Category «Homebrew»

Home brewing

Mangrove Jack Wheat Beer

A local homebrew shop opened, so I felt the only decent thing was to buy a kit to support them.  So, a Mangrove Jack wheat beer, +1kg dextrose + some Morgan’s Hallertau hops.  O.G. 1.042-ish.

Heritage Lager Again

Wow – more than a year between homebrews, again. I’ve almost depleted my stores, which gives you some idea of how much I’ve been drinking and socialising over the past couple of years (not much of either). I find old homebrew basically gets better with age, but maybe I’m pushing it with some of the …

Heritage Lager

Almost a whole year since my last brew (which has worked out great, BTW).  Inspired by a colleague’s homebrew at Friday afternoon drinks, I’ve dragged a kit off the shelf to start another brew.  This time it’s a Cooper’s Heritage Lager, with 600g Dextrose and 400g Maltodextrin.  Nothing fancy.  O.G. is somewhere around 1.042 to …

Mandarin and Coriander Wheat Beer

Something to do with all the mandarins from our tree – a Hoegaarden-inspired mandarin-and-coriander wheat beer.  Cooper’s wheat beer kit, light dry malt, peels from 6 mandarins, and 2.5 tblsp coriander seed.  (All a guess – let’s see how it turns out.)  O.G. is 1.040.

"Traditional" Draught Beer – In a Bottle

After a busy year, I’ve finally had a holiday.  Mostly at home, but we also went to the spectacular Jenolan Caves for a couple of days.  Before I head back to work again, I’ve time to start another beer.  It’s been more than six months since my last batch (which worked out OK, but has …

Wheat Beer

Just over four weeks ago, I started brewing a Coopers Wheat Beer kit, with Safbrew WB-06 Wheat Brewing Yeast, and a kilo of dried wheat malt, all from the Asquith homebew shop a little way up the road.  Two weeks in the primary, racked for two more weeks for bottling.  It’s been a little chilly …

Bottling Day

The day after Christmas is Bottling Day!  Laying down the Dark Ale for Autumn and Winter.  I had racked it 4-5 days beforehand.  Final gravity was 1.01, so it will be just under 5.5% ABV.

Dark Ale Again

It’s been a madly busy year, with barely enough time to drink beer, let alone make any.  But on the weekend I managed to find an hour to put on a new batch.  Hopefully when the Christmas holidays come around in a couple of week I’ll find time to bottle it! I’ve gone with a …

Primed or Unprimed?

I said I’d report back on an experiment I started last November.  For the Chilli Lager I made with a 3kg malt kit, I primed half the batch in the normal way, and didn’t prime the remaining bottles.  The theory is that when using a full malt kit, after primary fermentation and bottling, there should …

Mexican Cerveza

A new brew on the last weekend of my short summer holidays – trying a Cooper’s Mexican Cerveza, with their Brew Enhancer Type 1. OG surprisingly high at 1.054! Sweet, light wort.