Sunny Coast Brewer Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Hi, I have done about a dozen brews now and have had various levels of success with them. Some have been great, others have been a bit wishy-washy. I have one major problem with my brews though... I keep getting told how the taste improves with age, but I just can't seen to keep them long enough to let them age! Does anyone have any tips to help me keep my hands off them as soon as the 2 weeks passes? :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashie Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Get a heap more bottles/kegs so you have enough to put away. I have 9 kegs on rotation so my beer is 2 - 3 months old when I drink it. I did the same with bottles, kept a stock of around 200 longnecks, so they had a bit of age on them by the time they made it to the fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirkdaleBob Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Hashie, Your say 9 kegs on rotation. Are we talking kegs or fermenters? If kegs, do you naturally carbonate or do it with the CO2? And anyhow, how many fermenters do you have? Sounds like a pretty professional set up, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashie Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 9 kegs, 2 fermentors and still around 120 bottles. All my beer is naturally carbonated. I wouldn't call it proffesional, I just like my beer :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirkdaleBob Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Go Boy!! I'm showing this to my other half, I knew there was a good reason to have more kegs. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny Coast Brewer Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 I have 90 bottles on rotation, but I'm still drinking beer that is only 4 weeks old at the most. I have a batch that is ready today and there is only 2 bottles left of the previous batch which was ready about 14 days earlier than this one. Maybe I drink too much? :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Its always going to be a problem getting a 'head' of home brews so some can age before being scoffed. Try flat out brewing and botttling for a few months, continuous production. That should stock every spare cupboard in the house! Or ... consider bottling them with a mate.. one that doesnt drink much ... at their house . Then youve got to go around there to scoff 'em, so there's some chance of a few being left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Put some at the back of a spare room, and throw a vicious wild dog in there. When you're that starved for a nice matured brew, then you can think of a serious plan to get past the crazed bloodthirsty hound and grab a homie. A convenient alternative is to maybe put 5 longnecks away from each brew before you even drink any (and I mean away away, somewhere in the house where you dont keep your regular brews). Then consider your start - 5 as your total "drinking set", when you get to the bottom of that, just brew again - spin, rinse, repeat. You might need some more bottles to get that happening effectively, because you'll end up losing quite a few in storage. Also, pick the right brews to age. Dont bother with lagers, or even simple ales. Heavy ales, with high malt content, or roasted flavours, or even with a complex hop content tend to benefit more from aging. You wouldn't get many benefits at all for aging, say a coopers cerveza kit brew, on the other hand, a coopers sparkling ale may well develop a little over time. I made a little creatures all grain copy, and went a bit nuts dry hopping with cascade hops - and time has let that mellow out into a really smooth well rounded beer, down from the fruit salad it once was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 When I worked in an abbatoir I asked the guys to buy slabs of king browns instead of stubbies and pass on the empties to me. Let's just say the average meatworker is a pretty keen drinker and they were all too happy to oblige. I reckon the stocks of bottles went from about 50-60 to over 300 in a month! 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paley Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 I have converted a cupboard (lined with insulation etc) to store my brews. The other half keeps the key - we struck a good deal, she thinks she\u2019s keeping me from drinking more and I know she\u2019s helping me age the beer! After each brew half goes in the cupboard the other half into the drinking stock! When the cupboard is full I start taking out the ones at the bottom and replacing them with new ones! Best thing, they are now 12 - 18months old!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny Coast Brewer Posted April 21, 2006 Author Share Posted April 21, 2006 Also, pick the right brews to age. Dont bother with lagers, or even simple ales. Heavy ales, with high malt content, or roasted flavours, or even with a complex hop content tend to benefit more from aging. You wouldn't get many benefits at all for aging, say a coopers cerveza kit brew, on the other hand, a coopers sparkling ale may well develop a little over time. So apart from the Cerveza (which they don't sell at my local Woolies or Home Brew shop), what other kits are good for a young beer. One that is almost as good at 3 weeks old as it is aged a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Coopers Draught, Coopers Lager (maybe even Bavarian Lager), Coopers Real Ale perhaps, Coopers Ginger.. try BiLo, down in VIC you can get cerveza pale ale, bavarian, ginger, nearly all apart from the thomas coopers range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny Coast Brewer Posted April 22, 2006 Author Share Posted April 22, 2006 Yeah, I know I can get that stuff at Bi-Lo, but Bi-Lo is 30 minutes away. Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny Coast Brewer Posted December 29, 2006 Author Share Posted December 29, 2006 I've made the Cooper's Draught with 1kg of BE2 my standard brew now & it's working a treat. It's quite tasty after just the minimum amount of time in the bottles. I did a stout in October 2006 and plan on keeping it locked away until St Patrick's Day in March. It should be pretty good by then! We're getting a 9m x 7m shed built in the New Year, so I'll be able to set up a good spot in there as my home brew area. Then I'll be able to store my brews better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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