Otto Von Blotto Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 I haven't been game to let my better half know yet so I'm still getting my story right before I tell her. PS. If anyone has a better justification I can provide to the "house pants-wearer", feel free to let me know. Get a new wife. [lol] [innocent] I'm seeing a girl at the moment who not only enjoys the beers I brew, but somehow manages to listen to me crap on about brewing, and occasionally helps out with the process on brew day itself too. [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 In the words of dr. Nick Riviera "Hi everybody". My name is J\xf3n, I\xb4m also from Iceland (like the other guy in the topic). I\xb4m 21 years old and you guessed it, i love beer. I also happen to like making things and have always wanted to make my own beer. I could\xb4t afford the DIY kit from coopers so i had to improvise [biggrin]. My first brew is going to be a Coppers Draught, and it\xb4s already been in the fermenter for 24 hours. I have made a few rookie mistakes, such as water from the airlock into the brew and probably something else. And i\xb4m hoping this won\xb4t ruin my beer. My fermenting temp is at 18\xb0C because i read dozens of times that fermenting on high temperatures is going to give you off flavors and unwanted flavors. But my brewing instructions say 21-27\xb0C. I just wanted to know your thought on that because to my best knowledge "the colder the clearer" up to a point of course. Then when I start making decent "kit" beer i\xb4m hoping to make my beer completely from scratch. That is if I don\xb4t screw it up every single time [biggrin]. Best regards from Iceland Welcome Jon and Phil, Jon, You sound like you are on the right track on your first brew. Keeping yoour temperatures right is key. Not only fermenting temps but when you do get into AG you'll find your good practice will pay off with beautiful amber necter![cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jón P Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Thanks for the replies, it\xb4s good to know that it\xb4s hard to ruin your beer. I\xb4ll keep you posted on how it turns out whether you like it or not [devil] and what my next brew will be, and just want to point out that I\xb4m open for suggestions (easy of course [biggrin]) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilbyT Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Hello Guys. Figured I would put in my piece here. My name is Phil, yes another Phil, and I have the fever. Unlike (the new Phil) in the posts above, I have had some encouragement towards this hobby. Like a conversation with Wife, goes something like this: (wife) "what do you want for Father's Day Phil" "Ah, a home brew kit would be good, can't think of anything else right now" (wife) "lets have a look on ebay see what we can find" "Yeah, great idea Love, look here's a Coopers kit, it says only been used once, has the fermenter, lots of other stuff and a heater belt as well" (wife) "OK let's watch it"... Some time later, I am the happy owner of a kit, not everything in there, but just a few little extras to buy. So here I am, having read masses of great info on this forum, I have made one batch so far of English Bitter with a little finishing hops. And now in the fermenter is a Cascarillo up to day 4, just put in the Dry hopping Amarillo and was smelling good when the lid was off. So there's my story so far, I intend to get a little more adventurous "brew by brew". I have to say the information in the Forum has been extensively helpful and thanks to all those who impart their knowledge here. I don't think I would have gotten off to much more than a plain start without it. I never thought one could do so many things with kits and extract as I have read here so I am looking forward to doing more of the inventive recipes I have researched here in the future. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Welcome to the forum Philby. It sounds like you are off to a great start with a couple of nice brews. Looks like we are just about Philled up [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Welcome to the forum Philby. It sounds like you are off to a great start with a couple of nice brews. Looks like we are just about Philled up [biggrin] Hairy is our resident groan inducing brewer full of puns [lol] [EDIT] just found this - perfect.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilbyT Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Thanks for the welcome Hairy. And thanks Adam for the warning although I'm not sure who you should be warning me of...[lol] The first brew (EB) has turned reasonably well although maybe a little fruity. Not sure if this is young-ness (about 3 weeks in bottle now) or ferment temp (was around 21-22) or something else. My palate is not that trained to be able to tell the difference. Anyway catch you up further along in the forum. