tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26612422652321355592024-03-14T13:20:07.630+00:00Bell's Beer Home Brew BlogA diary of the home brewing of Bell's BeerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-73397506438845467162015-03-15T19:03:00.003+00:002015-03-15T19:03:42.436+00:00The final wedding brew - a Woodforde's NogGiven I'm pretty unhappy with the Stout I brewed (Im sure this is entirely my fault for putting tooo much sugar in before bottling), I decided I needed another brew for the wedding. I hadn't realised that the Munton's Oaked Ale was so dark at the time, so I went looking for something dark, instead of the stout. I read the description of the Woodforde's Nog as a ruby red, dark, rich tasting ale and it sounded perfect so here we are.<br />
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Nothing exciting to report. I soaked the bucket with the stirrer, hydrometer and thermometer in, for about 10 mins. I poured boiling water over the two tins in the sink near the end of cleaning. Finally I chucked the two tins into the clean bucket added the first of 3 kettles of boiling water, via the empty tins to get the dregs, and stirred like mad. Then I carried it up to the brewing room, and filled up the bucket with cold water from the tap (I have no cold water tank) using a jug, happy to throw the water in from a height to get lots of air in. I pitched the yeast, having forgotten to take a gravity reading again, stirred a little more, and put the top on the bucket and left it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-48192526508701735422015-02-18T16:29:00.001+00:002015-02-18T16:29:41.179+00:00Bottling the Munton's Oaked Ale. <p dir="ltr">Today with some help from my poor mum, I washed the 45 bottles, and added 75 grams of dissolved demerara sugar into the Munton's Oaked Ale. We then set to work on bottling and capping it. We got 44 bottles, though the last few may have a few of the oak chips in, so they will be reserved for my tasting over the next couple of weeks.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I did have a quick taste yesterday, which to be honest was mainly to confirm that it needed pouring away. It looked so bad only a few days ago and it smelt fairly dodgy I thought too. However, yesterday it tasted OK, very malty you would expect as it's still all churned up, and with some fairly sharp after tastes, but it did seem like it was on ruined, and with some nice maturing could actually turn out really well. I got a similar opinion after a prebottling taste today, so I have much renewed hope for this brew now. </p>
<p dir="ltr">With various guests descending on us over the next few weeks I will now monitor the 3 beers to check they look OK for the wedding, and may not brew any more for a little while. </p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-18666062502391831312015-02-18T16:22:00.001+00:002015-02-18T16:22:12.852+00:00Tasting the Woodefords Wherry<p dir="ltr">The Woodefords Wherry has had about a week in the bottle. It tastes pretty good. It's subtle, but there is a nice gentle aftertaste. Hopefully this will grow and develop. I'm pretty happy with this brew. No issues from start to finish. </p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-63229227085488136852015-02-18T16:19:00.001+00:002015-02-18T16:19:48.485+00:00Update on Coopers Stout<p dir="ltr">It's been a little while since the Coopers stout went into the bottle. After all those initial issues, it's actually become really quite drinkable. Being a little cooler may have helped calm the fizz but it wasn't as overly fizzy as before, and there were no hints of the previous salty/fatty flavours. It's a perfectly reasonable, drinkable stout. Hopefully it will continue to improve in the 2 months to the wedding. </p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-14495915674864153612015-02-13T16:35:00.000+00:002015-02-18T16:37:49.281+00:00Disaster with the Munton's Oaked Ale<div dir="ltr">
I left the Munton's Oaked Ale for a fair few days before taking a look. I expected it to basically be finished. I was in for a heck of a shock. It looked awful, as you can see from the picture. The bubbles were much brighter and browner than normal, almost yellowy, and still very active clearly, but worse, the discussing looking scum on the top. It was horrid, and surely a sign of infection. I will leave the beer to see what happens but I'm pretty sure it's had it. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-600502019761701532015-02-07T16:03:00.002+00:002015-02-07T16:03:52.126+00:00Kicking off the Munton's Hand Crafted Oaked AleHaving just cleaned up the gear after bottling the Woodforde's Wherry, it made sense to kick of the next brew right away. The final kit I got as a present at christmas was the most expensive, and the one I was looking forward to the most - Munton's Hand Crafted Oaked Ale. I'm easily sold...but the box looked smart, and everything gave the impression of quality, so I'm hoping it turns out well.<div>
