 25% dex, 50% LDM and 25% Maltodextrin.

 

Personally even though this would be ok, I would replace the Maltodextrin with LDM so end up with 750g LDM and 250g Dex.

 

Maybe next time just buy dextrose and LDM. It will be cheaper and you can then use whatever mix you want.

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Damn, they must have changed it on me [biggrin]

 

Sorry about that. Luckily I don't use the brew enhancers, I have no idea what is in them.

 

I was probably thinking of the top-secret soon to be released Brew Enhancer 3 which has 50% LDM.

 

Actually, that sounds like a good idea.

 

50% LDM

50% Dex

 

And the rest can be maltodextrin.

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Hey guys Shane from New Zealand over here got my Brew kit some time in october but spent some serious time (And money) Getting it all sorted with a beer fridge thermostat and capper, Brewed my beer sometime before christmas ready to drink this Saturday theres no way i can resist drinking it to leave it age. Had one problem when putting the brew down had the pitching temp to high sitting at 32c but all in all thats only a small screw up compared to say blowing up bottles [biggrin]

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Maybe next time just buy dextrose and LDM. It will be cheaper and you can then use whatever mix you want.

 

Thanks. Although this 'Ultrabrew' pack only cost $9.5. I don't know how that compares, but it seems a decent price for what it does.

 

 

Mind you, after all this worrying about yeast-pitching temperatures I drove into my fermentor this afternoon as I was backing into my garage and lost about 3L from it... oops!

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add vodka

 

I don't know whether to take that seriously? If so, how would I do that? It's day 10 of it being in the wort and I was planning to take another reading in a few days and then bottle, so at what point do I add vodka? Also, does anyone know where I might have gone wrong to get a low alcohol reading? (3%)

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add vodka

 

I don't know whether to take that seriously?

 

me either [crying] ..I wouldnt do this though... sorry if I missed it but what were the ingredients you used for this one? Maybe you got a dud reading? If the ingredients were not mixed thoroughly or something... which does happen..

 

The bast way to get to the OG you want is by adding the right ingredients in the begining of fermentation, and the same goes for flavour but can be during fermentation there are tools around to help you do this, like IanH's Spreadsheet which I found to be very helpful.. there are other online thingy's but I found this to be very good.

 

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Sorry for the lack of details. I am brewing using the new coopers kit, making an Australian Pale Ale with BE2. The standard recipe. I initially made the error of having too much hot water in the wort so my temp at the time I filled it up to 23l and pitched the yeast was 32 degrees, but after a few hours I managed to get it to 22/21 and it has been stable at that for 11 days now. The original gravity reading was 1.037. That was taken once the yeast was in.

 

It fermented fine, has shown all the normal signs according to this site. Yesterday (day 10) I took another reading and it gave me 1.018. After calculating that tells me my alc % will be 2.5 + the 0.5% you need to add once its bottled. I am curious as to whether there is anything to fix this at this late stage, but more importantly where I might have gone wrong so I avoid this issue in future. I assume the high temps at the start would have done some damage but from my taste test yesterday it will be drinkable at the very least. Cheers for any help in advance, I'm only keen to find out what I have done wrong because I intend to start another brew as soon as this one is bottled, a James Squire Amber Ale.

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