Newbie who enjoys Low Alcohol Beer

[hedlander]

Hello everybody

I'm an expat in Oz who has been using kit beers for about 15yrs and now only brew LOB. (low alcohol beer). On saying that, I always have a strong cider or ginger beer kegged for the ladies or special occasions - or when I missed timed my brews and fancy a drink

I run two fridges, one converted fridge with lawn mower lager in a 23ltr keg and the other purpose built kegerator with three slightly better (read more expensive) kits in 17ltr kegs - two containing the better beer and one the cider/ginger beer. The two 17ltr beer kegs are both filled from a 23ltr fermenter so only really contain about 10/13 ltrs each.

At all times I have two kits on the go and fill each fridge as I finish the contents.

No offence to the aficionados as I know how passionate brewers can be, but I should be honest and openly admit the following:

I love drinking beer for the sake of it and on a hot day it takes a fair few glasses to satisfy me. If it were just alcohol and getting pissed I was after then I'd go top shelf.
I've been drinking for about 40yrs and have paid good money for some rank - and I really mean rank - even with a top - pub beer in plastic cups all over London in earlier days (Carling Black Lable springs to mind) so have learned to withstand the taste of That First Beer ... That went for not all but only some pubs.
The main reason I brew my own beer is to save money...if it was more expensive to brew than to buy beer at the shops then I doubt I'd bother.
Although I'd definitely enjoy drinking a quality brewed beer, frankly, I can no longer be arsed going to all the trouble.
I believe enjoying a cold beer is as much about state of mind as it is palate. When I'm hot and really hanging out for a lager, my cheap lawn mower brew (2 - 3% ABV) will taste as good to me as the more expensive one. Or any other one for that matter!
I haven't sanitised my kegs nor fermenter for a couple of years (except for once when I wrongly thought I had an infected brew)
I no longer use hot water, sugars nor any other fermentables in my batches.
Haven't touched my hydrometer in years
I'm pleased to say it now takes me about 20 mins to 1/2 hr refill my kegs from the fermenter, gas the keg and put down my next batch.

I proudly support Spurs.

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome, great intro.

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome :

 

[chrig]

Welcome, interesting to read your experiences re: sanitation. We must all know that we go a bit Ott with sanitising when we seriously think about it.

:)

 

[Papa G]

Hi, welcome to the forum :

 

[hedlander]

Hello fellas, great site, thanks for the welcomes

Hi Chrig, re the sanitation bit, I have had to ditch brews in the past due to ( I think) not rinsing sanitiser properly, esp metabisulphite, and prior to that; bleach. I now keep Star San and use it when brewing the cider / ginger beer as the fermenter I use for those brews sits unused for long periods. Apparently you can leave residual Star San in the brew but I always choose to rinse well.

For my beer, I use pales (similar to plastic paint drums) without taps nor rubber seals which are a pain to keep clean. When I finish my keg, I rinse it out with plain cold water, siphon my beer into the keg and seal it immediately. I then empty and gently rinse my pale, again using plain water with maybe a J cloth, pour in my tinned extract and packet of yeast (in no particular order), top up with cold water and again, seal immediately. Next, I 'charge' my keg before chucking it into the fridge. Job done.

Now for my reasoning........please bear with me.

I doubt there's many people on this forum who hasn't smelt or tasted an off beer. It's not hard to recognise. There are obviously many different causes and the more processes involved in brewing, the more likely you are to introduce a cause.

I keep my fermenters constantly on the go so I asked myself, "If I sanitise my brew and do every thing right, is the fermenter still sanitised at the end of the fermentation?" I decided it was so no point in sanitising a sanitsed fermenter / keg. If I produce a bad beer then I'll sanitise but until then why bother?

Also, the only three things that go into the fermenter are Malt from a factory sealed tin, yeast from a factory sealed packet and of course water. Personally I use tap water and haven't had any problems. The other thing is speed. The longer the 'ingredients' are open to the environment the more likely contamination can occur.

*Tip for those who use packets of fermentables: After pouring the extract into the fermenter, pour the sugars into the near empty tin and stir in the boiling water. This fully dissolves the sugar and cools the water just slightly prior to adding it to the extract making it easier to mix*

In order to get this system up and running, my initial outlay was quite expensive but has paid itself off many times over in terms of both money and time.

And I wonder how many people just give up brewing through lack of time?

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum, interesting read :

 

[narmour]

Welcome to the forum! :hat:

Point of note, C*rling is considered a rude word round here, and as such, must be asterisked. Not all of us are potty mouths. Now wash your mouth out with some nice tasting beer.

 

[mattyhall22]

Hello and Welcome :