ag beer

[peebee]

Hello all
Although having not yet ventured into ag brewing of any kind I get the definite impression ag produces superior beer compared to kits of any kind. ...

Absolutely yes it does! But hang-on, I gave up with malt extracts in the '70s, the kits were diabolical back then too. Now I hear of competitions being won by extract brewers. That either means AG brewers entering competitions are the worst of the worst, or else extract brewing has come along way in 4-5 decades.

Take your pick. But I'm not about to give up the AG route. Guess that makes me a "control freak"?

 

[peebee]

I brew a Belgian Blonde AG (Malt Miller Kit) with SafT58 and it turns out slightly rough at first, but is good after 6 months and amazingly smooth after a year. This year I'm not going to touch it until the 6 month mark and make sure I keep back at least 30 bottles for the full year.

I'll keep that in mind. I have an AG "Dark Abbey Beer" (the Belgium based Castle Maltings recipe, but I'm not using Castle's malt this time) fermented with Safale T-58 aged about two months (1 month "lagering" at 3-4C - first time I've tried this technique) and while good it takes a few sips to get used to the very forward "estery" notes. So I'll keep it a while yet.

 

[Dutto]

In the UK, home brewing without a licence was legalised as late as 1963.

By the time I started brewing in 1968 kits were available but they were so bad that almost anyone who like beer decided not to buy them and relied either on their own intuition or on a recipe from a friend.

When I started, I bought malt extract and EKG hops from Boots and used them to a recipe I got from a work colleague called Mike Toop. (May his revered memory be blessed, even if he is still alive!)

At that time, AG home brewing was unknown to me.

I think the "Crap Kit" era and "AG brewing at home" era overlapped somewhere in the 70's so kits became a dirty word and AG brewing became the gold standard.

The reasons were obvious because the quality of the kits was so dire that almost any numbnuts who was prepared to spend many hours to source and mash malted grain, boil the resulting wort with hops and then ferment it could beat 99% of the kits on offer at the time.

However, nowadays we have moved on nearly 50 years and things have changed.

I just love the variety and quality of today's kits, both extract and AG; especially those that don't require the addition of any extra sugar.

I also regard kits like Woodfordes Wherry as the "gold standard" against which I pitch my own paltry efforts when brewing AG or just pimping up another kit.

Indeed, times have changed and believe me when I say they are for the better! :thumb:

 

[BeerCat]

Those £5 tins of liquid malt from hbc make an excellent beer/ 1kg of pale malt, some speciality grains and hops and 7l pot can make 15l. I struggle to tell the difference and reckon its a cheap way of getting into mashing etc for anyone on the fence about trying AG. And cos you need to top up with water you dont have to worry about chilling it much.
I love AG because you can make up your own recipes.