P.D's Brewery.

[PD]

water bath has stabilised at 24 degrees.... will re check tomorrow.

Just had an e mail to say my temp controler order has gone out today, so hopefully it will arrive by the weekend. Just in time for the electrician who's coming on Saturday to give me a quote..... If the price is right I'll get him to incorporate the controller at the same time...
I wonder if he is up to a little bartering for some home brew.... :twisted: :twisted:

part of my Nutty Rauch Brown brew.

 

[PD]

Considering the problems I had making my first All Grain brew. Piddles Dribble an ESB, I'm now enjoying it very much indeed, my son is also. In fact he says it should be the next brew to do again as its one of the best pints he's drunk...
The only problem is it doesn't hold its head for long, but otherwise neither of us can fault it, as a standard " house ale " its got everything going for it.
However it will be made again but my next brew i have decided to do is a Wherry clone, as we both enjoyed the kit version I would like to see how the All Grain compares with it.

 

[PD]

Well I've started on the new build brewery workstation in the garage.
Got most of the wood on the breeze block wall to improve the look of the area, and it will eventually be painted white to brighten it up.
Also had the electrician in today...( nice man doesn't drink so I had no fear of leaving him alone with all me bottles while I watched the Rugby ! )
He's installed me a couple of double sockets ( 2 for where the boilers will be going are on seperate circuits ) and a couple for the HLT position. Unfortunately my temp controller didn't arrive in time so that will be put in next week,surface mounted by me....
A steel bench will be obtained soon and I've found one not too expensive from the Machine Mart Company. Importantly each shelf can hold 450kg of weight, so it should be ok for my large pots even if filled to the brim and I can't see me making many 100 litre brews !
The pots are not going to be ordered till after Christmas so there's plenty of time to fiddle around with the build.

My water bath system for the bottles of Nutty Rauch Brown that were taking an age to carbonate seems to be working well and are firming up nice. A few more days and they can be moved to storage shelves and be replaced with some Timothy Taylor Landlord bottles that are still a little soft.

So I'm having a sit down and a bottle of Sarah Hughes Mild, tasty brew with lots of flavour, strange at first but its growing on me.

 

[bottler]

Well done that man... getting there :

 

[PD]

Earlier in the year I made some gallon bottles of Apple juice cider. and finally a 5 gallon batch.
Its decent but cloudy as is the norm with cider but far too dry for our tastes. so some will get back sweetened with Splenda.
However a member has kindly sent me a starter of what's called the Mother of Vinegar, so I've decided to turn a gallon of dry cider into Apple Vinegar.... :clap:
The sample has been mixed in a demi jon and lightly covered not sealed ( looks quite cute with a hop sock on the top. )
Placed at the back of stocks it will remain for a few months for the alcohol to oxidise and the cider to be converted. Totally new to me we will see how it goes..
If and when the apple vinegar is done, a quantity will be bottled for use by my miss's and the culture topped up with more apple cider to keep the process running....that's the theory any way.
I could steep some Balsm leaves in cider and try Balsamic vinegar too...that would save a penny or two.

 

[PD]

Getting a bit fed up not brewing...........

But at the moment their is no room to swing the proverbial cat in the garage....sorry brewery. Just about finished panelling the wall area, where my pots will be going, and have given it a coat of white emulsion to brighten it up.
Off to B&Q Wednesday ( its pensioners day he hee 10% off ), hoping to pick up some lightweight bench/shelving material for non brewery related crap so I can make a bit of space to continue building. Temp controller not yet arrived the delay is due to paying by cheque as I don't have a paypal account. Its promised for tomorrow via those trick or treaters ( knock and run ) Parcel Force...hope I catch him.

Been having a rethink on my pots and am wondering if I can do away with having sight glasses fitted to boiler and hlt. I use the good old dip stick method at the moment and it seems good enough. I've read a few posts about the boiler sight glass getting dirty very easily from a build up of sticky wort requiring frequent dismantling and cleaning.
Also their size...100 litre does seem a little OTT I can't see me ever doing a brew that size, but the price difference bet. 70 litres and 100 litres is minimal, and I've always found when buying things like that...a few months down the line you wished you'd got the bigger one. Oh well keep saving the money and those decisions can be made later......

