Hi Everyone
I'm not a first time brewer but since I've only brewed a demi-john of "mali-brew" back when I was 17 (almost 20 years ago), it's fair to say I am a noob.
My intent is to brew my own, good lager, easily and cheaply. For this reason I am not going to try many different brews at first, I am simply going to refine one recipe to make it really good - which is where I would appreciate a little advice. Of course I may experient in the future but not yet.
I've chosen to go with Coopers European Lager; I've also done a fair bit of reading, and learned that to get a good brew you need to control the environment. I'll be doing 25 litre batches, and I have an Electrim TE25 heatpad and an STC-1000 controller. I'll be bottling entirely into Grolsch bottles which I've very much enjoyed collecting.
I'm in the UK so that should be enough for the recommended 13 degree brew until the spring, but in the spring I intend to modify a fridge as a brewbox, and since this will all take place in my garage I think these will be necessary for the required controlled environment year round. I don't want to be planning my brewing around the seasons!
So I'm going for Coopers European Lager, Brew Enhancer 2 as the dextrose additive, and I've also ordered a kilo of pure dextrose to be used (in part) for priming.
I need three bits of advice please.
1) Any basic recommendations to improve the recipe? additional dextrose?
2) Priming. How much should i prime with? preferred method when bottling?
3) If i wanted to try and get a flavour of Peetermans Artois (which was brewed with coriander, and delicious but sadly discontinued), how much coriander should i attempt with and should it be dried, fresh, pre-boiled etc?
4) should a brewbox be ventilated with fresh air?
I wont ask any more as I have a million questions but you have to start somewhere :)
Thanks All
jon
I'm not a first time brewer but since I've only brewed a demi-john of "mali-brew" back when I was 17 (almost 20 years ago), it's fair to say I am a noob.
My intent is to brew my own, good lager, easily and cheaply. For this reason I am not going to try many different brews at first, I am simply going to refine one recipe to make it really good - which is where I would appreciate a little advice. Of course I may experient in the future but not yet.
I've chosen to go with Coopers European Lager; I've also done a fair bit of reading, and learned that to get a good brew you need to control the environment. I'll be doing 25 litre batches, and I have an Electrim TE25 heatpad and an STC-1000 controller. I'll be bottling entirely into Grolsch bottles which I've very much enjoyed collecting.
I'm in the UK so that should be enough for the recommended 13 degree brew until the spring, but in the spring I intend to modify a fridge as a brewbox, and since this will all take place in my garage I think these will be necessary for the required controlled environment year round. I don't want to be planning my brewing around the seasons!
So I'm going for Coopers European Lager, Brew Enhancer 2 as the dextrose additive, and I've also ordered a kilo of pure dextrose to be used (in part) for priming.
I need three bits of advice please.
1) Any basic recommendations to improve the recipe? additional dextrose?
2) Priming. How much should i prime with? preferred method when bottling?
3) If i wanted to try and get a flavour of Peetermans Artois (which was brewed with coriander, and delicious but sadly discontinued), how much coriander should i attempt with and should it be dried, fresh, pre-boiled etc?
4) should a brewbox be ventilated with fresh air?
I wont ask any more as I have a million questions but you have to start somewhere :)
Thanks All
jon