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I ran the hot tap over the two large tins while waiting for the kettle to boil. I poured the hot water over the mixing spoon and the tins, then put the kettle back on while I opened the tins and poured them in. I filed the tins twice each from 2 more boiled kettles to get the remains out of them, and get the right amount of hot water. this time I went for 3 full kettles up front.</div>
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Once it was mixed I took it to the brewing room and chucked in the remaining litres of cold water. Just before it reached the 23 litre level I measured the temperature and found it at about 22. I boiled the kettle to up it a bit, and added the final kettle and some cold. </div>
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I measured the gravity and was surprised to find the gravity up at around 1046, rather than the 1040 of my previous beers. Its hard to imagine I did anything wrong given I added the right amount of water, and there was no need to add sugar, It does suggest the beer might get to 5%, so maybe thats it.</div>
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After pouring in the sachet of yeast, time for anotehr first - pouring in the sacket of oak wood chippings. I guess they will just float on the top and hopefully add a little depth to the beer. We shall see.</div>
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All done. now I just have to wait and see if the Stout recovers, the Wherry matures well, and if we can get this new beer down to final gravity before the hordes descend on the house at half term.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-24948182003715775212015-02-07T13:54:00.001+00:002015-02-07T13:54:22.950+00:00Bottling the Woodfordes WherryI measured the gravity of the Wherry on 2nd Feb, and found it to be around 1015. On the 5th it was probalby around 1014, and didnt show much sign of moving so when I had a few hours on the 7th, I was happy it was likely finished.<br />
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Having cleaned the bottles and left them drying (pre-rinse), I went to make up the sugar solution to prime the bucket with, only to find now white sugar in the house. A quick google suggested the demerera sugar could be used instead, in the same quantity as white sugar. Having found 90g way too much in the stout, and the Wherry instructions saying a max of 85 in a pressure key, I opted to use 75g of sugar in the Wherry bucket. We shall see how the quantity, and demerera fair.<br />
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I got 44 bottles filled up, and a quick taste didn't show any of the nasty flavours that were in the stout. It was a perfectly acceptable simple brew. Hopefully it will developer a little more interest with time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-43987522081202091452015-01-29T20:30:00.000+00:002015-02-07T13:47:59.350+00:00Trying the Coopers StoutHaving read that it is reasonable to start tasting how a beer is doing after as little as 4 days, I decided after 5 days to have a taste of the Stout.<br />
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First impressions were ok, but then I was hit by subtle tones of the soapy salty taste I recognised from the brewing process. I very quickly found I couldnt drink any more of it, so poured half a bottle away, and will give it a little longer in case these flavours disappear, but I am not hopeful.<br />
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I'm not really sure what caused the problem. I have certainly turned down the temperature in the brewing room a little, but after that Im just not sure. Hopefully the next beer will be ok, having started it in the belief that the Stout had come out ok.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-89655118868324379292015-01-25T19:29:00.002+00:002015-01-25T19:29:39.052+00:00Woodfordes WherryTime for my second brew to go on. The Woodfordes Wherry is actually a brew I have been meaning to do for years. It came up regularly when I first started as a good brew to start with, so I almost did it as one of my first brews. However, I never quite got round to it. However, it was on offer just before Christmas, and kindly Chrissie bought me it. <div>
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There was nothing exciting to report in the setup. 2 cans warmed in the sink, a bunch more boiling water, mostly filled it up with cold, and then an extra half a kettle to keep the temperature low to mid 20s, and top up to 23 litres.</div>
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Time to wait. I've ordered more bottles, but am busy next weekend, so will have to see when I can find time to bottle this one. Thursday seems a little soon.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-13294910970614341942015-01-24T18:57:00.000+00:002015-01-25T19:16:45.059+00:00Bottling the Coopers StoutI found a few hours and got down to washing the bottles, using the new squirting bottle cleaner Chrissie got me for Christmas, and my trusty bottle tree. It all seemed to work very well, plus the bottles from amazon seemed to be well cleaned already.<br />
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To estimate the alcohol percentage I used (OG-FG)*0.129. This gives 1040-1006 = 34 * 0.129 = 4.4%.<br />
