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
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$434.50 : total
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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.

A summer brew?

Hi All,

Well after having a few people over have drank all of our homebrew, Ginger beer and Wheat beer,its time to clean some botttles and put on a couple of new brews Looking for recommendations, suggestions and recipes for a couple of brews that are good for the hot weather, by the pool and the beach.

Cheers and hope the brewings all going well, especially in this time of sun where beer seems to disappear alot quicker

Cheers

Ginger Beer, a success

The Redbox ginger beer made from the Coopers mix was the final brew for the Bruce brewery with the brewery relocating to the city. This brew we had a couple of small problems with the yeast not starting, a lazy bottler the brew sat in the vat for over 3 weeks and the seal on the vat may of been a little dodgy. Due to impatience and the desire for ginger beer the first bottle was cracked 2 weeks after botttling, and we wait with baited breath to see if this met our lofty standards. We were all very satisfied and I may say the head brewer was quietly surprised due to the earlier issues and knowing that sometimes homebrew can be a fickle beast. So now we have a nice ginger beer, which has quite a nice little bite and just in time for summer. I think the next brew will be an amber or golden ale style beer, probably brewed after house guests consuming all of our wheat beer.