morethanworts
Landlord.
Hello everyone :hat:
I am more than just a bit excited to be re-entering the world of homebrew after several years away. I started brewing in the early 90s, from kits and then from extract with hops/adjuncts. I even did one [unsuccessful] all-grain mash. Extract will certainly be the main way forward for me.
Like all beginners at the time, we didn't have the internet to learn the wealth of information and tips out there. I had a couple of books, but you'd have to purchase and read a whole library shelf to get the detail and diversity that you can get now from an evening at your computer. So it follows, that I had quite a bad hit v miss rate. Just a few days on the internet now and I can already see what some of my common errors were - and I was trying to be pretty scientific back then! The bad news is that I could buy a 3kg extract kit back then for around £12, whereas now it's more like £20-odd.
My best brews were a copy of Theakston's Old Peculiar (based on a Dave Line recipe) and a straight forward bitter. I never did any bottom-fermenting lagers and that is my initial motivation as I return to the pursuit.
I'm wondering whether I could summarise my planned method on this forum BEFORE I start, to try to eradicate any obvious errors before I make them. I'd be grateful for any suggestions on which sub-forum is best to post that...
Having just moved to a place with a large shed and a cellar, I'm hopeful that I can control my lager ferment and lagering fairly well. I've just ordered an STC 1000 temp controller/probe to connect to an aquarium heater, to immerse in a trug of water around the fermenter. I will do some tests first, to make sure I can keep a steady 12C or so.
My worst limitation is perhaps that I can only boil less than a third of the 5 gallon wort, without buying a bigger stock pot. I have to draw the line somewhere...
Well, anyway, it's already been a delight to look around here, so here's to some fine beer! :drink:
I am more than just a bit excited to be re-entering the world of homebrew after several years away. I started brewing in the early 90s, from kits and then from extract with hops/adjuncts. I even did one [unsuccessful] all-grain mash. Extract will certainly be the main way forward for me.
Like all beginners at the time, we didn't have the internet to learn the wealth of information and tips out there. I had a couple of books, but you'd have to purchase and read a whole library shelf to get the detail and diversity that you can get now from an evening at your computer. So it follows, that I had quite a bad hit v miss rate. Just a few days on the internet now and I can already see what some of my common errors were - and I was trying to be pretty scientific back then! The bad news is that I could buy a 3kg extract kit back then for around £12, whereas now it's more like £20-odd.
My best brews were a copy of Theakston's Old Peculiar (based on a Dave Line recipe) and a straight forward bitter. I never did any bottom-fermenting lagers and that is my initial motivation as I return to the pursuit.
I'm wondering whether I could summarise my planned method on this forum BEFORE I start, to try to eradicate any obvious errors before I make them. I'd be grateful for any suggestions on which sub-forum is best to post that...
Having just moved to a place with a large shed and a cellar, I'm hopeful that I can control my lager ferment and lagering fairly well. I've just ordered an STC 1000 temp controller/probe to connect to an aquarium heater, to immerse in a trug of water around the fermenter. I will do some tests first, to make sure I can keep a steady 12C or so.
My worst limitation is perhaps that I can only boil less than a third of the 5 gallon wort, without buying a bigger stock pot. I have to draw the line somewhere...
Well, anyway, it's already been a delight to look around here, so here's to some fine beer! :drink:
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