Be Excellent To Each Other

Borgo Brewing declares "The Big Z" artisanal cider is drinkable.

"Artisanal cider (from concentrate)" is the best label.

And should you have failures in future, remember it can at least be used to cook pigs in, rather than simply being poured away.

Good call!

Here's what is being bottled now, a 4.7% caramel tasting beer.5l batches have a downside though...

Anyways, Borgo Brewing presents "+10". An artisanal caramel beer.

they only last a weekend?

Oh, but to have the time to sit down and enjoy a beer. I think I have about 65 pints of booze in the garage right now in bottkes and about another 8 in a keg.

I'm not sure you've quite got the homebrew balance right yet.

Better than the other way round!

That beer looks nice.

Nice one, Mali, You're really getting the hang of this!

More luck than design. It is surprisingly easy, it is just slightly equipment and time intensive for me at the moment. It takes 3.5 hours for me to do 5 litre brews or 5.5 to do 10litres. The main time difference is boiling 12 to 13 litres of wort up and cooling it again. I think the immersion cooler I will make can cut chunks of time off (copper tube coiled up with cold water in it to heat exchange) as might boiling 2x 6 litres of wort. So I think I need a second 15l pot and a massive seive.

Our mate hooks his wort cooler pipe up to the garden tap.

Even tougher when your caps do not fit the bottles!

Toffee apple! The beer tastes a bit like a toffee apple with a beer taste. That is the best way to describe it.

Sounds too sweet.

I will bring some in 14 sleeps.

It is the 26% crstal malt that is pulling that sweetness and flavour through. I have been trying to think of a beer to compare it to. I might try at 18% and see where it comes out at. I have loads of it that needs using you see, so I might get a 10l brew on which should use up another 3/4 lb.

Had a try last night. It is drinkable. Which is a relief.

Cider described as "dry" and "tastes of concentrated apple juice, with booze in it".

Going for a single hopped amber ale tonight. Will aim for 4% (again) in a 10l brew.

Boil is on!

400g crYstal malt.
1700g pale malt

Mash in 6l water at 67 (after 1 hour dropped to 65), sparge 8l 80 degrees for 10. Bring to boil. Add c 30g chinook hops.

Will add another 15g in 10 mins. Then another 15 in 35 mins.

Check og, then chill and pitch yeast.

Edit: this is turning into a heavily hopped high OG amber right now. I might let arrest this and try and pull it into 4.5% range.

Edit 2: should run out at 5.1% if it ferments like the others. I have about 2 gallons worth in the FV.

I think I have been too light on hops on the past 2 ag brews. This is why the sweetness taste is there. I added loads more hops to this and the sample was massivly bitter.

So kids, chuck the hops in.

Glad you've seen the light.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10103&p=838623&hilit=over+hopped#p838623

I still stand by that. I don't have accurate enough scales to measure hops out so "this much" is about as good as I can get. "This much" was not enough, but I think I have gone to "too much".

No such thing.

First attempt at a Landlord clone is mashing now... and the last of the dry hopped tin is slipping down.

Cooling the wort now. The big pan is in the sink which has what used to be cold water in it. A few changes of thus and it should be ready to pitch the yeast. Hopefully done by 1am. I could start earlier, but The Child and boiling sugared water is a poor combination. I made more changes to my netrunner Corp deck in the time the wort was boiling.

Edit: 10l done at 1045. Should run out to 4.5 to 4.7%. 5 hours in total. Flies by.

Tonight I am bottling my American Amber Ale. Landlord will have 2 weeks in FV due to holidays. I might make a brew and put ALL THE HOPS in too see what happens.

Chinook hopped 4.7% American Amber Ale. Tasted the best so far from the FV. Longer fermentation times are clearly better

Wow, you are really getting into this!

Shame we had to suffer that swill at the bbq, but it was for the greater good.

I love the fact that it somehow defies gravity.

Needs more filtering.

Opened the first bottle of this just now. I really like how this has turned out. Biggest flavour so far followed by hoppy aftertaste.

Time to bottle the landlord clone now. Which is 5.2% after 17 days in the fermenter. Oops.

I made some Quince Vodka and bottled it this week.

Very nice, its sweet to such a degree that you don't really get a burn from the vodka, but at the same time its not over sweet.

Recipe the same as Sloe Gin, just bung fruit, sugar and booze in a jar and leave for 5 weeks or more.

I had a lot of Quince from my tree this year and this was the last thing I made after Jam, Jelly and poaching, wish I'd saved more fruit so I could have made more of this!

We do blackberry/raspberry vodka/gin every year now. All four are ace.

This year also sees sloe gin... And fatalii vodka, and Carolina reaper vodka.

Tonight we are trying:

1.6kg pale malt
400g crYstal malt
100g black malt

In a 6litre mash which should end up as a 10l brew fermenting away. I think I will use chinook hops to bitter and aroma it with goldings.

Mash should be 1 hour at 68 degrees and boil for an hour. Add half chinook at boil start, half after 30 mins and aroma 10 mins from end .

Edit: realising I was actually making a porter, I added first gold hops at 30 minutes and again at 55 minutes with some irish moss.I did not use goldings.

Edit: 1051 so should run out to 6% if I let it.

How many litres have you made now?

In total? About 10 gallons I think.

Answer the question!

Landlord clone is drinkable. Not a lot like landlord, though.

It is carbonated, but no head. I suspect I am under priming bottles.

Anyways, Maple Porter to be made tonight.

Right.

1600g pale malt, 400g Crystal malt, 100g black malt. Mashed at 68 for an hour in 7 litres, end temp 65. Sparge with 7 litres at 80 for 10 minutes.Boil for an hour, 60g each of East Kent Goldings, styrian goldings and first gold added . At 55 minutes added 454g honey, 60g first gold and 5g irish moss. 1065 og so should run out at 7.4%. Hopefully it should be a nice hoppy porter.

When are you bringing my crate down? :-)

At the Ticket to Ride World Championships, of course. It is the Official Beverage.

*coughs but it sounds like come and get your fucking beer*

I shall try and sort it tbis weekend. Soz.

Ta.

The local brewerymaximus planted some Hop in the local park and now it reached my garden. Homebrew dreams awaken...

So just started a big adventure into home brewing. Trying to make a Xmas American pale ale.


Stupid question, done everything and got to leave it now for 4 days until I had the hops. I leave the lid clamped tight right? It won't explode?

Instructions says put the cover, but not how tightly...

What sort of lid? I have food tubs, really and they press fit on. Co2 escapes through the bubble trap. If you do this all good. If not, press fit the lid, puncture a hole in it and stick a sterilised dry sponge in the hole. And happy brewing!

It's a plastic 40 pint bucket with a lid that clips on water tight. Can't see any way to release pressure. It's from A home brewing kit.

Realised I have a pic of it.

Do you have a bubble trap? If so, make a small hole in the lid, put the bubble trap in (with some water in it), and seal with vaseline. If you don't have a bubble trap, make a small hole and cover with a clean tea towel or stick a sterile sponge in it. Tomorrow buy a bubble trap. After a couple if days, there will be enough yeast and krausen to effectively seal bad stuff out. So no great danger.