Lest We Forget........

It's great that a lot of breweries are making super-hoptastic beers with loads of flavour, there are some great beers out there, but do we run the risk of forgetting what beer actually tastes like?

I'm not talking about bland lager or tasteless bitter, with corn syrup added to cheaply bump up the alcohol content and leaving the drinker wondering if there is actually any hops or malt on the ingredient list.  No, I'm talking about a proper, well-balanced pint of something with great aroma, a solid malt backbone and nice bitterness and hop flavours, that's easy to drink and hits the spot.  I've tried a lot of beers lately and some are great, but some are less than great.  It seems to me that a lot of breweries are just chucking loads of hops in the boil, adding even more to dry hop with for aroma, but forgetting that it should be backed up with a decent malt backbone.

I recently got into a conversation about Brewdog with a brewer friend (a proper, full shiny stainless steel commercial brewery owner, not just a dabbler like myself) and he reckons he was extremely disappointed with Punk IPA when he tried it as, though it has an amazing smell and powerful hop flavour to start with, it dies off very quickly and leaves nothing behind.  In other words, it has no balance with the malt.  Is this because the recipe calls for loads of hops rather just the right amount of bitternes to balance flavours?  Or does the amount of bitterness that initially hits your taste buds mask any other flavours that could be present?  I'm no expert on beer tasting (though my brewer friend is) and I hadn't tasted Punk IPA properly in the past.  I'd drank it on a couple of occasions but hadn't actually thought about what I was tasting.  Add to that the fact it's too bloody expensive to buy regularly, and don't get me started on those 330ml bottles that all the 'cool' breweries seem to be using, I like a pint, not almost a pint, BAH!  Anyway, I purchased a couple of bottles and sat down to taste them.  He was right; the beer tastes and smells lovely but, once it's swallowed - nothing.

I recently went to a small beer festival held in a pub, and sampled a couple of local Yorkshire beers.  One was absolutely lovely; amazing flavour and aroma and, despite being 5.4% it went down very well.  Another beer I tried was an over-hopped IPA and I had a couple of pints as it was quite nice to start with despite being very bitter, but it started to be unenjoyable halfway through the second pint. I didn't buy a third.

Other breweries have managed to get the balance right.  Try a pint of APA (American Pale Ale) from Windswept brewery (Lossiemouth, NE Scotland) and it has a big grapefruit hop flavour and aroma, but it's backed up with an equally large (and complex) malt flavour.  Very nice it is, too!

Rothes Brewery (Rothes, Speyside) has just started up recently and makes some very good beers.  They are not overly hoppy, but are very nice, balanced drinks.  Just as beer should be, in my opinion.

A recent trip to the National Brewery Centre in Burton had me sampling a pint of Reservoir Pale Ale from the Burton Gate brewery and, again, a very decent beer and full of flavour.

There are probably thousands of examples of great, balanced, flavoursome beers from small breweries all around the world, so you don't need to fall for the brashly marketed, brashly hopped beers from any one brewery. Try a few, or as many as you can, then maybe you'll see what my problem is!

I shall stick to making my own balanced beers, and drinking good beers from other small breweries.  I'm sure some would call them 'bland', 'tasteless' and 'uninspiring' but that's their opinion.  Equally, all that you read above is mine.  What's yours'?

Summer Lightning Update

My first all grain beer has now completely cleared (although the pic doesn't make it look clear) and is tasting lovely!  Unfortunately, it's nearly gone.

Not a problem as AG#2 (another Summer Lightning clone but only 5.2% this time) is priming in bottles as we speak and #3 (my own Blonde ale recipe) is ready to be bottled in a couple of days.

#4 will be brewed mid-week, a Hobgoblin clone.  Pics to follow.....

Earlier in the week, I strained off the banana wine into a demijohn and it now looks like this;

 

 

 

 

Not very appetising at the moment, is it?  Banana wine needs more racking than other wines due to dropping a lot of sediment.  Once it does clear, it will be a lovely golden colour.


