Q&A: Homebrewing

[Matty]

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

[cdh]

Wow... brewing kit in the UK is not inexpensive. I'd still think outside the box and build a multi-purpose boiling system out of something like http://www.purplepans.co.uk/product_detail.aspx?id=16424 and import a big pot like Tim's link above. That will only cost a little more than the 65 pound brew bucket, and will give you a multipurpose tool made of high quality materials, rather than a single purpose tool made of low quality materials. You may not even have to import such a pot... check around for steel stock pots... they must be for sale somewhere in the UK, if not in brewing shops.

Edited June 20, 2006 by cdh (log)

[Matty]

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

[cdh]

Ah... yes... 80 pounds is way too much to spend on a boiling pot. My thought was to import the $65 pot that tim pointed out above. In conjunction with the induction hob, that brings the total up to 85 pounds plus shipping. Not bad.

[Matty]

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

[cdh]

Oooooohhh... pretttttty.... that is a beautiful piece of metalwork.

[Msk]

I bottled my Golden Ale last night and it wasn't infected. It tasted pretty good, a bit astringent or tannic. I truthfully did not now what to expect from 73 degree flat beer. I got about 13 16oz bottles from the batch. I look forward to trying it in a couple of weeks!

I hope to do the red ale boil tonight to try and catch up a little.

Thanks again for the Class Chris!

Msk

[Bill Poster]

cdh, matty, what do you think of the Brumas home brewery? Yes its expensive but is it worth me buying one seeing as I'm a novice?

The only drawback is it only does 20 litres. Are there any similar 'pilot' breweries which are slightly bigger and as easy to use?

[Rombot]

Hi all

Well I have successfully bottled my next batch (the red ale) and I think it is all ok . I didn’t get any bad smells at all and it tasted fine. One thing I did notice is that there was allot of sediment floating in the beer compared to last time.

Chris, I have noticed a few recipes calling for the use of Irish Moss, what is this and what is it used for?

that’s all folks, good luck with all your brews

Rom

[Rombot]

Hi all

Well I have successfully bottled my next batch (the red ale) and I think it is all ok . I didn’t get any bad smells at all and it tasted fine. One thing I did notice is that there was allot of sediment floating in the beer compared to last time.

Chris, I have noticed a few recipes calling for the use of Irish Moss, what is this and what is it used for?

that’s all folks, good luck with all your brews

Rom

[Bill Poster]

Isn't irish moss used to give a head to the brew?

[Matty]

cdh, matty, what do you think of the Brumas home brewery? Yes its expensive but is it worth me buying one seeing as I'm a novice?

The only drawback is it only does 20 litres. Are there any similar 'pilot' breweries which are slightly bigger and as easy to use?

←

Chris will give you an informed opinion. I'm just a newbie with a big mouth!

It seems very expensive to me.

[Msk]

I know I'm a couple weeks behind, but I got my Red Ale bubbling away in the fermentor last night. All this rain in the Northeast gave me a great opportunity.

If this batch comes out good, I'll be hooked. Everything just seemed to go wrong from a boilover to impromptu guests showing up.

Chris,

My cellar is 74 degrees F, do you think that is too hgih a temperature? Should I wrap a wet towel around ther fermenter?

Thanks

Msk

[cdh]

Hi all

Well I have successfully bottled my next batch (the red ale) and I think it is all ok  . I didn’t get any bad smells at all and it tasted fine. One thing I did notice is that there was allot of sediment floating in the beer compared to last time.

Chris, I have noticed a few recipes calling for the use of Irish Moss, what is this and what is it used for?

that’s all folks, good luck with all your brews

Rom

←

Your beer will settle over time and clear up.

Irish moss helps that process. It helps coagulate proteins in the beer and helps them fall out faster because they all stick to each other and become bigger particles. It is a helpful aid to clearing the beer, but has no effect upon the flavor or other properties of the beer.

Edited June 26, 2006 by cdh (log)

[cdh]

Chris,

My cellar is 74 degrees F, do you think that is too hgih a temperature?  Should I wrap a wet towel around ther fermenter?

←

What yeast are you using? There are some that should not mind temperatures around 74, though the Windsor may get quite fruity up in the mid 70s. It's only 2 gallons, so my advice is to try it and see if you like the effect or not. If there is too much flavor going on in there for you, then you know that this yeast needs to ferment cooler for your tastes.

Edited June 26, 2006 by cdh (log)

[cdh]

On the Brumas thingy, you don't need something like that to brew beer. It appears to do some useful and interesting things that will allow you to take a much more hands-off approach to the brewing. I've never tasted the results of such a device, so I don't know whether it does what it does well, or poorly, or otherwise. Until I taste the results of what it can do, I'm skeptical, as I don't believe that mashing properly can be totally automated. I couldn't find any instruction sheet on what variables are adjustable, or how such adjustments might get made.

You also are far too ambitious with your desire to make giant 50L batches at a time as a beginner. Unless you plan on throwing parties for 20 of your closest friends on a weekly basis, going through 100 pint batches is going to take you quite a while. There is also the risk of bad things happening and a batch going south, as has happened to one of us already, with 50L worth of ingredients, that is quite some concentrated risk. The question then becomes: is your time that you'd spend making the 3 20L batches on more ordinarily sized brewing equipment worth the difference in equipment cost, and are you feeling skillful or lucky enough that rolling the dice on one big batch appeals to you?

