New brew-m

[Northern Brewer]

Good evening

Started brewing when I was about 14, mainly Geordie beer kits (boil in the bag) and country wines and stopped when I discovered that girls don't like real ale much and most of my wine took the enamel off your teeth. I restarted about 5 years ago when I moved back up t'north after 20 years in the south. I didn't go back to kits but started all grain, the improvement in quality was startling.

My baby burco has sprung a few leaks at the seams (metal tape works a treat!) and I'm just considering moving up to something like the Brewzone kit. 40 pints disappears far too quickly : and a friend wants to go halves on the kit.

I have less brew time now with 2 young kids so I want to reduce mashing time down from most of the day to half a day or so. Next challenge is to reduce bottling time, I'll mini-keg a bit but bottles are the best for longer storage - unless anyone knows better. :idea:......

I'm on the Yorkshire side of the yorks/lancs border. Bridestones micro-brewery is not far away and Dan the owner is a good chap who helps out with the odd ingredient when your desperate on a Sunday.

Cheers
NB

 

[Shrek]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[StrangeBrew]

Welcome...

:

 

[eggman]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[Dr. B]

Welcome - fairly local to me, nice place you must live!

Not previously heard of Bridestones, I must look them up!

 

[31bb3]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Welcome to the forum :drink:

 

[Moley]

Not previously heard of Bridestones, I must look them up!

Unclepumble has: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10762

Welcome to the forum NB :

 

[Aleman]

I'm just considering moving up to something like the Brewzone kit.<snip> and a friend wants to go halves on the kit.

Brewzones kit is excellent, although it may appear costly, he cuts no corners and makes no bodges. What he supplies works, and works well.

Building it yourself is cheaper, but you have to factor in the time, and tools needed, and doing it about three times as you come up with better ways of doing it. . . . If I had my time again, I'd probably consider buying it rather than doing it myself . . . In fact if I ever upsize again I will be buying a ready built plant :twisted:

 

[Northern Brewer]

Not previously heard of Bridestones, I must look them up!

Unclepumble has: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10762

Welcome to the forum NB :

Cheers Moley!, however, different Brewery
This ones in West Yorkshire not Cheshire
http://www.bridestonesbrewing.co.uk/

Up in t'hills above Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, just near the 2nd highest pub in Yorkshire, The Sportsmans arms (about 1350ft) (just closed a few weeks ago :cry: ) there is a pile of rocks called the Bridestones. Some are upturned bottle shaped, formed by rain and wind erotion. There used to be two next to each other called the bride and groom, the groom has now toppled over, probably due to the pub nearby :party: but once upon a time theyre used to be weddings there, probably still is.

Anyway, Dan's brewery is on the same road near a village called Blackshaw Head where there are only two seasons, August and Winter.

Cheers
NB

 

[Northern Brewer]

Brewzones kit is excellent, although it may appear costly, he cuts no corners and makes no bodges. What he supplies works, and works well.

Building it yourself is cheaper, but you have to factor in the time, and tools needed, and doing it about three times as you come up with better ways of doing it. . . . If I had my time again, I'd probably consider buying it rather than doing it myself . . . In fact if I ever upsize again I will be buying a ready built plant :twisted:

Cheers Aleman!

Time is against me so I although I have the tools, I want to spend more time brewing than building :

I've been brewing in the house up to now but the GF hates the smell as she was brought up near the Boddingtons brewery and she disliked the constant smell of malt and hops - strange!

So now I'm moving into the barn, it has two floors, I'll mash and ferment on the first floor and boil on the ground. I used a surface spring (AKA sheep wee) when brewing in the house but I only have borehole water in the barn. Its full of iron coming out of the ground however it goes through an iron filter which removes most. I think I'll get it tested to see what minerals it has before the first brew, see what adjustments I need,

Cheers
NB

 

[shocker]

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

I had a similar predicament on the farm with a spring - found UV light treatment the best way to sort the nasties out without doing in the mineral content . That and filters of 5 micron or less .

 

[Northern Brewer]

cheers Shocker!

I do use a UV and particle filter however most of the others in the village don't. They have 11 toes which help when your counting in guineas however I'm not sure its down to the water

I've been brewing with the spring without adding much to the water in terms of salts however I aim to getting the mineral contents of both spring and bore hole tested to see whats best for brewing.

Cheers
NB

 

[shocker]

From my experience on farms in different parts of the country the borehole is likely to be the most stable , but I reckon you know all that already and the tests will tell all .

Let us know how you get on .... I have mentioned elsewhere my experiences with springwater and the burial of a 17 hand stallion (thankfully dead at that point) next to wellhead ...oh , how we laughed :party:

 

[Northern Brewer]

Cheers Shocker!

Water is a big issue up here for most people, there's either too much or too little so were always avoiding it or storing it and few are on mains water.

One problem I'm having with the forum are the acronyms, RIMS, HERMS etc, is there a glossary or any docs I can read on all grain kit to get up to speed? I don't tend to refer to HLV, FV or mash tun, but usually bucket or nappy boiler so I guess I should start talking the lingo :grin:

cheers
NB

 

[shocker]

Top left hand corner of the page mate , cant see the wood for the trees ! Underneath "links" , covers most but not all acronyms . I have still to get to grips with a few - it was all plastic buckets and bottle brushes when I left off .... :? :cry:

 

[MrO]

Hello and welcome N.B, ive been a member here for one whole day now

i see you mention Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.. ive got friends in Hebden, great place with great beer. Are you familiar with the Blue Pig? :hmm:

 

[Northern Brewer]

Thanks shocker, found the glossary and looked up HERMS on the web, relieved its not a genital disease after all, is it? :pray:

Mr O - yes I know of the Blue Pig, walked past it but never imbibed there, however there are lots of stories about it. The Fox and Goose in Hebden is probably the best for real ale however others like Stubbins Wharf are not far behind. Todmorden is OK too, the city centre is full of fizz except the three monkeys and the new wetherspoons however outside the centre there's much better beer to have. Staff of Life and Shepherds rest are great.

Cheers
NB