Home Brew

[chuffer]

Brew Dog DIY Dog

 

"With DIY Dog we wanted to do something that has never been done before as well as paying tribute to our home brewing roots. We wanted to take all of our recipes, every single last one, and give them all away for free, to the amazing global home brewing community."

 

Enjoy

 

tah!

[chuffer]

You can sample both in Coventry, I am sure!

 

 

lol

[Maximus Decimus]

I did my PhD in brewing yeast.

No, much of yours will be dead, but new stuff will grow and it will be fine.

 

With your PhD are you able to comment on my predicament?

 

Is it possible that I've left my beer in the fermenter for too long and/or let it go too cold and killed the yeast that I would usually need to carbonate the beer?

 

Edit: It's probably worth pointing out that I placed it into a secondary fermenter for a couple of weeks and then had to transfer it a third time for bottling. I suspect this might have something to do with it!

[Maximus Decimus]

I use cornelius kegs for my beer so i force carbonate, if you can afford to upgrade its worth the investment

 

My next step is kegging but I'll admit to knowing very little about it. Is it a difficult procedure and does it affect things like head retention?

[TheDuke]

no, its faster and easier than bottling beer to be honest

 

i have had a mis hap making a keezer today, i thought all the cooling was from the back like a fridge, it is in the sidewalls as i found out when i punctured it

[Maximus Decimus]

no, its faster and easier than bottling beer to be honest

 

i have had a mis hap making a keezer today, i thought all the cooling was from the back like a fridge, it is in the sidewalls as i found out when i punctured it

 

I'll have to look into it. 

 

I think I've solved my carbonisation quandry. Oddly one of my bottles had perfectly carbonated and it was the one bottle that I didn't fill up as much as the others. I've since had another couple that were flat and they had much less space in the neck of the bottle. Bit of a rookie error I'm afraid. 

[TheDuke]

Keep learning with it. Some great beers can be made at home

[chuffer]

I'll have to look into it. 

 

I think I've solved my carbonisation quandry. Oddly one of my bottles had perfectly carbonated and it was the one bottle that I didn't fill up as much as the others. I've since had another couple that were flat and they had much less space in the neck of the bottle. Bit of a rookie error I'm afraid. 

 

just out of interest, how much do you think you've spent on kit for this past-time? I'm thinking about it but it all looks like it could stack up to be quite expensive

[TheDuke]

It can be cheap if you are just doing the kit forms of brewing. If you use grains it cam be a little more expensive

[Bob8]

With your PhD are you able to comment on my predicament?

 

Is it possible that I've left my beer in the fermenter for too long and/or let it go too cold and killed the yeast that I would usually need to carbonate the beer?

 

Edit: It's probably worth pointing out that I placed it into a secondary fermenter for a couple of weeks and then had to transfer it a third time for bottling. I suspect this might have something to do with it!

Like most PhD's, mine is far too specialised to be to much practical use.  Glad to see you found the problem.  If you find your yeast is flocculating prematurely, let me know!

[Maximus Decimus]

just out of interest, how much do you think you've spent on kit for this past-time? I'm thinking about it but it all looks like it could stack up to be quite expensive

I've added over the years.

If you're starting from scratch you can get a DIY kit for about 60 quid which will do you a brew but this is very easy brewing. Little more effort than making a cup of tea!

This will do you for a move up to extract although you'd probably want some glass bottles (I keep them) which means you need a few bits and bobs like a capper.

Moving to all-grain is a step up cost wise but if you're handy (I'm not) you can keep it down. I prob spent £200 on a lower market set up to do 5 gallon batches. This gives you a mash tun (basically a modified cooling box), a boiler and a wort chiller to rapidly cool the beer after boiling.

When you've got that, a full set of ingredients to make 5 gallons (25ish litres) can cost as little as £15 - £20.

[shaun mc]

It can be cheap if you are just doing the kit forms of brewing. If you use grains it cam be a little more expensive

I've made 4 brews from kits - if I hadn't bought any extras for the brew they would cost about 40 to 50 pence per pint. However, I have bought extras (brew specific yeast, carbonation drops, brewers sugar/malt, concentrated apple juice for the cider kit, etc) which has taken the average up to about 60 pence per pint. Additional kit has been about £50 over about 140 pints ish so far, so this takes the average of those first 140 pints to just under a pound.

[Maximus Decimus]

I've made 4 brews from kits - if I hadn't bought any extras for the brew they would cost about 40 to 50 pence per pint. However, I have bought extras (brew specific yeast, carbonation drops, brewers sugar/malt, concentrated apple juice for the cider kit, etc) which has taken the average up to about 60 pence per pint. Additional kit has been about £50 over about 140 pints ish so far, so this takes the average of those first 140 pints to just under a pound.

I don't do it for the savings yet, I enjoy the process of making a pint from scratch and look forward to experimenting a bit with hops and grains now I've a couple of all grain under my belt.

However, my first all grain batch was the first where I've drank that instead of buying beer. Had they all carbonated properly they'd have been a delight!

[Bob8]

I don't do it for the savings yet, I enjoy the process of making a pint from scratch and look forward to experimenting a bit with hops and grains now I've a couple of all grain under my belt.

However, my first all grain batch was the first where I've drank that instead of buying beer. Had they all carbonated properly they'd have been a delight!

That is the best attitude.  For it to be worthwhile, you have to be making beer that you would happily put that time and money into if it was getting it from a shop.  That is rarely the case, but it can be a great hobby.  Also, you have to questions whether you would buy that much beer.