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Darren kindly offered to help, so with clean bottles and equipment I proceed to fill the bottles, and Darren put on the caps. We raced though it, with a few of the usual overflowed bottles on occasion when I wasn't paying attention.<br />
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All done. I will give them a few days in the house where its nice and warm before moving them somewhere cooler.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-3257393030876382372015-01-22T18:54:00.000+00:002015-01-25T18:57:37.178+00:00Last measurement of coopers StoutI took a final measurement, though to be honest I figured that at 1006 2 days ago, it would surely be finished now.<br />
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I took another picture.<br />
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It looks very similar to before, so Im sure its done.<br />
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Bottling time as soon as I have a couple of hours.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-21664662226702731312015-01-20T20:46:00.002+00:002015-01-25T18:53:25.587+00:00Second gravity readingTook a second reading a day later. I also took a pic to make it easier to compare. The top of the bubbles clearly are at 1004 so I guess we are St about 1006.<br />
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This reading is definite while yesterday's I wasn't certain of so I will see tomorrow.<br />
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I noticed some worrying white areas on the top of the beer and decided to taste a few drops from the hydrometer. It didn't taste good. It's hard to tell with such a small amount but it seemed very salty. I fear for it. Will try some properly before bottling.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-8492872414982510112015-01-19T22:00:00.000+00:002015-01-20T09:58:50.003+00:00First Gravity reading on Coopers StoutIts been 4 nights since kicking off the Coopers Stout. My new bottles and bottle caps have arrived and Im just waiting on the bottle capper which is on its way, so I wanted to see if the beer was getting near to bottling time. I ran the hydrometer under boiling water from the kettle and dropped it in the beer. It dropped to the point i couldnt quite see the black section - so between 1010 and 1008, I forgot to take a picture. Im not that surprised, as the room has been very warm for the most part so I expected it to go quickly. I will take anotehr reading tonight and another the next night. Im busy Wednesday night but could thenbottle it on Thursday if its stable.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-5073899069723637632015-01-15T22:50:00.002+00:002015-01-15T22:52:05.294+00:00Starting againSo its been many years since my last home brew, as this blog shows. The motivation to finally get back into it is for my wedding. Its all about people bring their own made things and favourite things, so it seems only fitting that I should bring some home brew myself. therefore I'm back at it.<br />
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The long break does bring with it some challenges. First of all I have forgotten everything I learnt, so thats no ideal. I've been back to googling things and following the exact instructions. Secondly all my gear hasnt been touched in years. I toyed with just buying a new starter kit with new bucket, stirrer, tubing etc, but given the urgency of needing several brews inside a few months I wanted to get started straight away.<br />
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I chose a Coopers Stout from the packs I got for Christmas to start with. The good part of this is its the cheapest so if I ruin it, its not quite as painful. The bad news is its a one can kit and I'd never done one of those before. I also don't have quick access to anything but white granulated sugar, so opted to add the full 1kg of white sugar as instructed, rather than brewing sugar, MLE or any of the other things google talks about.<br />
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I had bought some fresh sanitiser, and set to work on swishing round freshly booiled water and then some cold and then sanitising power, and then filled it up to allow the whole bucket to soak along with the hydrometer, brush, stirrer and thermometer. I think there is a high probability that this brew fails due to something getting in the beer somewhere, what with the old gear and the faffing as I haven't done it in ages. We shall see.
When I finally started I poured the 1kg of granulated sugar into the bucket, and poured a kettle of boiling water. I then reboiled the kettle so that I could pour some over the tin and stirrer and then opened the tin and poured that in. Even after filling the tin with boiling water to get more out it was obvious that lots was left in the tin still. After another boiling water I opted to fill the rest of the bucket by constantly refilling the tin with cold water. This worked with the tin being mostly clean on the inside in the end. Before getting to the fill level on the bucket I took a temperature reading and found it was 21 and still falling slightly. Its very cold outside at the moment so the tap water would have been very cold. Given I was only filling with cold water and needed to add another few litres yet I boiled the kettle again, twice, and along with some more cold water while waiting I tested again at 23 and when finished it was 24. It took longer than I would like but it was done.<br />