 

[PD]

Been a busy day in the gara...sorry brewery. Bench made to hold garage crap and everything put away tidy, so now have room to concentrate on the beer part.
Back wall panelled and painted white, all electrics sorted out and the temperature control box fitted in place. So that's declared that that bit of garage is mine...
Not had chance to see to any of my beers for a few days since we bottled my sons APA ( coopers kit ) The fermenters are stood empty and clean. The water bath is working well and is at present helping my Nutty Rauch Brown brew to firm up.

So if you can't make it what's the next best thing...drink it...yea.
I've just tried my Exmoor Gold brew made on the 29th October. Lovely and clear ( not sparkling ) carbonation is not too good so the rest will be left for another week. However its a nice tasting session beer light coloured as its name suggests, hoppy with a very pleasant flavour while being drunk and has a nice bit of bitterness as an after taste, but not over powering.

Several of my beers have been a little down on carbonation lately and I think I'm going to have to up the sugars a little, at the moment they all get 3gms or half tsp per 500 ml bottle, I think for my next brew I may try batch priming around 8 gms per litre. I do like a little fizz in the beers.

Hmmm yep just finished the Exmoor Gold....very nice and if the carbonation was better I'd go and get another...
As it is, there's a Timothy Taylor Landlord I need to dri... sorry test.....

Bottoms up....

 

[PD]

Yep....Timothy Taylor is alive and kicking....... a nice tasting pint of Bitter.

 

[PD]

Rugby day today so not much brewing related things done.
However I have given my empty vessels a good long soak in steriliser and a good scrub.
Whilst doing so I looked at me stash and started to think of the beer I've made and how much it would have cost me to buy etc.
I started kit brewing in beginning of April 2012 so that's around 8 months. My records show 25 kit brews and 8 All grain brews ( not counting ciders and wines )
Averaging 40 bottles per brew, that's 1320 bottles, say £1.50 ( conservative estimate ) per bottle supermarket. = £1980. and there's about 250 bottles left on me shelf so that's £1650 worth of beer drunk..............I knew my son was drinking too much.

to say I've been tee total for over 15 years that's not bad going.
Averaging £15 per kit some 2 cans some 1 cans that's £570 spent on the beer ( not counting the equipment )
With all Grain I' can now brew 19 litre lots for around £5-£7 each.... woo hoo
It all means nothing of course......when its a hobby the costs don't count...
But it made me feel better.

 

[PD]

Doing my last all grain brew of 2012 tomorrow.

Finally got round to doing a Wherry type clone.
We really enjoyed the Woodefords kit so it will be interesting to see the resemblance between them.
Of course it might be completely different as I've no idea what hops or quantities were used in the kit, but hey ho we'll have a go.
Also this brew will be a little stronger at 5% abv whereas the kit was 4%...... :party:

Just racked off a blackberry and Nettle tea bag wine, gone into another DJ as its still a little too sweet and it still seems to have a bit of yeast activity. The Ginger and Lemon I bottled earlier looks nice on the shelf and should be fine for Christmas, a very light straw coloured wine. From a quickie taste when bottling the Ginger gives it a warming glow as you drink...

My Avatar shows a DJ of Apple Cider Vinegar, to be, in it's best Christmas party suit. ( Thanks GA for the starter ), That's a long term project and I'm aiming for next Autumn with it.

 

[PD]

Well did the brew today a Wherry clone at last

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=32669

Missed my intended gravity so its not as strong as I intended, but should come out at around 4% which is ok for me.

 

[PD]

Tasting time for my Gob Hoblin this evening.
Still not fully carbonated although its not dead flat.
Looks and tastes like..er Hobgoblin.... I'm pleased to say, although I haven't got a bought one in the house at the moment to do a side by side comparison. I'll give mine another couple of weeks and do that. Good brew though all the same.

 

[PD]

Bought a bottle of Timothy Taylors Landlord today and did a comparison with my brew.

Apart from the shop bought version being much clearer and sparkly than mine, there was no discernible difference in the smell or taste. :clap:
Very pleased with my all grain brew its come out on par with the commercial brew and at about £1,25p cheaper a bottle.... :party:
If you all grain brew have a go at this clone taken from GW's book, it has a lot to recommend it as a house beer.