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelJ15 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Hi all, Thanks for having me in the forum. Just joined and about to lay down my 2nd brew tonight. Doing the Hop Slam IPA using Galaxy pellets instead of Moteuka which i couldnt get on the weekend. My first brew(Coopers lager that came with he kit) turned out OK if a little appley/fruit smell to it. I started the brew before readng too much into it and i know what mistakes i made first time round so am well prepared for this brew(frozen bottles just in case, water chilling in the fridge and somewhere cooler to ferment). My first brew i pitched the yeast about 24-25 and it fermented well over the first few days however the temp shot up in the garage and my brew was at 26ish for a day or 2 which i think is where the fruit smell came from. Was in fermenter for about 2 and a bit weeks and then into bottles. These haven't carbed up great but there is a little fizz in there and i still get a head on the beer. Decent enough for a first attempt anyway. Will get onto all grain brewing soon enough and look forward to using some of the recipes that i have seen on here while looking through the recipe resource. Havent got a name for my own brewery yet but will think of something soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICzed Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Hey everyone, Mark from Sunny/Stormy Queensland here. Long time beer lover but only new to home brewing. When I first left home my housemates and I got on to one of those DIY micro breweries where they basically hand you all the ingredients and a timer so you know when to chuck everything in to the big boiling vat thingy and then you come back two weeks later to bottle it all up. It was good fun but there is only so much Cerveza style a beer lover can tolerate. Fast forward a few years later and my Mother in law started doing home brew (it was meant to be a gift for her Husband haha) and the stuff she pumps out almost put me off home brew for good. I'm not exactly sure what she does but it always has that sweet cidery taste so it could be anything. A month or so ago I was at party and my wife's friend's Husband (who is a Chef) cracked out his home brew and it was good as any beer I've bought from a pub or bottle shop (A lager kit loaded up with more malt). So after complaining for months that beer is getting more and more expensive I was immediately keen to start making my own. First brew is all bottled up waiting for Xmas time and am going to put the second one down tonight. Here for a good time! ;) Thanks for reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 ICzed people! Welcome to the forum Mark. Stick around and you will learn how to make beer better than your Mother in Law. And also better than the chef [devil] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICzed Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Haha thanks man. Practice makes perfect right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 im up to brew 6.. and apart from my first brew.. id happily hand out my home brew to my mates.. and they happily drink them! a bit of practice.. and a bit of extra effort such as adding some specialty grains and steeping/dry hopping your brew will see you making good quality beer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Haha thanks man. Practice makes perfect right? No. Perfect practice makes perfect. [tongue] Think about it, if you keep practising methods for making bad beer, then bad beer is all you'll ever make, regardless of how many batches you brew. That said, most on this forum are here because they want to learn how to make good and great beer, so a bit of time getting used to the basic procedures, and as Del says a little extra effort using grains and/or hops, and also appropriate fermenting temperatures and you'll be making beer far better than the kit and kilo of sugar we all start out with![biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Haha thanks man. Practice makes perfect right? No. Perfect practice makes perfect. [tongue] Think about it, if you keep practising methods for making bad beer, then bad beer is all you'll ever make, regardless of how many batches you brew. But you could perfect the process for making bad beer [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 The multi national conglomerates such as the ones Lion and CUB belong to have already perfected that. [tongue] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Yes, and they also unsuccessfully tried to stem the tide of quality micro and craft beers by buying out their companies. The result; they introduced a new generation of drinkers to premium beers, turning them off their original mega swills. There will always be a market for people who don't appreciate quality and go for quantity instead, but you can't beat a well made beer. I wouldn't clean out the drains with XXXX, VB, or Tooheys New, but the Hahns, Matilda Bay and other former micro brew products are still decent beers, just not quite as good or as nuanced as the newer craft and micro beers on the market. For my mind you'd go a long way looking for a better beer than say Longboard Ale, or Little Creatures. Good beer can be made by big brewers, but mass production tends to homogenise the great beers into good beers, and the good beers into also rans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 There will always be a market for people who don't appreciate quality and go for quantity instead' date=' but you can't beat a well made beer.