Matty

Chris, Thanks for your guidance on the Weizen. I'll report back. Cheers, Matt

Chris, I've got my sights on a wheat beer brewday this weekend. The recipe I have is Pale malt 2.5kg Wheat malt 2.5kg Hallertauer Hersb 28g FB Wyeast 3098 However I'd like to introduce a little more maltiness (is that Amber Wheat territory?) and I'd like to try to use from what I have available: British Crystal Malt Melanoidin Malt Cara Red What do you think is best, and at what quantity? My thought would be 200g of Melanoidin (?). Cheers, Matt

I'd like to make that. I'll have to start scouring the UK suppliers for those malts. The most exotic grain bill addition I have done so far is to put some chocolate malt in with my pale and crystal. btw I live right in the middle of where East Kent Goldings are grown and finding that a nice hop for British bitters. Cheers, Matt

Wow, you've been busy Chris. I've been looking at a Dubbel recipe but the one I have takes at least 4.5 months before its ready. Is that a standard? Also wondered if its worth doing a Kolsch. I've never tried it but was looking for a light beer to brew as have a dark bitter in primary at the moment. Have you ever brewed this? Any thoughts? I'm sure there are others out there who have found this obsession via your course Chris. Its such a consuming and inexpensive hobby, and your friends get to benefit as well. Its a win-win as they say in business circles. Many thanks again. Matt

Elie, do you think Chris has expired after a particularly excessive night on the Saison, or is he being shy about our gratitude?

Hi Chris, I've been busy AG brewing and have four batches under my belt now. A neighbour made me an immersion chiller and I got great results in my last batch, which was: Maris Otter - 4kg Carapils - 200g Crystal - 100g East Kent Goldings - 50g full boil Wyeast 1098 British Ale I think I will up the Carapils next time for better head retention. Anyway, my main reason for posting was to thank you for doing the class and for getting us all going - your time and input is really appreciated. Cheers. Best, Matt p.s. Bill Poster - in case you haven't seen it mate, there is a good UK brewing forum here

Rombot, Not that this is informed advice, but (as in above posts) I used a Pilsner yeast recently without really adhering to the rules. Although I didn't get (and wasn't shooting for) a Pilsner taste, it still did the business. I'm sure you'll still get 4 gallons of the amber nectar. Nice work with the day off Matt

Bill, As a UK bod, I would agree with Chris about the Lager market. It seems to be the ale market where the action is in terms of small regional brewing. My money would be on trying out something like a Cream Ale. Its a quaffable drink so will appeal to the lighter crowd, and should interest the ale drinker. You also won't have to worry about lagering facilities. Could you perhaps hone your skills on small batches, as per the method in Chris' classes and do some market research by giving it away at events? Best, Matt

Chris will give you an informed opinion. I'm just a newbie with a big mouth! It seems very expensive to me.

Pretty good Chris. Damn. Oh well, I've got the bin now - they seem to be the standard on UK brewers supplies, so I'm pretty happy. I do like the idea of an electric setup with no gas canisters and flames around. These look pretty solid. Maybe I'll put that on my Christmas list next year! Best, Matt

Chris, That would definitely be preferable. However the best price I have found for a steel 30 litre pot is £80 … and that wasn't high grade ss. I managed to get a boiling bin for £50 so I'll run with that and splash some bigger cash in due course if the brewing bug has really bitten. Best, Matt

Me too but, yes, they are standard fare over here in the UK. Check any UK home brewing supplier and you are unlikely to find pots at all. I was most surprised. have a look Got myself one right here. My neighbour is a plumbing engineer, so I have a free wort chiller in the pipeline also. No pun intended! Matt

Chris, Just tasted my lager yeasted batch - all fine. The caramel/malty taste is less obvious and the citrusy hop flavours are slightly more distinct and last longer in the mouth. Tastes great. The closet I fermented in was actually at 12°C so it was fermented in the right range … half of the process was right anyway. I've been researching boiling vessels and there seems to be a divide - US brewers using pots and burners and UK brewers using plastic brewing bins with an element at the bottom. It seems the bins have been around for 20+ years over here. Looking forward to tasting the red ale. Best, Matt

Yep. A Newbie goof there but I only understood the difference after I had ordered it up, so decided to try it anyway - to have another chance to do a boil and to see how the 'smack packs' (is that right?) work. I fermented it the coolest cupboard I could find. I'm not great at describing flavours but the taste at bottling stage was simpler (smoother) and more mellow than the previous batch. Rather like the difference between a lager and an ale, if you pardon the sweeping generalisation. Time will tell. I'll post up some comments in a couple of weeks once its ready. There's always one or two students in a class that screw around a bit … but come good at exam time. That's me Chris Best, Matt