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There was a pretty big head from alll the splashing and stirring but I seem to recall from the back of my memory that you were supposed to get as much air in as possible at this stage.
Next I took a gravity reading, which was really tough given the huge head, but after some faffing I think it was pretty close to being bang on 140. I then nearly made a dreadful error - I put the lid on and started packing up... only to then see the yeast (if I hadn't brought it in half way through the job I might have forgotten completely). I sprinkled this in, and gave it a heck of a stir ot try to get it all mixed in. There didnt seem to be any floating on top so i figured I was finally done.<br />
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Now I will try to leave it alone for a few days, but keep an eye on the room temperature at least - its been fairly cold recently so I'm now wondering if I should be keeping the heating on a lot of the time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-51450157575172770752008-09-19T14:31:00.000+01:002008-09-19T15:00:20.801+01:00Bottled the Eastern Ale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xb5FtS-pgwtYV03F6HWryoqGrP_l4I9IFMrTnU-WJI5o3oZ5iUBZYZzurq6hao3odYFuZ3KxozbSURKI8JxH-dMAuhrLUysSLu5U96iDCTU3c06krOpDohddW5iWwwUDjWCd39zJXlU/s1600-h/EasternAleLogoWhite.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xb5FtS-pgwtYV03F6HWryoqGrP_l4I9IFMrTnU-WJI5o3oZ5iUBZYZzurq6hao3odYFuZ3KxozbSURKI8JxH-dMAuhrLUysSLu5U96iDCTU3c06krOpDohddW5iWwwUDjWCd39zJXlU/s320/EasternAleLogoWhite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247725153693637426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The weekend before last I finally got round to bottling the Woodforde's Eastern Ale. I didn't realise I hadn't blogged the bottling until someone added a comment asking how it went, so here are the details...<br /><br />Before statring anything I took a gravity reading, and confirmed the reading hadn't shifted from its 1.010 position a few days ago, so the bottling was good to go... I measured out the 60 grams (I think) of sugar and mixed it with a small amount of freshly boiled hot water in a jug. I then microwaved the jug to get it back to boiling and then placed the jug in the fridge to cool down asap.<br /><br />I decided to use the dishwasher to prepare my bottles again. I think the lazy patr of me is prepared to keep doing this until it goes wrong... Although some of the bottles were quite old, I decided that I would first fill each bottle with boiling water and leave it for 15 minutes. If after a quick shake and rinse, the bottle still looked dirty to the eye, the bottle was put in the recycling. If it looked clean, I put it in the dishwasher. I eventually ended up with 48 (hopefully) clean bottles).<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>I soaked the tube, and bottle tops in hot water with sanitizing powder, and rinsed them ready to go. Once the sugar was cool, I gently mixed it into the beer and left it for another 20 minutes. I laid out the caps, capper, the labels I had prepared, and some milk along with the pastry brush and I was set.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vLMiQm-m4eQm0wlcNLDsmDVX3jHj6WjdAulxA8jJK2vuiUTjFApjkX1VcefgKsYiGzfXmQ3FKPuyhyphenhyphen-6q3hArdOXIHAI0Ev9FibYe8g9TnitwkGyou-qJskkOqNndOuAhx7HKkeKXOI/s1600-h/beer_0559.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vLMiQm-m4eQm0wlcNLDsmDVX3jHj6WjdAulxA8jJK2vuiUTjFApjkX1VcefgKsYiGzfXmQ3FKPuyhyphenhyphen-6q3hArdOXIHAI0Ev9FibYe8g9TnitwkGyou-qJskkOqNndOuAhx7HKkeKXOI/s320/beer_0559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247727154939853346" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I connected the tube up and started to fill the first bottle. The process flowed nicely, and here are a few action shots:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZOhPw0KAYv_x1R8nFl6zvaFyPI4735V5K_ZtsRKdG8VVzfJzuSkOVxDEsK9Hsag8nPG51JtwoAa0_2jDLKDDt2wdkSFhSuDGU1tKuS6x_aaUuKEXgaXGlN_40umtS_DXzb0gLXHtHrA/s1600-h/beer_0560.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZOhPw0KAYv_x1R8nFl6zvaFyPI4735V5K_ZtsRKdG8VVzfJzuSkOVxDEsK9Hsag8nPG51JtwoAa0_2jDLKDDt2wdkSFhSuDGU1tKuS6x_aaUuKEXgaXGlN_40umtS_DXzb0gLXHtHrA/s320/beer_0560.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247731040885648402" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8BwuogH8GJPeFDNxl9uyjpUIlXKQEH_RHNU-B3Ei-oc4vatqj53jhUFHR1mDrqhCKf9t7GmKmkw1QRRcmGHjxDCSTi1ZhWB5OgOHTWeMQGTpfaQJZCbbsdwFdxAqSLr1e2gmlMIirr8/s1600-h/beer_0561.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8BwuogH8GJPeFDNxl9uyjpUIlXKQEH_RHNU-B3Ei-oc4vatqj53jhUFHR1mDrqhCKf9t7GmKmkw1QRRcmGHjxDCSTi1ZhWB5OgOHTWeMQGTpfaQJZCbbsdwFdxAqSLr1e2gmlMIirr8/s320/beer_0561.