Homebrew - what could possibly go wrong?

[ict-direct]

Is anybody a home brewer?

 

Over the last couple of years, my eyes have been opened to the tastes and aromas of the American hopped ales. My favourite microbrewery, Mobberley Brewhouse, offered me a discounted 25Kg bag of Pale Ale Malt – hmm, I thought, I fancy having a go it this – what could possibly go wrong?

 

I set out on a mission of brewing wonderful Citra’s and New England IPA’s. Garage was cleared out, equipment bought and hops ordered. Countless YouTube brewing videos later – I was ready as I would ever be.

 

The first attempt took place 9 days ago – a Citra Pale Ale. I mashed the malt; boiled, sparged and chilled the wort; then finally set it to ferment. Many errors were made and loads of lessons learned. Now I wait patiently as the bubbles percolate frantically.

 

 

Has anybody got any brewing stories or tips to share?

 

Johnnie G

[hardtailstar]

Cover the bucket with a towel or large cloth.

 

They are known to explode if it builds too much pressure.

 

Ive done it with friends and we have had it explode even with regular checks.

[DJ-1701]

I believe @witch is a home brewer... but might not be the items you are looking for.

[ict-direct]

Thanks for that, I was amazed how aggressive the fermentation was in the 36 hours - blowing water out of the airlock.

 

It has settled a lot since then.

[bossman]

@ict-direct

 

Did you Oxygenate your Wort to help the yeast so it doesn't become stressed in the early stages of fermentation?

 

Did you use Liquid yeast?

[Jobos]

Nothing like starting at the deep end! I started home brew last year and been using different kits and currently got 80 pints that will be ready for Christmas.

 

One American beer I like is a mocha porter https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Brew-Beer-Kit-American/dp/B015K1VUN4 but there are plenty of English beers of equal quality.

[pubgrub277]

I dont feel I'm in an adequate position to comment unless I've tasted the output. At that point I can give you some pointers....... @%1; should we all just DM you details for delivery?

[bald_pig]

I don't have the room to do it, but once I do...

 

BTW, if it's any good I'll be expecting some to try at BETT!

[StevieM]

Good luck with the home brewing, @ict-direct John. You can bring some samples with you when you come on the Liverpool pub crawl we talked about, what 5 maybe 6 years ago?

 

Mmmmm...Mobberley.

[mikeprice]

Good luck with the home brewing, @ict-direct John. You can bring some samples with you when you come on the Liverpool pub crawl we talked about, what 5 maybe 6 years ago?

 

Mmmmm...Mobberley.

 

WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS

 

 

and can we rearrange it???

 

there must be other Edugeeks around here surely

[ict-direct]

@StevieM @bald_pig @pubgrub277 - I'm going to have to ramp up production.

[ict-direct]

Mobberley Brewhouse do a Tap Night - the first Tuesday of the month, 6.30pm to 10pm

 

£10 - for all you can drink!!

[mikeprice]

@StevieM @bald_pig @pubgrub277 - I'm going to have to ramp up production.

 

can I play to?????

 

 

please

[StevieM]

Mobberley Brewhouse do a Tap Night - the first Tuesday of the month, 6.30pm to 10pm

 

£10 - for all you can drink!!

 

The first first Tuesday of the month that isn't a school night (for me at least) is April 7th! That's going in my diary right away!

 

I think we need to set up some NW EduBytes events in order to prevent us from derailing this thread completely.

[sonofsanta]

I've never done beer properly: it's a lot of faff with boiling it at a specific temperature for a specific number of minutes and then keeping it at a set temp while it ferments! I've done kits reasonably successfully though--never mindblowingly delicious but good enough for a session through the last Saturday of the Six Nations, certainly.

 

But wine? You want to brew wine? I got you covered there, with blog posts and everything.

 

(In answer to the thread question: you could get a funny taste from not cleaning stuff enough. Sterilising is your friend. Cleanliness is next to tastiness, my friends.)

Edited September 25, 2019 by sonofsanta

[sbrade47]

Done countless extract kits and the odd hybrid kit (steeped grains). I like the setup you've got there.

 

Problem is I always end up drinking it before it's matured properly, 2-3 months seems to give the best results for me. I've just branched out into cider, now having pressed 65+ litres of juice I can honestly say I never want to see another apple again. Fingers crossed it was worth it.

[ict-direct]

I used the first brew to test a couple of fermentations. So the hop I used to boil was Citra and I've dry hopped on Sunday night, one fermenter with Citra, the other with Mosaic.

 

Here's how it looked after a week of fermenting:

 

 

So far....ok.

 

Dry hops come out and gravity reading tonight. I'll drop in some finings to help clear it up - taste test Sunday (..nervous)

[ict-direct]

@StevieM posted http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows/210364-competition-time-come-up-name-john-gs-homebrew-ale.html#post1796962

 

An update for all:

The 1st fermenter had a Citra dry hop addition in the last 4 days of fermentation

The 2nd fermenter had a Mosaic dry hop addition

 

in the last two days of fermentation I took samples and both were cloudy. After two days on adding finings, I opened the fermenter - the Citra had cleared up, however the citra/mosaic was pretty cloudy. They both tasted good.

 

OG: 1044, FG: 1010 - working out at 4.4% ABV

 

Bottling made 10 bottles and a 2 litre growler of Citra; 10 bottles and a 5 litre mini keg of the Mosaic/Citra. Set both of these to bottle condition, the keg was pressurised.

 

Had the first tasting of the mini keg with my brewing partner last Friday - the pressure valve must have had a leak as there was only a tiny amount of gas - serves my right for a buying cheap import. It was cloudy, but tasted great, after drinking the 5 litres, I'd have to say that it felt stronger 4.4% (hic). Good news though - no hangover and no dodgy guts.

 

Bottles need another 5 days I reckon.

[ict-direct]

Brew Day on Saturday - New England IPA.

 

I'm really looking forward to having a go at this - its one of my favourites.

 

Got Pale Ale malt, Munich malt, Crystal malt and Oats. Hops - Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, Mosaic.

 

Anybody had a go at a NEIPA? Any tips?

[LincolnE]

I've done quite a few things in my time (although my kit is all currently down with my dad, he fancied a go!)

 

NEIPA I've done before, just gotta hop it to high hell for the juicy, gloopy profile.

 

Have you had a chance to look into different yeasts, as that's one of the key things I find.