Hello all!

[craft_ales_project]

Hi
My name's Andy, and I've recently gotten back into home brewing. So far so good! It's been about 40 years since I last dabbled in earnest, and thankfully the equipment that seems to be available has come on leaps and bounds. I hope to learn much, drink plenty and have fun doing so..

Cheers!
Andy

 

[DavieC]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum, plenty of help on here, people are always willing to answer any question.What is the brew in the photo?,what you brewing next?

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum..

 

[Banbeer]

Welcome to the forum and happy brewing

 

[craft_ales_project]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum, plenty of help on here, people are always willing to answer any question.What is the brew in the photo?,what you brewing next?

Hi Dave, thank you for the warm welcome :-). Well the beer in the pic is my homage to the great Pilsner style, which I named ‘Pale Horse’. It is my 4th brew using all grain, and my favourite so far! I can’t believe how damn good it tastes, it has a flowery aroma with just the right amount of hop for the style, with a dry taste on the tongue, very reminiscent of the beers I drank over in the Czech Republic and also a few German beers too! I produced 42 500ml pet bottles of the stuff and nearly wept as I opened the last a few days ago!

I have a brew lined up for this Friday which will be a Czech style similar to this named ‘Czech mate’. :-)

btw if anybody wants the recipe I’m very happy to share, it’s pretty straightforward

 

[craft_ales_project]

Hi and welcome to the forum..

Thanks Gerry, nice to be here..

 

[craft_ales_project]

Welcome to the forum and happy brewing

I thank you!

 

[Gerryjo]

Thanks Gerry, nice to be here..

Good to see you on the forum and taking AG in your stride.
I like yourself brewed a few years ago and came back about 4 years ago and how things have changed and also went straight to AG on the stovetop, then progressed to a cool box and tea urn and now purchased an all in one brewing system plus kegs, taps, gas and it's seriously addictive. I wish you well in your resurgence....

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Baz Chaz]

Welcome back to brewing! I've been the same as you, returning to this hobby!
This time I'm enjoying it even more than before, everything seems to have moved on a notch or two, the gear, the information available and as a result, the end product has also got better.

 

[Davy6Mac]

Welcome to the forum, i echo the comments by DavieC. I returned to home brewing in Jan this year after a long gap of 25 years when i only did kits but now doing AG. The equipment/ingredients available in this day and age are in a different world to when i first started. Happy Brewing

 

[craft_ales_project]

Welcome back to brewing! I've been the same as you, returning to this hobby!
This time I'm enjoying it even more than before, everything seems to have moved on a notch or two, the gear, the information available and as a result, the end product has also got better.

Thanks Baz, my results have encouraged me to continue with gusto, brew, brew, brew I say!!!

 

[craft_ales_project]

Welcome to the forum, i echo the comments by DavieC. I returned to home brewing in Jan this year after a long gap of 25 years when i only did kits but now doing AG. The equipment/ingredients available in this day and age are in a different world to when i first started. Happy Brewing

Thanks Davy, I went for a 'Klarstein Mundschenk' 30l mash/boiler and fingers crossed so far it's been an enjoyable process. The control panel is a little bit 'dated' compared to the Grainfather 'app' based setup, but I don't mind 'Old Skool' really, in many ways it focusses the mind on the actual brewing process which can be as simple or complex as you want, so far I've stuck to an hour mash at 68c then 20 mins at 78c followed by sparging and a 1 hour boil (adding hops as I see fit!). The last brew I used a £30 wart chiller coil which is a tad on the small size, but still got the wort down to below 30c in about 30 mins (whirlpooling with my brew paddle in a drill/driver), so I'm dialling in these things as I go! I used the cooling water to fill buckets of hot water for cleaning and sprinkled the lawn & beds for good measure

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Hi Dave, thank you for the warm welcome :-). Well the beer in the pic is my homage to the great Pilsner style, which I named ‘Pale Horse’. It is my 4th brew using all grain, and my favourite so far! I can’t believe how damn good it tastes, it has a flowery aroma with just the right amount of hop for the style, with a dry taste on the tongue, very reminiscent of the beers I drank over in the Czech Republic and also a few German beers too! I produced 42 500ml pet bottles of the stuff and nearly wept as I opened the last a few days ago!

I have a brew lined up for this Friday which will be a Czech style similar to this named ‘Czech mate’. :-)

btw if anybody wants the recipe I’m very happy to share, it’s pretty straightforward

Hi there Andy, and I'll add my welcome to the others :) I wonder if you were 'away' from brewing for as long as me - I reckon 25-30yrs... Having restarted last month I too was determined to go the all-grain route, and blimey doesn't it make a difference...!

Yes PLEASE I'd love to have the recipe for your Czech Mate

 

[GerritT]

Welcome! I expect you're pleasantly surprised by the selection of yeasts available now compared to the '80s!

 

[craft_ales_project]

Hi there Andy, and I'll add my welcome to the others :) I wonder if you were 'away' from brewing for as long as me - I reckon 25-30yrs... Having restarted last month I too was determined to go the all-grain route, and blimey doesn't it make a difference...!

Yes PLEASE I'd love to have the recipe for your Czech Mate

Hi! Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes, I guess it was back in the early 80's, when money was tight as the proverbial, I brewed in buckets to suppliment the nightly 'pub crawl's'! I simply used cans of liquid ME from WIlko's back in the day, results were ok but would rarely compare to pub ales.
I was furloughed at the lockdown and saw the empty shelves in the supermarkets, so decided to guarantee my supply of ale, and of course brew beer how I like it! Of course you're welcome to my recipe, I haven't brewed the Czech mate yet, but I'll post the recipe for the Pale Horse Pilsner (style) 'Lager' (oh that word!!).
Best wishes
Andy

 

[craft_ales_project]

Welcome! I expect you're pleasantly surprised by the selection of yeasts available now compared to the '80s!

Thank you! Yes, too right I am, bewildering or what? So far I've used Safale English ale yeast Mangrove Jack's Bohemian and W yeast Czech Pilsner (liquid with a 'smack pack' nutrient!). I think I'm confusing myself slightly, the Czech mate is under way and will likely be bottled tomorrow! I will be adventurous and mix bottling day with brew day, so I'll be busy! (Who says men can't multi-task?)

 

[GerritT]

Thank you! Yes, too right I am, bewildering or what? So far I've used Safale English ale yeast Mangrove Jack's Bohemian and W yeast Czech Pilsner (liquid with a 'smack pack' nutrient!). I think I'm confusing myself slightly, the Czech mate is under way and will likely be bottled tomorrow! I will be adventurous and mix bottling day with brew day, so I'll be busy! (Who says men can't multi-task?)

Bottling and brewing the same day? That's gonna take some planning! Especially in keeping other house occupants out of the way!

 

[craft_ales_project]

Bottling and brewing the same day? That's gonna take some planning! Especially in keeping other house occupants out of the way!

Yes you’re right about that, but I’m back in work on Monday so have a short window to get it done, plus the builders are starting in on a build on Monday, fun & games all round. I brew in the garage so no distractions but I hear it’ll be close to 35c tomorrow, agh, nothing is straight forward is it!

 

[Baz Chaz]

Welcome! I expect you're pleasantly surprised by the selection of yeasts available now compared to the '80s!

Funnily enough I mentioned this on another thread, the local brewshop in Lancaster market (1973 ish) only had a couple of yeasts from what I remember!

How things have changed....

Internet .... nearest thing to that was when you went fishing, and landed your best fish 'in't net' ......

As for high temperature, Kveik Voss ..... rolls its sleeves up and has a party at 35 degrees... I used some recently and watched the water/sanitiser spraying out of the airlock ......