Hi All,
My name is Bob and I live in Liverpool.
My first venture into homebrewing was back in the late 80s when I brewed a few of the Tom Caxton type one tin extract kits, which I then used to put into a plastic barrel. After a couple of years of relatively successful brewing (my results were drinkable but nowhere near as good as those I bought in the pub or from the supermarket), my barrel developed a leak and I never got around to fixing it or doing any further brews.
Over 30 years later, and after a journey that's took me from drinking mass produced lager (occasionally bitter), through continental bottled lager to cask ale and craft beer, produced in a lot of cases by people who started out as homebrewers, I thought it was time for me and my improved palate to give it another go.
So far I've been brewing using malt extract rather than full grain due to its slightly less complex process and the fewer bits of equipment that are needed. I've produced a couple of beers, the first being a Chinook IPA and the second a Citra Pale Ale, which both involved steeping speciality grains to begin with, alongside using hops at various points during the boil as you would expect and also dry hopping both beers. Both brews were bottled and the results were on a different level to what I produced 30 years previously in all aspects of the beer so I was very happy.
For my next brew, and for old times sake maybe, I've bought a Geordie Bitter kit, which I am thinking of experimenting with and might split into two. I'll use dry malt extract rather than brewing sugar for fermentation for both parts to hopefully improve the body of the beer, and might dry hop one half of the brew but not the other (or maybe dry hop with two different kinds of hops) so I can compare the effects. Anybody done anything similar or has any recommendations for 'pimping up' one of these kits?
Ultimately I would like to move to full grain at some point, possibly starting out with the Brew In a Bag method, although I may either need to get a bigger boiler for this or reduce the volume I'm brewing.
As I have a Bramley apple tree in my garden, as well as another apple tree that produces eating apples (not too sure which type but it could be Braeburn) I've also thought about trying my hand at cider instead of baking far too many apple pies.
Also on the plant front I thought I'd have a go at growing some hops so have planted a couple of Prima Donna (First Gold) rhizomes in my garden so I'll see how they develop (if at all!).
Anyway I've a lot to learn, and this forum seems to be a hive of information from friendly people with lots of experience so hopefully some of the knowledge will rub off.
Cheers
Bob
My name is Bob and I live in Liverpool.
My first venture into homebrewing was back in the late 80s when I brewed a few of the Tom Caxton type one tin extract kits, which I then used to put into a plastic barrel. After a couple of years of relatively successful brewing (my results were drinkable but nowhere near as good as those I bought in the pub or from the supermarket), my barrel developed a leak and I never got around to fixing it or doing any further brews.
Over 30 years later, and after a journey that's took me from drinking mass produced lager (occasionally bitter), through continental bottled lager to cask ale and craft beer, produced in a lot of cases by people who started out as homebrewers, I thought it was time for me and my improved palate to give it another go.
So far I've been brewing using malt extract rather than full grain due to its slightly less complex process and the fewer bits of equipment that are needed. I've produced a couple of beers, the first being a Chinook IPA and the second a Citra Pale Ale, which both involved steeping speciality grains to begin with, alongside using hops at various points during the boil as you would expect and also dry hopping both beers. Both brews were bottled and the results were on a different level to what I produced 30 years previously in all aspects of the beer so I was very happy.
For my next brew, and for old times sake maybe, I've bought a Geordie Bitter kit, which I am thinking of experimenting with and might split into two. I'll use dry malt extract rather than brewing sugar for fermentation for both parts to hopefully improve the body of the beer, and might dry hop one half of the brew but not the other (or maybe dry hop with two different kinds of hops) so I can compare the effects. Anybody done anything similar or has any recommendations for 'pimping up' one of these kits?
Ultimately I would like to move to full grain at some point, possibly starting out with the Brew In a Bag method, although I may either need to get a bigger boiler for this or reduce the volume I'm brewing.
As I have a Bramley apple tree in my garden, as well as another apple tree that produces eating apples (not too sure which type but it could be Braeburn) I've also thought about trying my hand at cider instead of baking far too many apple pies.
Also on the plant front I thought I'd have a go at growing some hops so have planted a couple of Prima Donna (First Gold) rhizomes in my garden so I'll see how they develop (if at all!).
Anyway I've a lot to learn, and this forum seems to be a hive of information from friendly people with lots of experience so hopefully some of the knowledge will rub off.
Cheers
Bob