Chris, Thanks for your thoughts on that. Re the second shot - I decided to play with the yeast. I've been baking sourdough for 3 yrs so felt reasonably happy to try a trickier yeast and have a crack with some Wyeast - I used the Czech Pilsner. Just bottled it this week and it tastes quite different. I'll report back once its ready to drink. I've definitely got the bug now! Best, Matt

Hiya Chris, Can I ask re a couple of things I've been wondering about … Can you give a steer on bottling. I'm amassing numerous empty beer bottles - brown, green and clear glass, but I wonder if all colours are suitable for home brewing as i've read 'brown bottles only' on some brewing websites. I'm also thinking about purchasing one of those plastic boiling/mashing bins that will allow for boiling bigger batches and eventually allow me to progress to mashing. They seem like a good bit of kit - do you have any comments on these? Cheers, Matt

Great. Thanks Chris.

Hi Chris, I can't find the Caravienne. Will this Cara Red be the correct substitute? http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/item1836.htm Thanks Matt

Looking nice Elie. The same colour as mine and further consumption has confirmed the uneven priming. A really fizzy bottle last night - so fizzy it lifted large lumps of yeast from the bottom and hazed up. And a flattish clear one tonight. Hic. I like the taste though. I don't know if you chaps across the pond have tasted Marmite, but i love that stuff and the taste of my brew has a quite Marmitey aftertaste. ps. Is that a special hovering beer glass Admirable patience there Rombot. Best, Matt

I tried mine last night (a naughty 24hrs earlier than the two week wait) and it tasted good. Same sort of results as you Ellie and I'll check for the salty thing again later (3pm here … a little early for beer). The second bottle I tried seemed less carbonated and more cloudy. My first retained a little layer of bubbles all the way drinking it, but this was quite flat. I've read that dishwasher chemicals left on glassware can affect the head - is that right Chris? Of course now I utterly regret only brewing a tiny batch although I'm repeating the first batch again tonight to get some more in the pipeline. Would be good to see your picture Ellie. Matt

Hi Melissa, I'm away for a week but will pm you the info w/c 22.5. Best Wishes, Matt

The bread tasted good, although was not quite perfectly proofed. I have made an ale barm before from a bottle conditioned ale (from a recipe in Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf) and this was more or less the same except the taste is coarser - the hoppy bitterness is more noticeable. I don't know if that's because my beer is coarse, because it was from 1st stage fermentation beer, or that the proportion of yeast sludge was too high. I just used my standard sourdough recipe, so lots of potential for tweaking. Can supply recipe & method if anyone needs it. Best Wishes, Matt

I bottled my batch last night. I did a 1 gallon batch, so it was truly micro-brewery! I had a load of emty bottles so I went the crown cap route. I think mine is quite amber-looking as well. It tasted really good and I'm really fired up Hope the next two weeks goes quickly. OT … I thought i'd see if I could make an ale barm with the sludge left over. Never done it before but I made a 1:2 barm with sludge:flour+water and fermented overnight. I've just baked the loaf this afternoon. Smelling pretty good but still cooling so I haven't tasted yet. Looking forward to making the red ale. Best Wishes, Matt

I'm a little behind now - I had to make another batch as I realised I made a dumb mistake* with the first one. My second batch is a week old tonight. * My new thermometer runs 0-100 and thereafter the 10 degree intervals are marked 10, 20, 30 etc. I pitched my yeast at what looked like 60 degrees but was actually 160 degrees. I think I wrote that I thought it had cooled quickly A good lesson though and I enjoyed a second run at it. Chris - I wonder if you ought to add more words of caution about boilovers in lesson 2 at the adding the DME stage. I went *very* cautiously the second time around and the first four or five spoonfuls still frothed up quite vigourously. Just a thought. Cheers, Matt

I've just finished. I had an overflow as well - I neglected to observe your word 'sprinkle' and rather 'tipped' the malt in - causing quite a big one. I estimated about 300ml which I replaced with fresh boiled water. Another minor hiccup as well - I dabbed my balloon whisk in just as I realised it wasn't sanitised. It was clean and stainless steel though, so I'm crossing my fingers I haven't goofed there. I tipped everything into a fermenting bin for the cool, and it cooled very quickly - it had gone down to nearly 60 by the time I could get the yeast in. I'm guessing that isn't too much of a problem though. I have loosely covered with the lid the bin came with - OK? It was good fun and time will tell. Looking forward to doing another boil - I'll know what to do different next time. Cheers, Matt