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247731214392343426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTu5iy57qvIG-ucI3OixGBkULT96OOBLN5L_eQTwSZZqIFNPAYNDXE8gHXApPRvGII4B3ZuVmUvrFzVZRu0k0RoUD_O89TalUGe0MPFuhlaevoi6b2vSyEvUK9lQGYiShyAbWo_oC9ZiY/s1600-h/beer_0562.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTu5iy57qvIG-ucI3OixGBkULT96OOBLN5L_eQTwSZZqIFNPAYNDXE8gHXApPRvGII4B3ZuVmUvrFzVZRu0k0RoUD_O89TalUGe0MPFuhlaevoi6b2vSyEvUK9lQGYiShyAbWo_oC9ZiY/s320/beer_0562.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247731396047648738" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Less than an hour later, I had 43 bottles of beer ready to put in the 'Brewery'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg571s4exgJIIDwAXAnAorsHD3kfTRIjZaPGu9oKd5lr0fbkNyHiI83egZiaM3G_Z-gO0BbdlMd5Ef0qOyZqaKRs_0S-8PdtyVhKeahLg5KxT9pBnHFJJm6IHMyCA0oKnS7B_aqWtXyN1g/s1600-h/beer_0563.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg571s4exgJIIDwAXAnAorsHD3kfTRIjZaPGu9oKd5lr0fbkNyHiI83egZiaM3G_Z-gO0BbdlMd5Ef0qOyZqaKRs_0S-8PdtyVhKeahLg5KxT9pBnHFJJm6IHMyCA0oKnS7B_aqWtXyN1g/s320/beer_0563.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247731878818051234" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am looking forward to this one. I have wanted to do a nice summer ale for ages. In fact this was supposed to be for this summer, but my enforced absence from brewing means it might now turn out to be a relaxing Xmas ale ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-19881048866973085072008-09-02T18:40:00.000+01:002008-09-02T18:48:39.198+01:00Woodforde's Eastern Ale down to 1.010<span style="font-family:arial;">I am intending to bottle the Woodforde's Easterne Ale this coming weekend, so I thought I would check how its doing...<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9p1iiZ9tAzLgSSmPAlFflXE44whKTaDnvQXh-xLc0ws1ZeDbPvVuyc5TYauT6JBctp4QEZbJoIGlDFSkcF_WecbuAJ3hMKrT4EkNiLwTJxFvPtj8bFqOYgOoOFqFbuUlxX72KaxHMz8/s1600-h/Brussels+001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9p1iiZ9tAzLgSSmPAlFflXE44whKTaDnvQXh-xLc0ws1ZeDbPvVuyc5TYauT6JBctp4QEZbJoIGlDFSkcF_WecbuAJ3hMKrT4EkNiLwTJxFvPtj8bFqOYgOoOFqFbuUlxX72KaxHMz8/s320/Brussels+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241481488483059650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I took this reading to be 1.010, which I think is as low as I have had a beer go, so I am very pleased. This is the first summer time brewing I have done, so I suspect that explains this success. I will check on the brew again later in the week, and then before bottling - probably on Saturday.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-30355459908656342652008-08-24T17:08:00.000+01:002008-08-24T17:18:45.964+01:00Eastern Ale fermenting well, perhaps too well...After cleaning the brewing bucket and lid yesterday, I had mishaped the lid by forcing it inside the bucket while it soaked. I therefore snapped the lid on tight with the intention of releasing it after an hour or so, once it had gone back into shape. However, one day later I realised I had forgotten when I opened the brewery door. There was a strong smell of beer, and I was surprised to find the towel I still throw over the bucket was soaked, as was the floor around the bucket. I don't know how much the closed lid was to blame, but it had definitely overflowed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4SKFzmd2etTBzrAAlnp-Z0K1h06SJMXVdoKrPkCgPtJIkspH6uuc_RDIr16Pm0dXm8h7LFMEzV2UQsRqC25VGc7r3TNNyLYD-IFNH2fZDz8Rp5dNMRGu3rf0ijvO-y2OqJ5d9gpwWTY/s1600-h/beer_0558.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4SKFzmd2etTBzrAAlnp-Z0K1h06SJMXVdoKrPkCgPtJIkspH6uuc_RDIr16Pm0dXm8h7LFMEzV2UQsRqC25VGc7r3TNNyLYD-IFNH2fZDz8Rp5dNMRGu3rf0ijvO-y2OqJ5d9gpwWTY/s400/beer_0558.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238118183107596562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'm afraid there isn't much mess to see in the photo (not least as I had done most of the clearing up before thinking to take a picture). However, you can see that the beer has an amazing head on it, which I know is from the fermentation as the original head had gone by the time I finally got the temperature down yesterday and pitched the yeast. This is definitely the first time I have had a fermenting head as big as this, perhaps because of the warmer temperature of the wort.<br /><br />Hopefully the beer hasn't been contaminated from the spill, and judging by the head, it shouldn't be too long before the beer is ready for bottling. This was supposed to be my summer tipple, so it would be nice if it was drinkable before all trace of summer has gone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-65760825236560535362008-08-23T16:12:00.000+01:002008-08-23T16:21:24.697+01:00Tasting the Forest BitterPartly as a reward for kicking off the Eastern Ale, and partly to test out the brew before using it in a beef burger recipe tonight, I have just popped open a Forest Bitter.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05QFrAUDOpRdv43WcGq0Dwty2a9y0p46KoLUY1msI-0nvqwD6uAKreIM3TpfIVKISBeJeEAKt5Pvbs6UaT730ZzOQ-8VhNa8Ni0QOT1qm1rSA0JeypX8sCoo16stBc340hoZQ-AzM8dI/s1600-h/beer_0557.