Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I havent made beer in over 20 years now so Im guessing a lot has changed and frankly I cant remember what I did all those years ago, so I have some questions.
I want something along the lines of Tetleys http://danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_207 ... -ale-440ml so what "can kit" would do the job?
Can I leave a beer ferment till I'm ready the way I can a spirit wash ?
Can I use my hardly ever used molasses fermenter for both beer and rum ?
I thank y'all for answering my silly noob questions :clap:

I haven't had Tetley's before nor have i done extract in a while mate but i'm guessing any English Bitter extract brew would be a good start and i would always recommend using liquid malt to add to the body and flavor of the beer. Also I would highly recommend using a specialty yeast, Wyeast have English Ale ale yeast which are really good.
Beer is a little different to your spirit washes in that the longer you leave it the more the flavor will change, leaving a beer for a longer period of time gives the chance for the yeast to impart off flavors and for the beer to oxidize. Personally I wouldn't leave an ale yeast beer in the fermenter for longer than 2 weeks.
I haven't had a problem doing different brews in 1 fermenter but you do need to wash and sanitize 110%, you need to make sure you get rid of any smells otherwise they will come through in the beer. worst case just use a small amount of bleach, wash thoroughly and rinse thoroughly then sterilize thoroughly.

If you are going to use cans then I would recommend using 2 cans to get any decent flavour and avoid adding dextose.
If you require more sugar use malt extract but keep in mind the ratio is different - 1kg Dextose does not = 1kg extract (from memory its about 1.2kg extract).
Wyeast is really good but expensive for using with cans.
Fermentation temp is VITAL for getting the right flavours from the yeast.
I am not sure if you can get these in Aussie but in NZ you can order fresh Wort direct from some of the craft breweries and you just add water to make an amazing beer better than any cans.
And yep, be super sterile or you will end up with beer tasting like dishwashing liquid or worse.
When bottle conditioning avoid using dextose as well - use dried light malt extract.

Have fun!

Food for thought, thanks guys :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The Stig wrote:I havent made beer in over 20 years now so Im guessing a lot has changed and frankly I cant remember what I did all those years ago, so I have some questions.
I want something along the lines of Tetleys http://danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_207 ... -ale-440ml so what "can kit" would do the job?
Can I leave a beer ferment till I'm ready the way I can a spirit wash ?
Can I use my hardly ever used molasses fermenter for both beer and rum ?
I thank y'all for answering my silly noob questions :clap:

My family used to import tetleys from UK many moons ago. Actually I use a tetley keg as my boiler.

Coppers do a decent English Ale cans you get from big w are ok. I've done them before and used light dry malt as a fermentable and taste quite good. It's going to be hard to make the texture of the head as this comes down to the widget can it comes in.

As for leaving your brew for weeks before bottling, I wouldn't as the yeast will start developing undesired flavour to the beer. It's not an issue for distilled washes so much as it is for beer.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

minimalist_1 wrote:
My family used to import tetleys from UK many moons ago. Actually I use a tetley keg as my boiler.

Its a nice drop, but at $75 for 24 cans its just to dear to drink all the time.
So, I bit the bullet, went to see Craig at Tru-Brew and came home with this lot:

The tub on the right looks to be malt :think:
Craig says its closer to Kilkenny, another enjoyable drop.
I will make it up on the weekend and report back in a month or so.

Don't rush and STERILISE!!
Don't put your nose near the fermenter to take a whiff, your breath will infect it.
Maintain temps and patience.

Good Luck :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Choice Bro wrote:Fermentation temp is VITAL for getting the right flavours from the yeast.

100%. That's what always puts me off making beer. Living in the tropics like me you really needed a dedicated fermenting fridge you can put your fermenters in especially if you want to make lager. took me ages when I was a newbie beer maker long before I knew about brewing internet forums to figure out why the beer I made in summer always tatsed like shit in comparison to winter. But like spirits if you get it right..wow...beats any beer you can buy at a bottlo.

