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ATOT Homebrewers thread :)

dug777

dug777

Lifer
I brew with one of my mates, just a Coopers brewkit (23 litres) and we usually use Coopers brews (Aussie lot so i don't know if you'd ever see it).

We usually stick to the darker ales as they seem to turn out best, but any hints as to how to get rid of that 'homebrew' taste that seems to plague all of the stuff we brew?

Its good strong stuff (bout 6-7% usually) and its quite a fun occasional hobby 😀
 
Originally posted by: broon
To get rid of the "homebrew" taste, use more malt, less corn sugar, and do a full wort boil.
Click to expand...

we just use the kits from the supermarket 😱 so i guess we're stuck with it 🙁

Someone was telling me that corn syrup added a day before you bottle it gives it great, creamy head...?
 
No. You add boiled sugar water at bottling. You can get quality stuff from online sources. But if you want to stick with the stuff from the market...boil the full amount of water when brewing. This will greatly improve the mouthfeel. Do you use hops or is the kit pre-hopped?
 
Originally posted by: broon
No. You add boiled sugar water at bottling. You can get quality stuff from online sources. But if you want to stick with the stuff from the market...boil the full amount of water when brewing. This will greatly improve the mouthfeel. Do you use hops or is the kit pre-hopped?
Click to expand...

the kits are pre-hopped.

Tried a Pale Ale that turned out quite nice recently, how long do you leave yours before drinking?

we usually wait maybe a month (sometimes less if we are really thirsty 😉 )
 
My schedule is one week primary fermenter, move beer off spent yeast to a secondary fermenter for 2-3 weeks (for ales). Prime with sugar boiled in 1 cup water for 10 min, fill bottles/kegs and let sit until carbonated.

There is a homebrew forum that will provide tons of helpful information. If you really want to get into it, I'd suggest buying "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and finding an online source for your ingredients.
 
Originally posted by: broon
My schedule is one week primary fermenter, move beer off spent yeast to a secondary fermenter for 2-3 weeks (for ales). Prime with sugar boiled in 1 cup water for 10 min, fill bottles/kegs and let sit until carbonated.

There is a homebrew forum that will provide tons of helpful information. If you really want to get into it, I'd suggest buying "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and finding an online source for your ingredients.
Click to expand...

Cheers 🙂

So you do all the stuff yourself?
 
Coopers is prehopped, and not much fun. You should try a partial mash it's much more fun. Also, broon is right, usually you just add a little dextrose before bottle to referment it in the bottle so that it is carbonated. A creamy head can be tough to get, I still haven't had too much success even after several brews. It has to do with the pH of the water you use, the ingredients in the brew, how long you let it age etc.
 
Originally posted by: dug777
Originally posted by: broon
To get rid of the "homebrew" taste, use more malt, less corn sugar, and do a full wort boil.
Click to expand...

we just use the kits from the supermarket 😱 so i guess we're stuck with it 🙁

Someone was telling me that corn syrup added a day before you bottle it gives it great, creamy head...?
Click to expand...

I would be surprised if there is any factual basis for this belief...


that homebrew tastes is what exactly? can you describe it? off flavors usually have a specific source. Ignoring infections, things that are likely sources of off flavors:

too much corn sugar, or cane sugar
fermentation temperaturs that are too high
low quality yeast
wort that has not been aerated properly
lack of hops
not enough conditioning time in the bottle
not using a secondary fermentation vessel


these are the things that come to mind...there are others, but these are easily avoidable and correcting for them will improve your brew greatly.

cheers and beers!
jeff

edit: Your homebrew can easily (i.e., SHOULD) exceed the quality of craft brews for a fraction of the cost. If it doesn't you got something out of variance.
 
Originally posted by: dug777
Cheers 🙂

So you do all the stuff yourself?
Click to expand...

I do all grain and I grow my own hops. My Cascade plant is already five feet tall with eight good vines.

I have the capacity to boil 14 gallons to end up with a 10 gallon batch. I also have a chest freezer that allows me to better control fermentation temps thus allowing for lagering.
 
I'll second the suggestion for "Complete Guide to Homebrewing". At the very least, check out the How to Brew website by John Palmer - it's almost as good as a book on homebrewing, but it gets into more detail about the specifics.

Just bottled my first homebrew yesterday.

I've found the online store prices (at least on hopped-extract) aren't really any better than my local stores. Some things (swing-top bottles) are much cheaper online though
 
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: dug777
Originally posted by: broon
To get rid of the "homebrew" taste, use more malt, less corn sugar, and do a full wort boil.
Click to expand...

we just use the kits from the supermarket 😱 so i guess we're stuck with it 🙁

Someone was telling me that corn syrup added a day before you bottle it gives it great, creamy head...?
Click to expand...

I would be surprised if there is any factual basis for this belief...


that homebrew tastes is what exactly? can you describe it? off flavors usually have a specific source. Ignoring infections, things that are likely sources of off flavors:

too much corn sugar, or cane sugar
fermentation temperaturs that are too high
low quality yeast
wort that has not been aerated properly
lack of hops
not enough conditioning time in the bottle
not using a secondary fermentation vessel


these are the things that come to mind...there are others, but these are easily avoidable and correcting for them will improve your brew greatly.

cheers and beers!
jeff

edit: Your homebrew can easily (i.e., SHOULD) exceed the quality of craft brews for a fraction of the cost. If it doesn't you got something out of variance.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup::beer:

 
Originally posted by: broon
Originally posted by: dug777
Cheers 🙂

So you do all the stuff yourself?
Click to expand...

I do all grain and I grow my own hops. My Cascade plant is already five feet tall with eight good vines.

I have the capacity to boil 14 gallons to end up with a 10 gallon batch. I also have a chest freezer that allows me to better control fermentation temps thus allowing for lagering.
Click to expand...

that;s some serious hardware :Q

nice
 
Originally posted by: dug777
Originally posted by: broon
Originally posted by: dug777
Cheers 🙂

So you do all the stuff yourself?
Click to expand...

I do all grain and I grow my own hops. My Cascade plant is already five feet tall with eight good vines.

I have the capacity to boil 14 gallons to end up with a 10 gallon batch. I also have a chest freezer that allows me to better control fermentation temps thus allowing for lagering.
Click to expand...

that;s some serious hardware :Q

nice
Click to expand...

my hops are just now poking out of the ground.... they will have full sun this year since i whack back the apple tree, so hopefully they will do better than they did last year.

 
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
my hops are just now poking out of the ground.... they will have full sun this year since i whack back the apple tree, so hopefully they will do better than they did last year.
Click to expand...

My Chinook hops are about 1 foot tall. I was suprised the Cascade came up so fast. They started poking through about two weeks ago. These are second year plants.
 
I will hold on to a little hope then. I planted some cascade and some Fuggles last year... Fuggles may not of made it through the winter.
 
I also had some Centennial and EK Goldings that haven't shown signs of returning. I think they're dead. Last year they didn't produce anything. The Chinook gave about 1/2 lb and Cascade about 1 lb. They were cheap enought that it won't be a big deal to buy some more rhysomes next year. Of course, I'll be able to split my current ones next year to increase the crop also.
 
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