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05QFrAUDOpRdv43WcGq0Dwty2a9y0p46KoLUY1msI-0nvqwD6uAKreIM3TpfIVKISBeJeEAKt5Pvbs6UaT730ZzOQ-8VhNa8Ni0QOT1qm1rSA0JeypX8sCoo16stBc340hoZQ-AzM8dI/s400/beer_0557.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237732088075820546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am very pleased with how this brew has matured. Checking the label, it is now just over 3 months since it was bottled. Sadly it has very little head, and zero head retention. However, it does actually have enough fizz. Its got a very matured taste, which as always I struggle to describe but I would say it is a wissened old beer. It also leaves a different but pleasant aftertaste on the pallet.<br /><br />It is going to be absolutely perfect for my beef burger recipe I think, so I better get in the kitchen and churn out some burgers while I finish my pint :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-41466864732309623132008-08-23T15:53:00.001+01:002008-08-23T16:12:34.215+01:00Woodforde's Eastern Ale - Brewing again at last<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiJNuvI2cTUJCXmuC_KVnhGQh6EmAAjFXpSdR3nmst8U1k0KiFUMz28hu-GT4yAYJJlYKzNGpxMJSKM3zgms5zQvmqbmWGe_umH3VDtcZj3XU9WyFFm9WnhQ9PqZNM_67YdjRmEmn_8I/s1600-h/beer_0554.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiJNuvI2cTUJCXmuC_KVnhGQh6EmAAjFXpSdR3nmst8U1k0KiFUMz28hu-GT4yAYJJlYKzNGpxMJSKM3zgms5zQvmqbmWGe_umH3VDtcZj3XU9WyFFm9WnhQ9PqZNM_67YdjRmEmn_8I/s400/beer_0554.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237727260799180418" border="0" /></a><br /><br />At last, after a long long break, I am brewing again. After finally getting the credit card company to get my money back from EasyBrew after filling in a bunch of forms, what should arrive through the post - the Woodforde's Great Eastern Ale pack...<br /><br />Anyway, onto the brewing. I filled the brewing bucket with hot water and sanitizing powder and left it to soak for about an hour. I rinsed it out, and found despite my scrubbing, there were still a few subtle signs of the previous brew around the top - hopefully this will be ok.<br /><br />I put the two tins into the washing up bowl and poured a little boiling water over them to loosen the contents.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DpsoZCP0UHf0pViI4OuqxLjz2C7c42jrzzjvpMm3ygJ2EWZjqMJ9R-24wzb76YobU5DWIAZ7D-qLu2dHew0soweanWcWohtsAI1xWi7Ozprswruh8J-4INy73ttNtrvdXHmx5cWSspQ/s1600-h/beer_0555.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DpsoZCP0UHf0pViI4OuqxLjz2C7c42jrzzjvpMm3ygJ2EWZjqMJ9R-24wzb76YobU5DWIAZ7D-qLu2dHew0soweanWcWohtsAI1xWi7Ozprswruh8J-4INy73ttNtrvdXHmx5cWSspQ/s400/beer_0555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237728305478938594" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I then poured the two tins into the cleaned bucket and added two full kettles of boiling water - about 3.5 litres. I filled the rest of the bucket with cold water, again dropping the water in from a great height to mix in as much air as possible. I don't recall a brew ever having such a big head at this stage before...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpHXnr-30asC4ZMHfOQ4xPqYcGtnn0pUA81lWuM4hfPdInYF5p2XO1EGpr3wilF5VmuhhhCcXhyC-02CkU-rsVQQkmKb_S_B19OqPkqTzErMFkjZDznGmNJ8ax4AqlH-s7I93e0Cqo4g/s1600-h/beer_0556.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpHXnr-30asC4ZMHfOQ4xPqYcGtnn0pUA81lWuM4hfPdInYF5p2XO1EGpr3wilF5VmuhhhCcXhyC-02CkU-rsVQQkmKb_S_B19OqPkqTzErMFkjZDznGmNJ8ax4AqlH-s7I93e0Cqo4g/s400/beer_0556.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237729407985895218" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately I did not learn from my previous mistakes and filled it right up to the fill level before checking the temperature. The instructions didn't mention temperature at all, but I knew better and should have checked earlier. Sadly the temperature was around 28 degrees C - far to warm to pitch the yeast. It took me a good 30 minutes of mixing, and sitting the bucket in cold water (and eventually ice) to bring it down to around 22/23 degrees.<br /><br />I finally added the yeast (hopefully this isn't too warm still) and gave it all a good stir. I was surprised to see the yeast all dissolved very well (after initially appearing to almost congeal on the surface).<br /><br />I placed the top on the bucket and tucked it away in the brewery for a week or so. I will check on it carefully over the next couple of days to confirm that all is well. I have been waiting for this brew for a long time so hopefully it will be worth the wait.