Beer thread
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
Yeah kegging is the next level I need to decide if I’m going to go to.
Not sure I can justify the cost with home renovations I have coming up !
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
Yeah kegging is the next level I need to decide if I’m going to go to.
Not sure I can justify the cost with home renovations I have coming up !
Beer dispensers are around £100-150. Kegs are effectively free, re-usable bungs around £2.00
Go for it.
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Black Rock IPA.
Pretty standard, close to 6%, hints of citrus. A good all rounder. Nice drop
Don't get those here. Will be giving a Mangrove Jack Hazy IPA a go next.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
Yeah kegging is the next level I need to decide if I’m going to go to.
Not sure I can justify the cost with home renovations I have coming up !
Beer dispensers are around £100-150. Kegs are effectively free, re-usable bungs around £2.00
Go for it.
Sorry I should elaborate, I’ve been quoted a few hundy to hook up the taps in the wall ( will take a pic to explain better ) and the girl will tell me off for spending it if I do !
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
Yeah kegging is the next level I need to decide if I’m going to go to.
Not sure I can justify the cost with home renovations I have coming up !
Beer dispensers are around £100-150. Kegs are effectively free, re-usable bungs around £2.00
Go for it.
Sorry I should elaborate, I’ve been quoted a few hundy to hook up the taps in the wall ( will take a pic to explain better ) and the girl will tell me off for spending it if I do !
Bugger me, that's getting seriously serious.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Black Rock IPA.
Pretty standard, close to 6%, hints of citrus. A good all rounder. Nice drop
Don't get those here. Will be giving a Mangrove Jack Hazy IPA a go next.
Kiwi company.
I think they’re more consistent than Mangrove Jacks but perhaps MG is better at its best ? I’ll keep brewing and reporting……
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Been a while since I last posted here with more than just some comments.
For me, the home brewing adventure is still going strong and I've been working on technique and methods for a while now tring to improve the final product.
First, a gratuitous pic of a recent beverage, yet another Hazy IPA, this one my Cryo-supertasm using Citra Incognito, Riwaka, Cryo-Citra, CryoPop and Superdelic hops.
After entering a couple of local competitions and getting some feedback from a few professional brewers, I have made some big changes in fermentation and in particular, how I dry hop.
Basically, the feedback has been that the beers are of excellent standard, especially with aroma and hop flavours however, the main critisim has been that there is this slight residual flavour from leaving the beer on the trub too long, especially the dead yeast whilst doing a second (or third) dry hop. This is a classic homebrew flavour.
I did a lot of research and found that a lot of top level home brewers plus professional breweries move their beer off the trub, especially the dead yeast, as soon as they can.
So late last year, I purchased a new Kegland 30l All Rounder and now, when I do a first, second or third dry hop, when fermentation finishes or is very nearly finished, I then I'll move the beer from my Fermzilla as the first fermenation vessel to the new All Rounder as the final vessel specifically for the final dry hop.
It should be noted that I do the last dry hop, usually 150-250 grams, at around 14°C for 24-36 hours and then cold crash for another 48 hrs at 3°C.
Of course, I need to make sure that this is done in a way that avoids any O2 contamination.
So it goes like this:
Brew Day
Start of Fermentation (yes, I'm using our "spare" bathroom, the joys of brewing in an apartment)
Fermentation in progress:
First Dry Hop added:
3-4 days after first Dry Hop added and fermentation completed, moving beer to clean vessel containing hops which has been purged of O2.
Dry hopping at 14°C in the Kegerator:
Keg beer and stare at the amount of hops left in the All Rounder:
Finally, after a few days in the keg carbonating, drink beer and other stuff...
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@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
Been a while since I last posted here with more than just some comments.
For me, the home brewing adventure is still going strong and I've been working on technique and methods for a while now tring to improve the final product.
First, a gratuitous pic of a recent beverage, yet another Hazy IPA, this one my Cryo-supertasm using Citra Incognito, Riwaka, Cryo-Citra, CryoPop and Superdelic hops.
After entering a couple of local competitions and getting some feedback from a few professional brewers, I have made some big changes in fermentation and in particular, how I dry hop.
Basically, the feedback has been that the beers are of excellent standard, especially with aroma and hop flavours however, the main critisim has been that there is this slight residual flavour from leaving the beer on the trub too long, especially the dead yeast whilst doing a second (or third) dry hop. This is a classic homebrew flavour.