 

The main thing that would be useful when starting is a cellar, or somewhere that is not to warm to brew the stuff.

[shaun mc]

That is the best attitude.  For it to be worthwhile, you have to be making beer that you would happily put that time and money into if it was getting it from a shop.  That is rarely the case, but it can be a great hobby.  Also, you have to questions whether you would buy that much beer.

 

The main thing that would be useful when starting is a cellar, or somewhere that is not to warm to brew the stuff.

Bob8 - when you say somewhere not too warm to brew the stuff - I've always read that you need somewhere 20 degrees plus (but not over say 25) to undergo the initial fermentation. Mine goes in the airing cupboard where its about 21-23 degrees. Is this too warm? I'm just brewing from kits.

[Bob8]

Bob8 - when you say somewhere not too warm to brew the stuff - I've always read that you need somewhere 20 degrees plus (but not over say 25) to undergo the initial fermentation. Mine goes in the airing cupboard where its about 21-23 degrees. Is this too warm? I'm just brewing from kits.

Assuming it is ale, that is fine.  Lager should be cooler.  Typically (Maimus Decimus will advise better than me), ale needs warmth to start and then to be fairly cool.

 

The yeast will be fine, lager yeast is OK up to 32oC and ale yeast up to 37oC, but flavour come when the yeast has to struggle.  A bit like people with great comedy

[chuffer]

Not something I can do in the garage then (coolish temp)

[Maximus Decimus]

Not something I can do in the garage then (coolish temp)

 

I do it in the garage.

 

When you buy packets of yeast they'll give the temperature on them. Even if it goes too cool it's not usually a problem, they just slow down and will work again when the temperature rises. I've got a brewbelt (20 quid) which wraps around the beer and keeps it above a certain temperature.

 

Lager prefers cooler temperatures especially after bottling. The word lager comes from lagering which is just the process of storing the beer at like 3 degrees for quite a while. I brewed my lager around Christmas and it's ideal fermentation temp was about 10 degrees, this is due to the type of yeast I was using. I was dying for the temperatures to drop after it had fermented but they stubbornly stayed around 10 degrees.

[deluded pom?]

Does anyone have any experience of brewing cider from apples? I have a supply of apples sourced and a press ready and waiting. It will be my first attempt when the apples are ready. Advice?

[Maximus Decimus]

Does anyone have any experience of brewing cider from apples? I have a supply of apples sourced and a press ready and waiting. It will be my first attempt when the apples are ready. Advice?

 

Lol I tried it with pears.

 

I wouldn't take any advice off me on it!

[Futtocks]

My brother-in-law tried a cider-making kit recently. I'm not sure what went wrong, but it wasn't very nice.

 

In my mum's town, there's a setup where unwanted apples from gardens with apple trees all go into a community project and they have invested in a proper press. It saves waste, and volunteers will even come and pick the apples if the householder is unwilling or unable to do so.

 

They are only bottling apple juice (so far at least) rather than making cider, but it is sold so fresh, the taste is fantastic.

[TheDuke]

a small space heater and undercounter fridge with a SCT1000 controller make an ideal fermentation cupboard for a any temp you require

 

you can pick fridges up for next to nothing from local gumtree sites

 

 

they do reckon you can use apple concentrate to make a turbo cider, never tried it myself

[Maximus Decimus]

My brother-in-law tried a cider-making kit recently. I'm not sure what went wrong, but it wasn't very nice.

In my mum's town, there's a setup where unwanted apples from gardens with apple trees all go into a community project and they have invested in a proper press. It saves waste, and volunteers will even come and pick the apples if the householder is unwilling or unable to do so.

They are only bottling apple juice (so far at least) rather than making cider, but it is sold so fresh, the taste is fantastic.

I've a habit of being quite half-hearted and hoping for the best and I was with brewing for a while.

I quickly learned that you have to do it properly or you'll end up with rubbish. It's so easy for a brew to go bad if you don't sterilise or use good ingredients.

My pear cider was a classic case of half-heartedly giving it a go and I ended up straining the mash through muslin bags to get about half a demijohn of cloudy juice. The gravity was then too low so I topped it up with some spare brewing sugar that I had. I then bottled it too early as the fermentation stagnated. As soon as I opened the bottles they erupted.

[Ackroman]

Does anyone have any experience of brewing cider from apples? I have a supply of apples sourced and a press ready and waiting. It will be my first attempt when the apples are ready. Advice?

Just completed my first batch. I produced approx. 30 litres of juice from a variety of apples that I stored for 3 months before pressing. All apples were sourced from small local orchards here in the Dales. It's amazing how many there are.

 

I then left the juice for a month to let solids separate and then brewed at room temp with cider yeast. Finishing last week.

 

It's a pretty dry brew but I believe this will ease up with storage. I may even add sugar to get the gravity correct for a good medium. However, I'll probably not touch it until June at the earliest so I'll let you know how it turned out.

[Futtocks]

Just completed my first batch. I produced approx. 30 litres of juice from a variety of apples that I stored for 3 months before pressing. All apples were sourced from small local orchards here in the Dales. It's amazing how many there are.

 

I then left the juice for a month to let solids separate and then brewed at room temp with cider yeast. Finishing last week.

 

It's a pretty dry brew but I believe this will ease up with storage. I may even add sugar to get the gravity correct for a good medium. However, I'll probably not touch it until June at the earliest so I'll let you know how it turned out.

While the cold weather's still around, I'd definitely recommend looking up a recipe for mulled cider. A delicious winter warmer.