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-79594349014975937952008-07-03T10:32:00.000+01:002008-07-03T10:39:10.740+01:00Sorry for the enforced breakHi folks,<br /><br />Sorry to those of you who regularly check out my blog - I have not done any brewing recently, though not out of choice. I'm afraid the fault lies squarely at easybrew.co.uk. To cut a long story short, I spoke to them about possible affiliate links through my site, and after promising initial talks, I though I ought to order through them myself to see what they were like to deal with<br /><br />I placed two separate orders, for Fruit beer kits and for Woodford's Eastern Ale. Despite the money being taken straight away, I received e-mails for both orders saying they were out of stock and it would take 10-14 days. I accepted this was fair enough really, and decided I could wait a couple of weeks, but after 3 weeks I had heard nothing, so e-mailed them, and was told the orders would be another 10 days. After this time I gave up and e-mailed back (as instructed) to request the orders be cancelled and my money refunded - I have since heard nothing. <br /><br />I am not impressed. I am currently out of pocket, and my beer supply is dwindling. I will soon be back to the local home brew shop I think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-19839460675665217122008-05-26T21:19:00.000+01:002008-12-09T15:34:24.319+00:00Tasting the Forest BitterIt has been about a week since I bottled the Sherwood's Forest Bitter. I decided to give one a go to see how it is progressing.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjapzYqIQrBCJMNiquqhc4cgmBjTKS_QTFdh0RBURPyjKnc1oD0eQnHYcCM7os7aRq_H7qM6FT-hYqLN9Tk36MsfAOnTW53-9TIC1yR4KrmlV0X290NaT-rC2GKl3Y6sykH0k2vhXG3U/s400/FBGlass.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204785741321196178" /><br /><br />As you can see, there isn't much head at the moment. It is also not very fizzy currently, which may be a good thing as it is also very sweet. Hopefully some of the sweetness will go as the sugar is converted to CO2.<br /><br />I am not especially good at describing beers. It has a very similar smell to the wort at the moment. The taste is definitely very green. That said, it is not at all unpleasant, just a little sweet. Under the sweetness it has a very smooth, malty taste, with a nice bitter after taste. <br /><br />All in all, I'm pretty happy, I just really hope the sweetness subsides. The final gravity of the brew was 1.013, which was a little above the target, again, so Im not <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> confident all the sweetness will go. Time will tell.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-1325625673431484302008-05-25T21:16:00.001+01:002008-12-09T15:34:24.826+00:00Getting the Rose RackedI had intended to rack the rose last weekend at the same time as the plum. However, I somehow didn't get round to it (nothing to do with buying GTA 4 I might add ;-) ) I also meant to rack it yesterday, but somehow didn't get round to it, so I was determined that I would do it today. The bubbles had stopped coming through the airlock now.<br /><br />Once again I sanitised the demijohn, airlock, gromit and syphon. While I did this, I took a gravity reading just to confirm fermentation was finished. The target was 0.990 to 0.996 for a rose.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszJVd6twKuvTH1PGss1nHgEoN5dNpnEYll6YYrlT0Qo6xUwebYfXDzGUt99HhNDGGZ3SwZC1mpCFr9cp9pwDInhDkvdRDqYCNV5akmUU6-TTb3TM4LcuOmift_PaS8rIRs-hxf4m05Is/s400/roseFinalGrav.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204414411333685874" /><br /><br />I took the reading at 0.995, inside target.<br /><br />I emptied the contents of the stabiliser into the empty demijohn and syphoned in the wine to mix it in. <br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYa2Gtm2HdPFJdCm0JFzNDSK-0XoRG0xTUzT0WMz2VHeJBajPEQcqnoQDd7elovAOZFze97yFKnQyR6WsEjdZ0Q4P0QGYEbgyj0kZ7jYELPjlQSnLSCjro3AAVGZ_RHSpO_lyM57b1ho/s400/roseRacking.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204416120730669698" /><br /><br />I shook it as much as I could for the next few minutes, until the pressure stopped building up. I will repeat this as many times as possible over the next few days, before adding the finings.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-83236930805555932142008-05-25T21:09:00.000+01:002008-05-25T21:14:09.692+01:00Damn my lazyness24 hours after racking the plum and I had been pretty slack. I only shook the contents up once. I now did it a second time, but I should really have done it at least 6 times by now according to the instructions.<br /><br />I decided to give it another shake after 48 hours, even though I was only supposed to be shaking it for 24 hours. Hopefully the wine won't turn out to be fizzy. I believe it will just take longer to clear now. We shall see. I will certainly learn my lesson if it does affect the final product.<br /><br />I returned the demijohn to The Brewery where it will remain until clear.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-82622976503469067242008-05-25T19:29:00.002+01:002008-12-09T15:34:24.943+00:00Racking the Plum WineIt had been 3 weeks since I got the plum wine going, and the bubbles had completely stopped going through the airlock for at least a few days, so last Sunday (18th May) I decided it was time to get it racked into another demijohn and get it clearing.