My Summer Lightning is also in the keg and priming as we speak.  In a couple of days, it will go into my cool garage to condition for a few weeks.  That's the plan!  It is tasting lovely, even at this early stage, so it might be a problem keeping my hands off it!!

Quick Update....

This is what I woke up to this morning.......!

 



 

 

 

The yeast is obviously doing its job well.  Also, the bitter aroma it had yesterday has been replaced by a lovely fruity/spicy aroma.  If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'll be chuffed :-)

 

 

 

Between all the beer-making shenanigans yesterday, I managed to mince the wheat to add to my banana wine.  

It has formed a crust on top of the wine and will need stirring once or twice a day to keep everything moist and get the flavours working.  I'll ferment it 'on the pulp' for about a week before straining into a demijohn. 

All Grain Brew Day #1 - Summer Lightning Clone



I chose this recipe after reading about 'Demon Valley' brewery's first all grain brew day and, seeing as the ingredients are fairly straight forward, decided it would also be my first brew.

 

Ingredients;

•5kg Pale Ale Malt
•46g Challenger Hops @ 90 minutes
•15g Goldings Hops @ 15 minutes
•9g Goldings Hops @ Flameout/Poweroff
•Safale S-o4 yeast

I set my alarm for 0700 this morning but was awoken by a bad dream, in which my boiler wouldn't boil and kept cutting out (see how this brewing lark affects you?).

I got out of bed and measured out 16 litres of water.

0700 - The water goes into the boiler to be heated to 71.6 degrees for mashing.

The most important step in brewing and wine making is, of course, sterilising everything to avoid infection.  But is it?  Surely this is the most important first step?



 

 

My instructions/steps for the day, in case I forget anything;

 

 

 

Everything ready and prepared

 









And ingredients



 07:25  -  The water (liquor in brewing terms) reaches 71.6 degrees and is now added to the mash tun



The mash temperature I am aiming for is 66 degrees so, once the grist (malt) is added, this cools the temperature down to where I want it

 



I now mash at this temperature for 90 minutes which, I'm pleased to say, my new mash tun has managed without dropping a degree. 

 

Meanwhile, I heat up 20.86 litres of liquor to 75.9 degrees for sparging.

 

0900 - Time to sparge (rinse the sugars from the grist)

 

 

 

 

The first runnings.  This is returned to the mash tun until it comes through clear.......

 





 

 

 

.......Like this

 

 

 

 

Pre-boil gravity is 1.032



10:00 - The wort is now transferred into the boiler to give it a rolling boil for 90 minutes.  This drives off any unpleasant enzymes and sterilises the wort.  Hops are added at various times for bittering and aroma. 

 

10:50 - The wort is finally boiling so 46g of Challenger hops are added for bittering.



 

 

12:05  -  More hops are added, 15g of East Kent Goldings for aroma.  Also, the wort cooler is now added to the boiler to sterilise it for the last 15 minutes of the boil

 

 



12:20 - Time to cool the wort down to around 20 degrees.  Ideally, this is done as quickly as possible so the yeast can be pitched, and there will be less chance of infection



12:40 - Just 20 minutes to cool down 26 litres down to pitching temperature.  I'm happy with that!

 

The wort is now transferred to a fermenting vessel and, after being thoroughly aerated (to encourage yeast growth), the yeast is pitched

 



 Original Gravity is 1.052.

 

 

13:30 - Everything cleaned and tidied away! 





 

 

 

Problems:  The only problems I noted were the fact that my OG should have been approx. 1.043 whereas the actual OG is 1.052.  I'm not sure if this is down to a dodgy hydrometer!  The other problem was that hops got stuck in the tap, blocking it, when transferring from the boiler to the FV.  I had thought this might happen so prepared by sterilising a sieve and jug to transfer manually

Bottler!

I have been busy bottling today.

