Have a go at simple AG

[clibit]

I've never seen demijohns but I've got 10L and 15L buckets with lids. The 10L buckets came from an Indian take away, cost nowt, and are sturdy, held yoghurt.

 

[MyQul]

Ah cheers will give this another go then with something else. Glad i have a kept a record of all my attempts, would be lost if i hadn't.

Different subject but can you get 10l demijohns anywhere or even 15l?

Are you specifically after glass? I have a number of 5L food grade plastic jerry cans which are very much like demijohns. I bet you could get 10L or 15L ones from somewhere

 

[Tony1951]

I did my first AG yesterday, just 4.5 litres, using pilsner malt, crystal malt, and crystal rye (running before I can walk?), with centennial, cascade, and East Kent Goldings hops. I'll post how it turns out.

I bet it will be mind blowingly good :)

 

[BeerCat]

Cheers for the info guys, probably wait until i see some cheap sh on gumtree. I like the fact they are glass as its fun to watch them go crazy. Mrs is fed up with the 100l of beer i have in the kitchen though, no idea why.
Clibit drinking my pale ale with saaz and summer hops after 2 weeks in bottle and its really not bad. Will do it again with single hops of each to see what the difference is. Not brewed anything for a few weeks and i am getting twitchy, very twitchy. :)

 

[kieran90]

What a great post! Can I ask, How did you deal with the overflow? haha

 

[kev192]

finally did my theakstons all grain kit today, my 2nd attempt at all all grain beer.
a couple of things went wrong, the burco 32l bloiler decided not to work after i dunked the grains in what i thought was 20 litres plus in fact was 15 plus about to to allow for the drain tap. so i emptied it all out and then found a reset button on the very underneath, i had tested the fuse as well. ok so all now working, got the temp upto 65 deg and switched off, i didnt wrap it to save the heat because i would just turn the thermostat on again to keep it above 65, it got to 70 at most.
so that went ok except that the bag with the grain split as it burnt on the bottom of the heater. so then it was tied via the cupboard above. when i went to drain it all off the tap was blocked so i had to bail it all out into my other stockpot. using a seive to get the grains out as well.
then onto the boil, guess what i forgot to start the clock once it reached the boil. i guessed it had been going at least 30 mins so started again all the hps had been put in at the right times etc and a lovely smell was in the house.
then it was all bailed out again onto the fv and then topped off to 23l from about 15 litres, i then dunked it in the bath and tried to cool it down, took ages but pitched the yeast around 27 deg. in all took about 4 1/2 hours which was faster than last time. the sg before pitching was 1036 at 27 deg
hopefully it will be ok
more updates later

 

[kev192]

bubbling away really well this morning
:

 

[BeerCat]

This is probably my best brew so far. A stout and was my 18th stovetop AG. Similar to Guinness but not quite as thick and with an off white head. 18 days in the demijohn and 3 weeks conditioning

800g marris otter 67.7%
200g flaked barley 16.7%
100g roasted barley 8.3%
100g crystal 100 8.3%

15g fuggles @60
5g EKG @5

Brewersfriend says OG 10054 FG 1013 but i got OG 1044 FG 1010
Still came out really well and drunk half of it last night. Gonna be doing 15l next time.
Any suggestions on tinkering with this recipe most welcome. :)

 

[clibit]

That recipe looks good. Lots of ways to tinker. Use different crystal malts, like dark crystal or crystal rye, or replace some of the roast barley with black malt, or add some chocolate malt. A different yeast would change it too, and different hops. Try an American hop like Centennial or Cluster, or an English hop like Bramling Cross or Northdown.

 

[davemorton]

Well have spent my afternoon reading this thread from start to finish, and it's got me all excited. So I am off to order a 15l pan from Amazon, and get some supplies with the intention of having a go late on in the week.
And this leads me to my problem, I always try to run before I can walk.
The ideal brew I want to make is one I always go back to again and again in Belgium. It is a traditional Belgian triple base with two times the amount of malt which achieve 11% ABV. It has a wonderful thick head and a slightly sweet taste.
Would it be possible to do this, and if so, could anyone kindly point me in the direction of a recipe/quantities of what I will need before ordering it all. If it all goes pear shaped, never mind, if it works.....so good!
Many thanks to Clibit for the original post.

 

[GlentoranMark]

Well have spent my afternoon reading this thread from start to finish, and it's got me all excited. So I am off to order a 15l pan from Amazon, and get some supplies with the intention of having a go late on in the week.
And this leads me to my problem, I always try to run before I can walk.
The ideal brew I want to make is one I always go back to again and again in Belgium. It is a traditional Belgian triple base with two times the amount of malt which achieve 11% ABV. It has a wonderful thick head and a slightly sweet taste.
Would it be possible to do this, and if so, could anyone kindly point me in the direction of a recipe/quantities of what I will need before ordering it all. If it all goes pear shaped, never mind, if it works.....so good!
Many thanks to Clibit for the original post.

Hi Dave, not sure how much your pot costs but THBC have a really good deal for a boiler, wort chiller, bag and grains for £81 which I think is fantastic.

Yes of course it's possible, after a quick Google does this help you?

 

[clibit]

I reckon you'd be wise to make a lower strength beer first time. You could still make a blond Belgian beer, with Belgian yeast.

 

[davemorton]

Hi Dave, not sure how much your pot costs but THBC have a really good deal for a boiler, wort chiller, bag and grains for £81 which I think is fantastic.

Yes of course it's possible, after a quick Google does this help you?

Pot is only about £17 so will do for now, I have everything else I need at the moment, and will see how it advances, but thanks for the links. Also the recipe is giving me food for thought.

I reckon you'd be wise to make a lower strength beer first time. You could still make a blond Belgian beer, with Belgian yeast.

I know you are totally right, its one of my faults, wanting to run before I can walk. I think I will tone it down the first time, but use the recipe to guide me towards what ingredients to buy.

 

[clibit]

Something like this:

http://byo.com/mead/item/2827-belgian-blond-style-profile

 

[davemorton]

Something like this:

http://byo.com/mead/item/2827-belgian-blond-style-profile

Oh, that just sounds delicious.

 

[clibit]

The yeast is crucial. Get a good liquid Belgian yeast and it will make the beer. Costs more, but it will make a big difference. The rest of the ingredients are cheap. Here's that recipe reduced to 5 litres:

Belgian Blond Ale

Batch Size (L): 5.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.063 (Based on 70% mash efficiency)
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.57 %
Colour (SRM): 4.5 (EBC): 8.9
Bitterness (IBU): 25.5
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
----------------
1.100 kg Pilsner (81.48%)
0.150 kg Cane Sugar (11.11%)
0.050 kg Aromatic Malt (3.7%)
0.050 kg Wheat Malt (3.7%)

Hop Bill
----------------
8.0 g Hallertau Mittlefrueh Pellet (6.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (start of boil)

Mash at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment at 18-20°C with WLP500 - Trappist Ale

 

[davejhs]

Ive been converted.
Just ordered grain hops yeast etc online for my first brew next weekend.

 

[ilikemysocks]

Ive been converted.
Just ordered grain hops yeast etc online for my first brew next weekend.

Me too... I placed my order last night!

 

[davemorton]

The yeast is crucial. Get a good liquid Belgian yeast and it will make the beer. Costs more, but it will make a big difference. The rest of the ingredients are cheap.

I have never used a liquid yeast, so something else to read up on and learn.
I was thinking this one.
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/white-labs-wlp500-trappist-ale-yeast-p-1029.html

White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast

 

[clibit]

Yeah I've just chucked the 5L recipe into the post above - and it uses WLP500. It's the Chimay yeast.