[/quote'] We always bag out the megaswill beers for being bland, tasteless etc but I don't think you can accuse the big breweries of not churning out well made beer. They have their style & recipe down pat and keep producing the same beer with consistent results over and over and over. They are well made beers; its just that I don't particularly like most of them [tongue] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 It might be well made, but that doesn't make it good beer. [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pazzmon Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hello all, my name is Aidan, I'm 21 years old and an ale and whisky fanatic, having recently found out that my girlfriend has bought me the Coopers DIY Kit for Christmas, last few days I've been running round the internet like a little internet hamster watching videos, reading forums, reading recipes about brewing beer. Although she bought me the 'lager' kit, which I'm not a big drinker of, I'm hoping it will put me in good step of going on to create my own style of ale, which has been a dream of mine for a while, just not getting round to it! My brewery is called Old Graceful, as she wanted a reference in it, so I thought I'd use a word which includes her middle name, unfortunately there is already a Tanner's, (Which is her last name). Ultimately, I'd love to end up making my own seasonal drinks, such as fruity lagers for spring and warming ales for winter. As you can see, I am very excited, after reading the beginners guide on the forum, I am ridiculously keen to open up the box on Christmas day and start the brewing! P.s. I'm from Wales! (U.K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Welcome to the forum Aidan! With a bit of research and practice you can brew almost anything you want. The Coopers Lager comes with an ale yeast so you will actually be making an ale. Since you have some time before your first brew, do a bit of reading on dry hopping or even a hop tea/steep. It's a simple step that will vastly improve your first beer. My brewery is called Old Graceful' date=' as she wanted a reference in it, so I thought I'd use a word which includes her middle name, unfortunately there is already a Tanner's, (Which is her last name).[/quote'] Your girlfriend's middle name is "Old" [surprised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 There will always be a market for people who don't appreciate quality and go for quantity instead' date=' but you can't beat a well made beer.[/quote'] We always bag out the megaswill beers for being bland, tasteless etc but I don't think you can accuse the big breweries of not churning out well made beer. They have their style & recipe down pat and keep producing the same beer with consistent results over and over and over. They are well made beers; its just that I don't particularly like most of them [tongue] They're well made, but because they're made in factory like settings with little personal input compared to micro and craft brewers, they tend to be a bit soulless and impersonal in their production, and you can tell by the taste. Yes they're consistent, and high in quality, but mainly low on flavour and individuality; most mass produced beer is pretty much the same, though there are notable exceptions. I still fancy the occasional Boags premium, Blue Tongue, Hahn Premium, or even a Tooheys Pils or Extra Dry, but these days I'd say that the beer I brew at home using Coopers products and a bit of hops is at least close to as good as those, and who wants to pay $50 a case for something not much better than you can make at home for under $30 a batch? Commercial beer is an occasional break from the usual home brew, and sometimes gives me inspiration to try something new, and I'm okay with that.[cool] Craft and micro brew beer is an indulgence, and something I enjoy, but as an occasional treat, rather than a regular tipple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EchoZA Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Newbie here from Kensington, Johannesburg in sunny (not at the moment) South Africa :) Looking forward to learning and sharing where I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramjet Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Wecome to the forum Echo, echo, echo, echooooo..... Seriously (if that's possible on this forum) stick around and you'll learn a heck of a lot. In my case, I've been putting down K & Ks (kit & kilo's) for 30 years, but it wasn't until I checked into the forum in the last few months that I've stepped up a notch, adding specialty grains and extra hops, that I've realised what's been missing! I'm about to up it again to AG (all grain) and can't wait to see what it produces. Happy brewing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakespear Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hi all, This is my first post and I'll be a regular reader to this forum as I want to get much better at this brewing thing.......... Anyway, I'm an expat Aussie now living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (one benefit of this is that these Wisconsinite's drink a helluva lot of beer!!!! Some great, some downright average). Am halfway through drinking my first batch of homebrew - Coopers Lager. As it was my first batch, all I did was follow the recipe included with the kit. It came out ok, drinkable, but a tad "cidery". Also a bit disappointed with the head - it foams up nicely with a long pour into the glass, to "splash" a head into formation, which does last a fair amount of time. While it isn't my favourite, our friends seem to like it! Cheers all and look forward to reading the forum and learning this art of brewing!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Welcome to the forum Shakespear! Stick around and you will definitely learn some things. The Coopers Lager that you brew first up isn't the most exciting beer. It definitely improves from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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