Unusually both me and my son agreed with each other on the taste test

 

[PD]

Like most folks I'm experiencing problems with the cold weather at this time.
My brewery garage is holding the air temps at about 9C constant so I'm better off than a lot of folks I guess.
Things happen slower at lower temps so you have to take it into account. and bide your time.
Any extra warmth or insulation you can provide will be beneficial, ( unless your of course requiring low temps for lager making conditioning etc )
My water bath that I use for keeping newly bottled beer warm for a week or two was beginning to struggle and so I've turned the heater up a few degrees so the water is around 25-27 C, bottles are now firming up nicely within a week.( I always use a few plastic PET bottles on a brew to be able to keep an eye of the carbonation, glass doesn't go squishy ! )
When nice and hard I stand all the bottles on the concrete garage floor for a few days before they take their place up on the shelves. Seems to be working fine, and most of my brews have now reached their drinking condition....lovely jubly !

Fermentation also needs a little help and as my water bath is in use with bottles I've been using a 20+ yr old heater belt stretched around the fermenter, keeps the brew at around 22-23C, my latest brew ( a wherry) fermented out in 3 days,it will still be left for my normal 10 days tho, but will probably not need moving to 2nd fermenter for a period of time, just to a clean one for bottling.

I'm not experiencing the problems brewers of long ago experienced and that's no doubt why beer making was not attempted in the main for home brewing in the winter time. We are more fortunate.

Keep the beers brewing and have fun....

 

[PD]

My son and me have just had a sample of the Coopers kit APA he made as a pressie for his friends 30th at Christmas
Lovely clear beer with plenty of carbonation,as weve been drinking all grain brews for a few months we can taste a slight homebrew " twang " but its not off putting at all.
I think it will be received well.

 

[PD]

Tomorrow I'm bottling my AG Wherry clone, this cold spell is still with us and the air temps are 6C in my garage.
So I've prepared a water bath ready for the bottles to go straight into tomorrow. The water bath will have time overnight to get up to a good temperature of just over 20C, so when the brew is bottled they have somewhere nice and cosy to sit for a week or so. Covered with a few towels the bath conditioned my last bottles very well.

 

[PD]

I got the Wherry bottled........0.6C in my garage ! ended up with chill blains in my fingers !
36 bottles of a good clear and clean tasting brew into the hot water bath with 3gms of priming sugar in each bottle.
FG came out at 1.010 which makes the brew around 4.5% abv....... nice one...

as an aside the weather will now warm up as I ran out of car de-icer this morning and had to buy a can from the local shop where I paid through the nose for it.
so Sods Law states that from tomorrow we will be sweating in a morning and wearing tee shirts..... :rofl:

 

[PD]

the cold spell seems to have stopped any activity in my vinegar conversion.
Something has formed in the bottom ! which I believe should form !.... but the brew is still sweetish and tastes of apples. No signs of any off flavours or anything, but no smell or taste of vinegar as yet.
So I've brought it indoors and put it into the airing cupboard to get a bit of constant heat into it. When the towels start smelling of vinegar I know it will have worked ...

 

[PD]

Done a little taste test this evening. My All Grain Gob Hoblin brew and a shop bought Hobgoblin...

colour.............the same
aroma.............the same
taste...............the same.

as a clone version the brew is spot on and is a good substitute for the shop bought beer.
the only negative was my brew is still not fully carbonated and a little flat which I had to try and take into account when tasting, there wasn't the sharpness of bursting bubbles with mine...

A good tasty brew if you like Hobgoblin.

 

[PD]

Well it's nearly that time of year again....

Whatever Christmas and the festivities mean to you, I hope its a Peaceful and pleasant time for all of you.

Times are tough for many folks and I know sometimes the future can look a little bleak, but I'm going to raise a glass or two to all on the forum and wish you all better times.
Enjoy this time with your families and friends,if we all believe a little in the Christmas spirit then perhaps we can make a difference to the good, for those around us.

Merry Christmas to all... and best wishes for a long and healthy future.....



Brian.