Pinko's English Mild Ale

After my Dole-bludger's Draught, I decided to make a richer, more complex beer. So, a few weeks ago, I picked up two can's of Black Rock's IPA and augmented this base with a caramalt grain pack, a kilo of dextrose and two types of hops. Feeling that the kits are usually bitter enough, I used the Styrian Goldings hops mainly for general "hoppiness"; these were added at 30 minutes prior to the end of the boil. And for aroma, I used Fuggles hops. (These were added within about 5 minutes of concluding the boil. This raw beer smells and tastes great. It is hoppy and caramel. You should be able to enjoy it all afternoon as, in the style of an English Mild, the alcohol by volume is only about 3.5 - 4.0%.

While the keg fills, I take a sip of my Dole-bludger's Draught.

FINALLY, a new Redbox brew

Well on the brewing front have been very slack and need to thank Pinko and Jen for keeping at me to put on a new brew especially after the puchase of 10kg of malt. So on Sunday, Pinko and Roberts dropped by to give encouragement and a hand in starting of a new brew. Thanks to Pinko for loan of the pot and grain bag.

The aim was loosely based around a pale ale recipe and after filling the house with great smell of malt and hops looking forward to the finished product. The recipe for this brew was fairly basic, will comment on the taste when trialled in about 4-5weeks. The specific gravity started at around 1.042, so should finish with a beer with around 4.4-4.5% alcohol.

June Pale ale

3kg malt
180g Cascade hops (60 added at start, 60 at 30mins and 60 for final few minutes)
150-200g cracked grain
S-05 Safale yeast (american style ale yeast)

Fox Grande Reserve

My Blue-label Chimay-style brew, the Fox Grande Reserve, requires almost 8kg of light dry malt extract. I incrementally add malt to my new 20L brew-pot and weigh it using bathroom scales. This process is conducted outside now. The malt is a fine powder and wherever it lands, you may end up with a sticky, (probably tasty) surface.

From Chimay

My helpful assistant stirs the pot. Full power from the biggest element brings the pot to the boil. After this point, a rolling boil is maintained using 45% power.

From Chimay

Having removed the grain bag with its contents of spent chocolate malt and fuggles hops, I pour the contents of the pot into my 60L fermenter with a few ice-cubes and supplement the liquid with tap water to generate a total volume of 50L.

From Chimay

Having pitched the K-97 wheat-beer yeast, Jen inserts the airlock. This is one of our most elaborate brews; It incorporates almost a kilogram of honey and one-and-a-half kilograms of brown sugar. Thankfully, we are able to prepare this brew on a grand scale. With a carton of blue-label Chimay retailing at over $200 per case of 12 x 750mL longnecks,¹ this brew represents over $1000 worth of high-quality hand-crafted beer!

From Chimay

A big boy

Jen presented me with a 20L stock pot in which I concocted my first double-batch of beer. For 50L of beer, I used 6kg of light dry malt, 150g crystal grain, 100g chocolate grain, 130g Fuggles hops and S-04 Safale yeast. Cost-wise, that's $42 + $1.50 + $0.65 + $6.80 + $3.75 + $2 postage = $56.70. This equates to a cost of about $11 per case of beer.

Most of the components of this brew were acquired from Jayne Lynn from BettABrew Beer & Wine Making Supplies in Parkwood, Queensland. Jayne offered me a better deal on the postage if I purchased materials in bulk. As such, I placed a joint order on behalf of Phil, Mix, Jen and I. Here's what we received:

$280.00 : 2 x 20 kg light dry malt extract
$26.00 : 1 x 500 g cascade hop plugs
$23.50 : 1 x 450 g fuggles hop plugs
$59.00 : 1 x HDPE 60 litre fermenter, bung and airlock
$11.85 : 3 x Saflager S23 yeast
$11.25 : 3 x Safale S-04 yeast
$7.90 : 2 x Saflager W-34/70 yeast
$15.00 : postage
-------
$434.50 : total
-------

I recall now that I will need an adhesive thermometer and another tap but Big W will likely satisfy these requirements.

A month without brew so making something special to celebrate

Well after a huge new years and a couple of resolutions of a reduction of beer and alcohol intake, this means the month of January bar the Australia Day weekendis to be dry (already think this will be a struggle.
I have decided on a Summer brew that is meant to be similar to Little Creatures Pale Ale, the basic recipe came from the Malthouse site. This recipe should provide a nice drop and my first venture into some more complex brewing rather than relying solely on a kit, this will be the first brew for the MC residence and should be rather good by the pool and on the beach, according to Pinko this beer should provide a nice malty beer with a good hoppy taste, the recipe is

ESB Pale Ale
Dried Light Malt 1kg
Crystal Malt Grain 150g
Chinook 25g & Cascade Hops 25g
Safale Yeast

Hope all had a good New Years and Happy brewing!

Fun Ale

Brew 82 used only about 200g of cracked crystal grain; It was sufficient to impart that delicious red colour. It's a lager base fermented with an ale yeast. There's a spot of roasted "Joe White", some cracked coriander and squirt of licorice extract.

From Beer

Clownie and I just can't resist this brew! Next up will be a "bare-bones" lager more suited to consumption on a vast scale. Of brew 82, you take a little bit every day.

Back at it

G'Day All,
Sorry about not posting anything in the past couple of months, as the kegs have been pretty full for the past couple of months, there hasn't been much need of doing too much about it. Last month I did an elcheepo double batch with a couple of tins of mud, 2 brew enhancers and another bag of sugar. Dave, Jen, Mixy and Roberts sampled this brew which was ok, as it did the job, but Dave and Jen both put their finger on what it was missing.........bitterness. Due to the large sugar levels that had been put into the batch to increase the alcohol levels, and on my behalf I was doing it on the cheap, I didn't worry about hopping the beer. But apart from that, the beers were flowing and were enjoyed by all.
The latest batch that I have kegged up in preparations for Friday evening and after the garage has been decked out completly with a table made of wood (opposed to the cardboard boxes that we have used), and a couple of lounges have also gone in and a tv to boot, is the Country Brewer's recipe of Goin' Fishin'. It is a bitter with 1kg of booster, 500g of light booster, 150g crystal grain and hersbrucker hops. I was impredded with the colour and the smell when I kegged it today and I am will be enjoyed on Friday evening.
The latest brew I am doing is another double batch to keep the kegs topped up, especially over the festive season. This isn't a specific recipe but just flavours that I was keen on at the time of purchase.
2 x Morgan's Blue Mountain Lager
1kg Light Malt
1.6kg Dextrose
0.4kg Maltodextrin
24g Hallertau Hops
I think it will be a pretty good brew and look forward to sharing a few around.