Mornin',
I'm new to homebrewing and the forum, on my second ever brew (Beavertown Gamma Ray recipe) and I'm now looking forward to trying out all other kinds of recipes and beer types, from APAs & IPAs (my personal go to at the moment) to Stouts (as it gets colder) to some crisp lagers in the summer. I plan to start trying out some of my own recipes once I've produced a few clones and SMaSH brews (to further my hops knowledge). I live in Sheffield so a big hello to any homebrewers in the area! :hat:One of the main draws for me to this hobby is the fact that I am now at home much more having a 2 year old so I have to drink most of my beer at home these days. Also, I love the idea that I can tailor, control and be creative with what I brew / drink
My first brew was a kit from Wilko's called the triple hopped IPA kit and it got me hooked. Was made using a preboiled syrup which I watered down with some water and brewing sugar, cooled than added the packaged yeast to. Tasted ok though I have had some issues with it tasting a bit "cidery" which I put down to the fact it was fermenting in my attic in 27 degree heat at one point, Moved that into a secondary fermenter for a few days before moving it into a Wilko pressure barrel, which I've since had problems with in that it isn't particularly carbonated, even though I added more then enough brewing sugar.
I became slightly obsessive about it and ended up getting some books on the subject to extend my knowledge. I started with the CAMRA brew your own real ale but have now moved on to the book "Yeast" as well as "Radical Brewing". Along with that I've been watching various videos to see how other people brew, one of my favourites so far was the Beardy man channel on Youtube which perked my interest in the Grainfather...
Having decided that I wanted to up my game and driven by the fact that my dad and father in law decided to start brewing their own stuff, and having discussed brewing many times with a few mates who are into it I went and bought myself a Grainfather.aunsure....I must say it's a fantastic bit of kit... it's so slick, compact and the bluetooth thing is awesome (if maybe slightly overkill), though it does allow me to check on it while I'm downstairs as my kit is all in the attic. The main draw for me apart from the simplicity in using it is that it can be packed away in my attic and doesn't require any gas.
My second and current brew is an All Grain recipe I found having scoured these forums for a Beavertown Gamma Ray recipe. I might post a seperate thread about how this first All Grain brewday went when I get a moment as I have some pictures I could post with it too. It's currently sat in my attic fermenting away and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.
I'm trying my best not to spend any more money on this hobby as I'm constantly finding ways that I could improve my setup, such as heating and cooling systems, a draft system, etc etc etc, but all in good time...
I think my next problems to solve are around trying to control the fermentation temperature in my attic, I also need to try and work out why carbonation didn't work very well for me the first time around. I will say that the downsides for me so far have been around the huge amount of cleaning required in all grain brewing, also the fact that it took me all day (from 12 mid-day to 1am) last weekend from start to finish, this is a huge amount of time that I don't really have, but I'm hoping this is due to my massive inefficiency in using all this new equipment, dealing with a new process, trying to deal with ad-hoc issues for the first time and just getting the hang of it all. Also, I didn't have a hose adaptor for my Grainfather wort chiller so it took an age to cool the wort. These 2 small issues won't stop me though and I can't wait to taste my Gamma Ray clone and start brewing a tasty stout/porter next.
Anyway, cheers all!
I'm new to homebrewing and the forum, on my second ever brew (Beavertown Gamma Ray recipe) and I'm now looking forward to trying out all other kinds of recipes and beer types, from APAs & IPAs (my personal go to at the moment) to Stouts (as it gets colder) to some crisp lagers in the summer. I plan to start trying out some of my own recipes once I've produced a few clones and SMaSH brews (to further my hops knowledge). I live in Sheffield so a big hello to any homebrewers in the area! :hat:One of the main draws for me to this hobby is the fact that I am now at home much more having a 2 year old so I have to drink most of my beer at home these days. Also, I love the idea that I can tailor, control and be creative with what I brew / drink
My first brew was a kit from Wilko's called the triple hopped IPA kit and it got me hooked. Was made using a preboiled syrup which I watered down with some water and brewing sugar, cooled than added the packaged yeast to. Tasted ok though I have had some issues with it tasting a bit "cidery" which I put down to the fact it was fermenting in my attic in 27 degree heat at one point, Moved that into a secondary fermenter for a few days before moving it into a Wilko pressure barrel, which I've since had problems with in that it isn't particularly carbonated, even though I added more then enough brewing sugar.
I became slightly obsessive about it and ended up getting some books on the subject to extend my knowledge. I started with the CAMRA brew your own real ale but have now moved on to the book "Yeast" as well as "Radical Brewing". Along with that I've been watching various videos to see how other people brew, one of my favourites so far was the Beardy man channel on Youtube which perked my interest in the Grainfather...
Having decided that I wanted to up my game and driven by the fact that my dad and father in law decided to start brewing their own stuff, and having discussed brewing many times with a few mates who are into it I went and bought myself a Grainfather.aunsure....I must say it's a fantastic bit of kit... it's so slick, compact and the bluetooth thing is awesome (if maybe slightly overkill), though it does allow me to check on it while I'm downstairs as my kit is all in the attic. The main draw for me apart from the simplicity in using it is that it can be packed away in my attic and doesn't require any gas.
My second and current brew is an All Grain recipe I found having scoured these forums for a Beavertown Gamma Ray recipe. I might post a seperate thread about how this first All Grain brewday went when I get a moment as I have some pictures I could post with it too. It's currently sat in my attic fermenting away and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.
I'm trying my best not to spend any more money on this hobby as I'm constantly finding ways that I could improve my setup, such as heating and cooling systems, a draft system, etc etc etc, but all in good time...
I think my next problems to solve are around trying to control the fermentation temperature in my attic, I also need to try and work out why carbonation didn't work very well for me the first time around. I will say that the downsides for me so far have been around the huge amount of cleaning required in all grain brewing, also the fact that it took me all day (from 12 mid-day to 1am) last weekend from start to finish, this is a huge amount of time that I don't really have, but I'm hoping this is due to my massive inefficiency in using all this new equipment, dealing with a new process, trying to deal with ad-hoc issues for the first time and just getting the hang of it all. Also, I didn't have a hose adaptor for my Grainfather wort chiller so it took an age to cool the wort. These 2 small issues won't stop me though and I can't wait to taste my Gamma Ray clone and start brewing a tasty stout/porter next.
Anyway, cheers all!
Brew on!
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