First, I bottled my carrot wine.  It has been maturing in the demijohn since May 2012 and tastes lovely, very much like a slightly spicy white port.

 

I also bottled some raspberry drink.  I'm not sure what to call it as it was made from some Lowicz Malina raspberry syrup I found in the Polish foods section of my local supermarket.  I made 2 gallons using 2 bottles of syrup and added sugar which has taken the ABV to 5.1%

 

It tastes and smells nice, but will benefit from a few weeks in the bottle to mature.  I added some priming sugar to the batch, bottled it,  and the bottles are now standing in water which is kept at 19 degrees by my new aquarium heater.

 

 

 

 

The tiny amount of yeast left in each bottle will feed on the sugar creating a bit of fizz.





King Keg Sparkler Tap

I never really got on with the standard fit drum taps on my King Kegs.

The taps seem to have 3 settings;  full on, dripping, or off.

Actually, 'off' is a harder option than it seems and you'll find yourself wrestling with the keg trying to hold it down (especially when under half full and not weighing much), all the while gripping the tap as hard as you can (usually with a towel) to turn it off that last hundredth of a turn to stop it dripping all over the floor.  By this time you've worked up quite a sweat so the beer is swiftly drunk, only then the process has to start over again.

Pouring a decent pint is hard work too as you'll end up with either a pint full of foam, or a half hour wait whilst the beer drips into the glass.

I recently purchased 2 sparkler taps, and what a difference it has made!! 

They fit the King Keg perfectly, it's a simple case of locating the tap in the original hole (making sure the seal is in place) and tightening up the nut at the back.  Then, fill the kegs with water and pressurise with co2 to check for leaks. 

Here is a video of mine in action.  The head on the beer is slightly larger than I would normally pour, I was just trying to demonstrate how quick and easy it is to pull a pint  :-)

 

The nozzle can be adjusted to give different pouring speeds for more/less head which is ideal as it can be adjusted to suit the lower pressure in the keg as it empties and, with the lever in the forward position, the tap will remain open.

They are easy to find, just Google 'brewgas deluxe sparkler tap for king keg' or click here

It's Been A While.....!

I've not really made much wine or beer over the last year or so, only managing a couple of gallons of Rhubarb wine and three gallons of Blackberry (plus one Blackberry and Apple which smells delicious!)

 

It's a great time of year to be starting again too, with Dandelions almost ready for wine.

 

I have also decided to have a go at all-grain brewing and I'm just getting the gear together

to start my first brew.

 

There's a lot to learn and I'll keep you posted with the ups and downs of the process.

 

First things first;

 

Buy some books and read them.  Then read them again.

 

Visit one of the online forums like this one

 

 

This is going to be my new 'brew shed'

 

 

 

 

Over the next couple of days, I will give it a coat of paint and add some electrics.

I'll also stick a worktop and some shelves up too.



More Bitter Bitte! (This is getting silly now)

43p per pint

I thought it might be a good idea to make a second batch of Young's Harvest Yorkshire Bitter, but this time using medium Spraymalt instead of Beer Enhancer.  This raises the cost by £5.01 for 40 pints, so it will be interesting to see if there's any real difference in taste.

Look out for a taste comparison soon!!

Bitter Bitte! (Part 2)

It's been a week since the beer was left to ferment, and now

 looks this this ======>

It smells good, has kind of a flowery aroma to it.  If I was going to bottle this beer, I would check that fermentation has finished using a Hydrometer, thus avoiding burst bottles.  Seeing as I'm going to barrel the beer, it's not really necessary as the barrel has a pressure release  valve. 

The Hydrometer can also be used to define the strength of the finished beer but:

 a) I don't really care, it's usually strong enough to do the job and

b) it's a whole heap of sterilising and grief to use. 

I have got one, can use it, I just choose not to for most of the time.

It is now time to siphon the beer from the fermenting bucket into the barrel.

 

Warm up a cupful of water and add to it 2oz of sugar, stirring until dissolved.