I did a lot of research and found that a lot of top level home brewers plus professional breweries move their beer off the trub, especially the dead yeast, as soon as they can.
So late last year, I purchased a new Kegland 30l All Rounder and now, when I do a first, second or third dry hop, when fermentation finishes or is very nearly finished, I then I'll move the beer from my Fermzilla as the first fermenation vessel to the new All Rounder as the final vessel specifically for the final dry hop.
It should be noted that I do the last dry hop, usually 150-250 grams, at around 14°C for 24-36 hours and then cold crash for another 48 hrs at 3°C.
Of course, I need to make sure that this is done in a way that avoids any O2 contamination.
So it goes like this:
Brew DayStart of Fermentation (yes, I'm using our "spare" bathroom, the joys of brewing in an apartment)
Fermentation in progress:
First Dry Hop added:
3-4 days after first Dry Hop added and fermentation completed, moving beer to clean vessel containing hops which has been purged of O2.
Dry hopping at 14°C in the Kegerator:
Keg beer and stare at the amount of hops left in the All Rounder:
Finally, after a few days in the keg carbonating, drink beer and other stuff...
Next level awesomeness.
Are the criticisms of your brew actually valid or are the judges just being colossal beer piston wristed gibbons ?
Even with my shitty ( certainly compared to yours ) set up I constantly surprise people with how decent my beer is, to be fair much of that is them expecting ‘home brew’ to be shite so there is that factor.
Due to going away, busy periods over summer etc I accidentally left my brew in the container for over three weeks with no ill effects as far as I could tell.
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Are the criticisms of your brew actually valid or are the judges just being colossal beer piston wristed gibbons ?
some have very very good palates.
Personal view: I thinkg etting off the trub is overrated. I have been pressure fermenting and then serving straight from the fermzilla all rounder and the beer has been top tier. Mind you, it only lasts a few weeks - but getting off the trub hasn't been something that alarms me (or my beer nerding neighbour).
Your setup looks mint though, it's a great hobby.
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Hard to go wrong with an IPA of that strength. Nice looking head on it too. I suspect it’s pretty decent
I've got the 5L keg and beer dispenser pretty much sussed now. Might keep a keg of this for a couple of months to see how it goes/improves.
Yeah kegging is the next level I need to decide if I’m going to go to.
Not sure I can justify the cost with home renovations I have coming up !
Beer dispensers are around £100-150. Kegs are effectively free, re-usable bungs around £2.00
Go for it.
Sorry I should elaborate, I’ve been quoted a few hundy to hook up the taps in the wall ( will take a pic to explain better ) and the girl will tell me off for spending it if I do !
sounds expensive!
Kegging really has three key bits
- The kegs themselves
- The gas cylinder and regulator, and
- Taps of some form
In reverse order:
You cna get taps that go on the top of kegs and they aren't stupidly expensive. Nukatap are making some very good gear at the moment. I think about 60 bucks for a compact tap unit - but don't quote me on that.For the gas, it's well worth buying a decent size CO2 cylinder. Figure out where you get it tested and refilled though - and don't be scared of second hand. They don't really go wrong. This can be the most expensive part of the kegging experience ... so a lot of people just use sodastream bottles and pay the higher cost. It's CAPEX v OPEX; sodastream is low capex but OMFG they bleed you.
Finally, the kegs themselves aren't super expensive. Used to be a lazy hundy or so for second hand kegs - which work just fine.
My take on it: kegging is great. Dispenses the amount you wnat (a half glass right throuhg to multiple pours/a jug) at the right serving carbonation. The killer feature for me though is the beer drops beautifully clear (pilsner/lager/IPA) with time, and never warms up from the cold crash - so it looks after the hops.
For the hazy, I like serving straight from the fermzilla as oxygen then never gets anywhere near the beer.
Good luck! Happy to provide internet stranger level opinions anytime
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@MN5 and of course the point of my post that I missed (in classic Fern style) was that taps that have to be mounted externally will cost a bit - but shouldn't be hundreds unless you have to do joinery. Just beware of long connections from kegs to taps - it provides a good chance for beer to warm up and get shitty.
This sort of tap is good - just needs a shank to go through whatever you have behind it. Get the length right!
