Be honest...

[AdeDunn]

My Mrs was considering the same, just needs syrup, brown sugar etc. The dog biscuits smell yummy cooking, but have just too little sweetness for humans.

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[pvt_ak]

Another + for AG... geezer down the road gets all my spent grain for his hens, and I get lots of eggs in return. That means it's more or less free! But I think I'm gonna hold some back and try making biscuits or flapjacks, summat like that.

What’s the recipe for these dog biscuits ? I’ve not got a dog, but do have a grand dog that eats me out of house and Home !


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[AdeDunn]

I found it on a brewing blog, so rather than reproduce it here I'll give the link: http://blog.eckraus.com/how-to-make-spent-grain-dog-treats

Our dog loves them, plus you know what's in them. :thumb: Wife is looking into different flavourings she can use now (bacon or cheese powder is probably going to end up something she discovers, or maybe some of the fat and juices you get when roasting beef etc... lol).

 

[stigman]

I agree with @pms67 on that one. I've only just sampled my first AG and it ain't got that twang. The second was sampled at bottling and it didn't have it either.

My setup is a PITA in that I have a 2 year old who will not sit inside while I'm outside. So I just brew once he's in bed to save a lot of arsing about. I mash at half 6 or 7 and while that's in he's sorted and put to bed. Last night In The Chinese arrived at 6.40, mash in at 1900 and done and dusted, yeast pitched and feet up by 10.30. Everything cleaned down apart from the boiler which I done this morning while playing outside with the wee man. That was #3. #1 started at 18.30 and I think it was after 1 by the time I was finished! Well sozzled as well Haha!

So in short I think the process gets easier each time. There's less panicking etc. It's a matter of getting in to a rhythm and smoothing out your prpcess.

Despite that kit twang, with my work schedule I plan to do 2AG and 1 kit in a 6 week schedule to get the stock up.

I know where your coming from Ciaran my little lad (nearly 3 yearsold) doesn't usually go to bed until about 9 o'clock, so I try and get everywhere clean and my mash water on the go then he helps me weigh out the grains before he goes to bed. Trouble is If he sees a bag of Maris otter he thinks it's a brewday and gets all excited.
And I still don't usually get to bed before about 3am.

 

[Leon103]

I wouldn't go back to kits. I enjoy the whole brew day process. Anyone can chuck 23l of water on top of a kit.

 

[Covrich]

I am not writing this to bash kits, I think kits have their place and there are some decent kits out which make good beer

THat said I am anotehr in the once you go AG you won't go back camp.

The quality is better the beer is betterand you can have some real wow beers, for some cost will be a factor as AG can be pretty cheap.. Time is an issue for many and I get that..

However for me the quality and satisfaction of teh product is a big thing and to be honest the involvement and achievement for me is much greater.. Milling my grain to the glass is something I embrace all the way through and what is the end result is often purley my own creation one way or another.

 

[Slid]

Definitely seeing a "childbirth" analogy pattern here, which is really helpful as gives me hope, thanks. :thumb:

I reckon I just need to stop trying to shoestring it. My 30 litre SS pan, wrapped in reflective insulation, on the gas hob is NOT cutting it as a boiler and mash tun. The fine filter bag I originally bought to strain fruit when making melomel is NOT cutting it as a BIAB bag (bet it'd make a good hop sock though....:lol:). At the very least I need to get a PECO boiler and a BIAB bag to fit.

I owe my wife an apology too (luckily she will never know) as it wasn't her that altered my scheduling, it was the check-list I downloaded from the brewersfriend site... I used it to make my own (didn't like that one) and left the order intact... I'll redo the version I made to something more efficient.

Process, been using the timings in recipes, using the timer in Beersmith 2 app to organise. Not had any cleaning up to do until the end (quite a few of the bits I use go in the dishwasher anyway). It's literally the space it takes up that's been the problem. This should improve using an electric boiler, and by doing my weighing on a different schedule (actually thinking something like: water on to heat for mash - weigh grain - mash - weigh hops and adjuncts whilst mashing -boil), that way it's not all sat taking up space whilst waiting.

A question for fellow BIABers. When you are mashing, do you stir the grain at any point? I've been giving it a gentle stir at 30 minute intervals, is this a mistake? I'm definitely doing something wrong, as even without sparging I surely should be getting higher efficiency? Been mashing at 64-66 degrees Celsius for 90 minutes.

I would say that whatever your system, stirring the grain and mashing or even sparging water is always going to be a good idea..

 

[Ajhutch]

I’ve been brewing for a couple of years and have done kits, extract and AG and there’s no doubt that AG produces the best beer. You get maximum control over process, extraction, attenuation, flavour, strength etc etc. But......I’ve discovered that there’s no question in brewing to which the answer isn’t ‘it depends’. So, your brewing philosophy depends on your lifestyle. Some people don’t want to ever buy a commercial beer again, so they have to brew a lot and might need to throw a kit on if time is short, or adapt another way. Some people are space limited and can only have one or two FVs, so have to brew to a schedule to keep supply up.

Personally, I don’t get to brew very often due largely to family commitments and when I do brew I want to do it right. I’ve therefore simplified the process to no sparge BIAB and no chill so I don’t ever absolutely have to do something this minute on a brew day. My last mash was for one hour and 24 minutes because that was a window of time to go and attend to the brew for a while, if it’s 55 minutes I don’t sweat it.

To answer the original question, I’ve nearly done a kit a few times recently. I was quite tempted by the Brewferm Abdij kit, but when I nearly bought it I decided I’d rather make an all grain abbey beer myself. And that’s my philosophy, I want to enjoy making and having made the beer, and if that means I don’t always have a full FV then so be it.

 

[Gunge]

I actually struggle to find beer worth buying in the supermarket now. Even when my beer is not perfect, it still has more flavour, body and head than 95% of beer in Tesco.
I tend to buy stuff like Czech lager and pilsner, because it is difficult to re-create at home and is well crafted and clean tasting.

Until a few years ago I'd occasionally succumb to the rave reviews about new beers which popped up with tedious regularity. Upon trying said beers I'd invariably think 'wtf mine is better' so don't bother anymore, these days. I agree with the lager bit too... I know I'd fail but no problem cos I'm not a lager fan at the best of times!

 

[AdeDunn]

I've been doing a bit of reading around, and I have a possible suspect that's contributing to my poor efficiency.... mash pH been too high. Tap water here has a pH of 7.5, GH of 14.7 degree dGh and KH equally high (in other words, can't remember as been a few months since I tested the tap water.... lol). I suspect this is borne out by the fact that I got slightly higher efficiency with my BIAB (more grain variety, plus I mixed in some RO, thus softening the water a bit) than I did for the stove top (single grain, just dechlorinated tap water)...

Anyway, long story short I've ordered some brewing pH test strips. Next time around I'll draw a sample of water from my mash, find out if this really is part of the problem. As I may have mentioned I do have a drinking water RO system, so it may just be a case of preparing water further in advance mixing more RO in.

 

[Slid]

When you drink a bottle of beer, what happens to the bottle between then and filling with beer again?

I would like to think that this time will give the bottle the space it needs to "find itself" as a receptacle for beer.

I mean, otherwise it would just sit in a laundry basket in some middle-aged git's garage.