This is for priming the barrel ie adding pressure.  Basically, the still active yeast in the beer will ferment on the new sugar (secondary fermentation), which creates Carbon Dioxide, which will build up pressure in the sealed barrel,  allowing the beer to flow through the tap under pressure, giving the beer a good head in the glass and also a bit of fizz on the tongue. 

Add the sugar to the sterilised barrel, then, using a sterilised siphon tube, siphon the beer off the sediment.  Note clever use of a clothes peg in the top of the picture.

Once all the beer is in the barrel, stick a bit of Vaseline round the O-ring of the lid, and screw up tight, sealing the barrel.  Give it a bit of a shake and put in a warm place for about a week, checking periodically that no beer is leaking from either the lid or tap.

This Is A Picture Of My New Float

It connects to the tap on my barrel, and the float stays on top of the beer,

so waiting time is reduced, as it's drawing cleared beer from the top (rather than waiting for all the barrel to clear, as bottom tap barrels do).  A word of warning : Be very careful when rinsing out your barrel.  See the little see-through plastic thing on the far right? That has a habit of coming loose, and if you empty the sediment from the barrel down the toilet, as I do, and don't realise that it's not attached anymore, well, bye bye, it's through the water and over the bend before you know it!!

A Handy Tip

It's a lot easier to have a straight piece of plastic tube in the beer when siphoning off, so well worth trying to get hold of one.  They are usually available from Homebrew suppliers.  A floppy tube in the beer is a right pain as it often curls round in a 'U' shape, comes out the top of the liquid and starts to siphon air, which means having to start the process over again.  The straight pipe stays put, making the whole process a lot easier, and a lot less messy.

Bitter Bitte! (Part 1)

(36p a pint)

Well, not German, but Yorkshire Bitter.  Young's Harvest Yorkshire Bitter to be precise.  I haven't tried this kit before and, in addition to this, I am also substituting my usual Spray Malt for some Geordie Beer Enhancer.  A 1kg bag of enhancer costs £4.49, instead of £4.75 for 500g of Spray Malt (of which I would need 2), thus a saving £5.01. The beer kit cost £9.99.

Boil up about a gallon of water.

Put beer kit and beer enhancer into a sterilised fermenting bin.

Add boiling water, using part of it to rinse out the beer kit tin.

Give the mixture a good stir.

Fill up with cold water to the 5 gallon (40 pint) mark.

Rehydrate the yeast in lukewarm water for a few minutes.

Pitch the yeast and give the liquid a good stir, adding some air to aid fermentation.

It should now look something like this =====>

Put the lid on, leaving one part cracked open to allow

Co2 to escape (or cover with a large towel).

Leave for roughly 5 days in a warm place to ferment.

Some people recommend you scrape off the layer of 'scum'

that appears on the top after a couple of days.  I have never bothered,

and don't really think it will make any difference to the beer's taste.  

I could be wrong though.

TBC..........



Start Up Costs For Making Beer

Having been quite surprised by the final figures for starting up in wine making, I thought it only right that I should find the cost for making 40 pints of beer.

Again, my figures are based on buying everything from new.  I use King Keg barrels, which are more expensive than other barrels, but I have read that they are one of the best barrels for homebrew.  You can, of course, buy a cheaper barrel, or even a secondhand one.  Also, the price of beers kits can range from £8 to £22 or more, but most kits are around the £12 mark.

I use Spray Malt, as it gives a better flavour and more body, but if you are on a budget you can use 1kg of sugar instead.

King Keg Pressure barrel  £45.99

Fermenting Bin  £8

Beer Kit (incl yeast)  £12

Spray Malt  (1kg)  £9.50

Sterilising Powder  £2.75

So, that’s £78.24 for the lot, which is £1.95 a pint!  Still as cheap as buying a bottle of beer from the supermarket.  Subsequent brews will cost 53p per pint. 

It certainly beats paying the government MORE money, surely?

The Story So Far......