I paid extra for flow control because I struggled with foaming for a long time. Turned out to be shitty shanks, but you learn as you go right
Nukatap - Flow Control - Stainless Forward Sealing Tap
Nukatap - Flow Control - Stainless Forward Sealing Tap - for beer dispensing from BrewShop - your source of malt, hops, yeast and home brewing equipment.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Are the criticisms of your brew actually valid or are the judges just being colossal beer piston wristed gibbons ?
some have very very good palates.
Personal view: I thinkg etting off the trub is overrated. I have been pressure fermenting and then serving straight from the fermzilla all rounder and the beer has been top tier. Mind you, it only lasts a few weeks - but getting off the trub hasn't been something that alarms me (or my beer nerding neighbour).
Your setup looks mint though, it's a great hobby.
I thought that maybe the judges and professionals were over-egging the whole thing too but honestly, I did a side by side comparison of my first brew moved off the trub with the last using the old method and I could tell the difference right away and importantly, so could friends who never knew I'd changed the method.
I find the taste is cleaner and it allows the hops to really shine. However, by changing that last hop addition at a lower temperature and for a shorter period of time also adds to that a great deal.
Also, forgot to add that I do a soft cold crash before moving the beer off the yeast trub to make sure that as much of the yeast and non-haze material drops out of the beer.
I know it's wanky but I honestly believe my beer is noticably better for doing this.
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Wonderful advice fellas.
For point of reference here are the taps in question. I’ve hung them on the wall for decoration in the cave until I decide what I’m doing.
I love the ‘West Coast’ look that they have.
Your beer brewing knowledge is amazing !
( or you’re really good bots
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@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Are the criticisms of your brew actually valid or are the judges just being colossal beer piston wristed gibbons ?
some have very very good palates.
Personal view: I thinkg etting off the trub is overrated. I have been pressure fermenting and then serving straight from the fermzilla all rounder and the beer has been top tier. Mind you, it only lasts a few weeks - but getting off the trub hasn't been something that alarms me (or my beer nerding neighbour).
Your setup looks mint though, it's a great hobby.
I thought that maybe the judges and professionals were over-egging the whole thing too but honestly, I did a side by side comparison of my first brew moved off the trub with the last using the old method and I could tell the difference right away and importantly, so could friends who never knew I'd changed the method.
I find the taste is cleaner and it allows the hops to really shine. However, by changing that last hop addition at a lower temperature and for a shorter period of time also adds to that a great deal.
Also, forgot to add that I do a soft cold crash before moving the beer off the yeast trub to make sure that as much of the yeast and non-haze material drops out of the beer.
I know it's wanky but I honestly believe my beer is noticably better for doing this.
Great info. I'm going to try this for my next 20L batch. Should be an easy thing to do
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@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Brewed the Amber Ale tonight ( not actually on the poster….awkward )
Interested in any opinions on here compared to other brands ?
My Coconut stout is strong, flavourful and outstanding. Absolutely perfect for a winters night.
Brewed 2 of these. Tip: leave for at least 4 weeks before drinking.
The Muntons West Coast IPA I brewed was tasted by the local pub owner/beer festival organiser/craft brewer. He rated it really, really highly - said he'd be seriously happy to have behind the bar of his pub.
Brewing a Mangrove Jacks American IPA so will do a review in a month's time.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Beer thread:
@MN5 said in Beer thread:
Brewed the Amber Ale tonight ( not actually on the poster….awkward )
Interested in any opinions on here compared to other brands ?
My Coconut stout is strong, flavourful and outstanding. Absolutely perfect for a winters night.
Brewed 2 of these. Tip: leave for at least 4 weeks before drinking.
The Muntons West Coast IPA I brewed was tasted by the local pub owner/beer festival organiser/craft brewer. He rated it really, really highly - said he'd be seriously happy to have behind the bar of his pub.
Brewing a Mangrove Jacks American IPA so will do a review in a month's time.
I will do. Intrigued to see how it tastes. Bottling next week so will be ready around early October.
Jeepers. That is some praise for the Muntons.
…..and yep the American IPA was really decent, will definitely be brewing that one again.
I have the Pink Grapefruit IPA ageing in the garage as we speak
Home - New Zealand Homebrew - Black Rock