As a beginner, my advice to you is start small, get some feel for the skills required, and the ramp up the production size once you get comfortable with the small batches. This class is designed around that principle, with a bunch of 2 gallon batches spreading the risk of a bad batch over a number of iterations and small quantities of ingredients rather than on one giant vat.

By the way, Bill, where and how would plan on storing the vat of beer once it is done? Bottles, kegs, otherwise?

Edited June 26, 2006 by cdh (log)

[Msk]

Chris,

My cellar is 74 degrees F, do you think that is too hgih a temperature?  Should I wrap a wet towel around ther fermenter?

←

What yeast are you using? There are some that should not mind temperatures around 74, though the Windsor may get quite fruity up in the mid 70s. It's only 2 gallons, so my advice is to try it and see if you like the effect or not. If there is too much flavor going on in there for you, then you know that this yeast needs to ferment cooler for your tastes.

←

I am using the Windsor and I did a double batch this time. What could I do to lower the temp somewhat other than sticking it in the fridge? Would a cold wet towel do it? Typically the cellar ranges from 70-74 its just 74 to start with this time and I'm worried about it going higher.

Msk

[cdh]

Well, you could put your fermentor into a larger container filled with water, and add ice to that container of water. Putting 2L soda bottles filled with water into the freezer and adding them would do a good job of lowering your fermentation temperature.

Another alternative to the ice would be putting your fermentor into a tub of water, wrapping a towel around it so that the towel wicks up water, and aiming a fan at it. That would get you lots of evaporation cooling.

[Bill Poster]

Cdh, your're quite right..

I saw the Brumas as a way to make it easier for me to cope. It looks after the temperatures which would be one area where I would mess up. Also my lady would'nt want lots of ugly containers lying around so this might a prettier option. It is a bit expensive tho. I realise that there will be plenty of mistakes to be made.. As for cool storing lager after brewing, a large fridge and/or make a small sealed space (to hold up to 50 crates) in the studio with air con. its a basement so it would be ideal. I have access to a cool cellar if needed.

I have a job as an events manager and I thought, if I could get my lager/beer to a good standard, I could supply under licence to parties. I have a friend doing this in japan, he has his own small brewery and the beer tastes like s**t but noone seems to mind(I did!)

I've got so ahead of myself that I even designed labels!

[FoodMan]

Just bottled my double batch of Red ale yesterday (looks more like brown to me though). I think it is perfect this time, smelled great and tasted very nice with good hop and floral tastes. I actually put a half a cup or so of the beer in the fridge and tasted it again to make sure it tastes perfectly fine.

I do have to admit that I HATE siphoning though, HATE it. It never seems to work 100%, I ended up just gently pouring in the last gallon or so into the second bucket where it was being primed.

[cdh]

Don't know about licensing in the UK, but in the US the requirements to get a license to brew commercially are fairly tough to meet without renting a commercial space. I know the UK's history of taxing alcohol is older and more convoluted than the American variety, but commercial licenses may be tougher to get than you're thinking.

Besides, I don't know that a new brand of lager would fly in the UK without significant promotion, would it? Isn't one's brand of lager still something of a status symbol in the popular mindset over there? Posh Stella, middling Dutch and Danish lagers, etc... Are there any posh lagers brewed in the UK under domestic labeling, or do all of the locally produced ones have to license a foreign label to sell?

Edited June 27, 2006 by cdh (log)

[Bill Poster]

Most things in the Uk are a nightmare. If I wanted to distill spirits it would be next to impossible to get a license. Then you have to deal with bonded warehouses etc.

But because of the tradition of homebrewing, and the Campaign for Real Ale, the law is fairly relaxed on microbreweries. Obviously meeting the requirements is'nt easy, you need an Industrial Unit(I have)or licensed premises(pub or bar) and no previous bad history with customs excise for starters. I apply for a license through my local magistrates court(have to research criteria).

Duty on a bottle of 330ml beer or lager works out at 20- 30p depending on strength. Pretty bad compared to europe but compared to Uk spirit duty (1 bottle 40% spirit duty is equiv. to about $9 in uk!!!) it is okish.

Getting ahead of myself again

[cdh]

Just bottled my double batch of Red ale yesterday (looks more like brown to me though). I think it is perfect this time, smelled great and tasted very nice with good hop and floral tastes. I actually put a half a cup or so of the beer in the fridge and tasted it again to make sure it tastes perfectly fine.

I do have to admit that I HATE siphoning though, HATE it. It never seems to work 100%, I ended up just gently pouring in the last gallon or so into the second bucket where it was being primed.

←

Well, the redness should pick up a bit as it settles and clears... give it a month in the bottle and it should be closer to garnet than amber.

As to siphoning... well, there are the siphon starting widgets... and you've got your bottling bucket with spout attached already, so you really only need to siphon once... I'm surprised that you managed to pour off of the dregs without bringing along a whole lot of cloudiness along.

Congratulations on another successful batch!

[Matty]

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

Edited June 27, 2006 by Matty (log)

[Bill Poster]

Thanks Matty for the advice,

Yes, I have to try something like cream ale for my first experiment. I will buy some kit in a couple of weeks.

Maybe a Cream Ale would work in London. The main events beers are japanese lager beers, Urquel and other Pilsner types. As for beers, only Duvel has any events exposure.

Question for someone; if i were to ferment 3 batches of beer/lager(1 a day), could I combine the 3 for secondary fermentation?

Edited June 27, 2006 by Bill Poster (log)