Fermenting/Maturing In Demijohns-

(In Gallons)
2 Wheat (lighter than the Wheat I made before, but nice taste)
2  Barley (Similar to Wheat, but heavier & slightly bitter. Early days yet)
1 Apple (Lovely Cider smell & taste)
1 Pear (Lovely smell, flavour will improve with age)
1 Banana (Only just started, looks vile, smells lovely)
6 Elderberry (2 yrs old in November, 1 gallon drank already, well worth the effort)
1 Elderberry & Raspberry (As above with handful of Raspberries)
1 Rose Petal (Tastes like Turkish Delight, early days, should be lovely when ready)
1 Strawberry (Always a good one, although I used more fruit this time, it has a harsh edge, may mature out)
1 Apricot Sherry (Sherry yeast, fruity but not very Sherry!)
1 Peach Sherry (Lovely Peach flavour, again, not Sherry)
2 Elderflower (Lovely, one of my faves, although this one is quite sweet)
9 Rhubarb (varying ages, fantastic and easy to make)
1 Carrot (Very big flavour, very strong, worth the effort of boiling)
1 Blackcurrant Ribena (Not sure about this, bit sweet, think I topped up with too much juice)
1 Barley Tea (From tea bags, nearly 4 years old, odd one)
1 Plum (won't clear despite being over a year old)
1 Spiced Plum (as above)
1 Plum & Wheat (and again)
1 Mandarin (Another that won't clear, but nice flavour)
1 Citrus (Recipe says sweet, but couldn't be drier, nice though)
1 Spiced Beetroot (Strange one, lost it's lovely purple colour, now brown)
1 Gooseberry (harsh, needs to mature)
2 Rowanberry (Haven't tried this for ages, very bitter when tasted a year ago, must rack off!)
2 Dandelion (Still in bucket, no yeast added, smells of....well....Dandelions)
1 Gorse (Nightmare to pick flowers, too many thorns, hand stills hurts)

In Bottles-

25 Rhubarb (From 5 gallon batch, only 8 months old but very nice, will leave some to mature)
4 Chilli  (My recipe, lovely colour, fruity, very very hot)
1 Wheat  (Lovely, last one left so leaving until 2 years old)
1 Rosehip (Again, leaving longer, lovely wine, be a bit sad to finish it)
1 Marrow (Marrow? Yep, bloody lovely, would make again if I could get hold of enough Marrows)
5 Ribena Strawberry (Too sweet, but nice mixed half & half with Rhubarb)
3 Citrus (Nice, but not sweet as the recipe says, far from it)


Beer-

About 10 pints of Harvest Stout left (Not really my drink, but thought I'd try it.  Made with medium spraymalt. Tastes a bit like Coffee. Better tasting slightly less cool)
40 Pints of Coopers 'Real Ale' (My favourite kit so far, must be made with light or medium spraymalt and NOT sugar)

Other-

About 1 gallon of Plum Brandy (Had spare plums.......)
About half a gallon of Rumpot (Heaps of fruit, bung it all in, lovely but probably won't bother again as no one's drinking it!!) 

About Me.....

Hello, and thanks for stopping by my blog.

I have been making country wines for a few years, and have been messing around with beer kits for roughly a year. It is suprising the results that can come from a few basic ingredients.  I am lucky to live in a rural part of Scotland, so don't have to go far for most ingredients,  but there are ingredients close to all of us, it's just knowing where to look.  I have just started a 2 gallon batch of Dandelion wine.  I have absolutely no idea how it's going to taste,  it doesn't smell too good at the moment, but all that will hopefully change as the process progresses!!

Anyway, I hope to keep this blog updated with the trials and tribulations of wine and beer making, along with some pics, recipes and (most importantly) shortcuts to make life easier.

And for the record, I don't make grape wine.  I'm not a big lover of most grape wines, and certainly wouldn't bother wasting time and effort making the stuff when there are plenty of drinkable wines in the shops.