<br /><br />The instructions for this wine do not mentioning racking, but given a lot of the sediment has already dropped out of the wine, and the next step involves shaking up the contents, it seems to make sense. I therefore sanitised the syphon, and spare demijohn, airlock and gromit. I added the contents of the stabiliser sachet to the empty demijohn, before syphoning the wine into it, once again starting it off with a quick suck. <br /><br />Once all the wine had transferred, I added the sachet of plum flavouring, and the wine finings. I placed a gromit in the demijohn and shook it vigorously with my thumb over the hole, and then removed my thumb to release the pressure. I repeated this for a number of minutes until little pressure was building up. I then placed the airlock in the gromit and returned the wine to 'The Brewery', with the intention of shaking up the contents regularly over the next 24 hours.<br /><br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYESoWzj-PbWJ1nW56K28aVmU4Z_9QloQFJ5-IIV9KwK2sXTE6tjBDXnXV7RIt9B2L1y8Br6dMvH6jDOZVavB3Jda31PL66zBUIo_TAbfONzE3PkjlkleQBRx1Fwx_NEfax4qADtQoGQ/s400/plumRacked.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204387632212595298" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2661242265232135559.post-1282965286414518732008-05-22T18:35:00.000+01:002008-12-09T15:34:25.808+00:00Bottling the Sherwood's Forest BitterTime at last to get my 4th brew bottled...<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddd82cjv6SObosiyzRBbrHM9cJ50saMxsWM9r1wgDCdo4vWEJ43HkWAD4itu8U2q4siCJNDOa_kN_2j54akKo-HTvkLKJL0_fuT80EnjKjD53PN5UKrvthrA8dfw7Fw9EzT1tNIKwFT8/s400/fblogo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203257875425120786" /><br /><br />I started by taking another gravity reading. My intention was to bottle whatever the reading, given I knew it was down at 1.013 a week and a half ago, so it should have had plenty of time to finish fermenting.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfXbDkKeM_3HGKwjBgkS_ZDCMTEXXf0lBH3jFTeMr43uepk75uisOow2HbOIdJ-h8ooMAf1K_U9ZG-f0puy9BGrNCaiRTa3xUskAWSeMLqsM9BbGSYN5M5_XtDqnHWF_TZAzDJyoP1rA/s400/FBGrav2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203259632066744882" /><br /><br />As you can see, the reading is still 1.013. I was a little surprised by this, as I thought that with the warmer weather, my problems of not getting brews down to the 1.010 target would disappear, but seemingly not. I was also a little worried that this meant that the brew had been sat for at the very least one and a half weeks having finished fermenting. Given the autolysis problems with the Linthwaite Light, I am perhaps over sensitive to leaving it in the bucket, but I just hope that this brew turns out fine. <br /><br />I decided to try out an alternative to the painstaking task of sterilising bottles - putting the bottles in the dishwasher. Someone suggested this to me, and given I had only just emptied the bottles of their previous contents and had thoroughly rinsed them, I felt it was worth experimenting. (Please forgive the poor quality photo - the camera is full again so its from my phone.)<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1I5gMRMLvvzZ6EooJj5Bq7ZK20Nv3FfRUUZ4sWICtPDRlhLODzF-uq87T1KzXUU59MtCh7xoLb75kUHn0UaxEPrxnWsbzb0T7sQkWGwEluqCenN3JuP3ah5lBiuNMdOEb54jIc_7T2_I/s400/IMAGE_050.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203263716580643394" /><br /><br />So with the bottles cleaning themselves (well almost), I got my 60 grams of brewing sugar dissolved in a little boiling water and microwaved it back to the boil, before putting it in the fridge to get it cool asap. I brought the brewing bucket into the kitchen and connected up the sanitised tube and let it hang into the cleaned washing up bowl. I knocked up some labels and a saucer of milk, and sanitised the crown caps. <br /><br />I took a small sample from the tap on the bucket both to taste, and to ensure the tap was clear. It came out very cloudy to start with, and didn't wow me with its flavour, but it was unpleasant, and didn't seem to show any signs of the dreaded burnt rubber taste.<br /><br />As soon as the sugar had cooled I gently stirred that into the beer and left while the bottles finished. Some time later they were all clean, dry and cooled and it was time to get the conveyor belt going. Unfortunately I was being pressured for time, given I had taken over the kitchen and it was rapidly approaching meal time, so I rather rushed the job, resulting in more than a couple of overflows as I filled the bottles to quickly while I capped and labelled the previous bottle. I learnt that the only thing more annoying than overflowing a bottle of your precious beer, is having the next bottle overflow as well, while trying to quickly clear up after the previous overflow and cap and label it too.<br /><br />Anyway, at last I had 43 bottles of Sherwood's Forest Bitter, and hopefully it will take after the Stout that I am currently enjoying, rather than the Light that the fish in the channel are now probably breathing in.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeFnTX7UOcn6_1CCB3iu05Jc2qHhrWWpdUioisOc8EtxM6gXBpXjUMOJVi9YQvN6dHwATGggIqlS2aUUiwDxf18f6FbZt9yCxNL4EMFngUgabH5S9WcNbn3avwXiUJUMhR21up8hf8SCQ/s400/FBbottled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203267298583368274" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1