OK, so I made up the beer as per the instructions on Saturday morning.
By Wednesday the bubbling in the air lock had stopped.
Today (being Thursday) I took a hydrometer reading and its sitting on 26 just below the red 1.000
Do I just keep waiting and checking every few days ? Or is this as far as it goes and I need to bottle ??

Hey mate, I can't recommend this site enough for tips on brewing http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html. The first chapter is a step-by-step guide.

You'll want to leave it in the fermenter for another week or two, the bubbling in the airlock shows the primary phase (where the alcohol is generated), after then there is the conditioning phase, where the yeast is cleaning up nasty tasting biproducts that were created during fermentation. If you were thinking of racking to a second fermenter now's the time to do it.

blond.chap wrote:Hey mate, I can't recommend this site enough for tips on brewing http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html. The first chapter is a step-by-step guide.

You'll want to leave it in the fermenter for another week or two, the bubbling in the airlock shows the primary phase (where the alcohol is generated), after then there is the conditioning phase, where the yeast is cleaning up nasty tasting biproducts that were created during fermentation. If you were thinking of racking to a second fermenter now's the time to do it.

I agree with leaving it. I leave mine for at least 3 weeks. I use to rack into a second during this time but a wise brewer convinced me you are just cutting your yeast count. I usually only rack into a second once I'm ready to clear and then I cool it as low as I can.

If any tip I found important is keep your temps low and try to keep them consistent. High temps give off flavors. :puke-huge:

PJ

leave it a few more days. Not sure how you got under 1.000 with them ingredients. Did you use a enzyme or something?

Maltodextrin is hughly unfermentable and using only that and malt I am very surprised it got that low. Any way not to worry just strange lol.

Just leave it for 3 days and check again I doubt it will drop more. If you got a fridge you can clear it a little in that for a day or 2 by dropping temps to close to 0 as you can get, then bottle.

Thanks guys, I will leave it for a couple of days and test again.
I dont have any way of controlling the temps and I dont have a spare vessel to decant to :crying-blue:
But good news is I won 160 crown top beers bottles on eBay for the pricey sum of $20.50 :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Congrats on the crowns..

I usually chuck a wet towel and a t-shirt around the fermenter. If you can put it in a shallow water bath or the laundry sink ( if she let's ya ) the evaporation will cool it a feww degrees also protect it from the sun..

There is no rush getting it into a bottle. Even if fermentation is finished letting it lager " mature" in the fermenter is ok.
Last thing you want to do is make little glass grenades. :scared-eek:

Happy brewing
PJ

Popcorn Jack wrote:
I usually chuck a wet towel and a t-shirt around the fermenter.

This I could do, great idea :handgestures-thumbupleft:

yeah that works alright but still not the best in a shed in the middle of summer I found even with putting few ice blocks like for lunch boxes and a wet towel draping into the water bath does work a little better.

Then you will end up with something like this, keeps 3 x 30lt fermenters to any temp and can drop temps to 1-2deg (one on the right can freeze the beer). Ignore the mould I dont clean the outside of them haha. Could fit 2 20lt cubes in the left one and have 4 at a time going but dont brew enough and that fridge doesnt get used much anymore.

Mine are not in the shed, they are in the house :laughing-rolling:

Hey stig you ever bulk prime? Or do you put sugar in every bottle.

PJ

This is the first beer I have done in about 25 years or so.
Never heard of bulk priming, I will be using the carbonation drops.
All Im looking for (at this point in time) is a decent drop to have after mowing the lawn or working on the car.
Things might progress at a later date.

[quote="kelbygreen"]leave it a few more days. Not sure how you got under 1.000 with them ingredients. Did you use a enzyme or something?

Stig did you mean its sitting at 1026, if so its got a way to go

Personally if it's been at 1 temp i would leave it now, if it's got down to 1026 the flavor profile of the brew is allready there and won't change to much now, it hasn't been extra hot so im guessing it would have stayed pretty constant in your house.

Ale yeast id leave 2 weeks from start.