Something like this?
https://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmar...alue-844-p.asp
Something like this?
https://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmar...alue-844-p.asp
Dunno if that's the best value (can't honestly remember what we paid for our stuff) but that's got everything you need yeah, and if it comes with a Coopers kit then as the blurb says Coopers ones are not the most exciting beer going but you'll get a lot of something that's alright for your money and they're hard to fuck up. And then that kit is the same as you'll use for any other basic kits / recipes you fancy as you first get started.
Possibly a stupid question as it's a 30 litre fermenter, but how many pints do you get out of one of these kits? Is it as simple as 30 litres or does it reduce as it brews?
That’s a good question, I’ve no idea.
All you should lose is what's below the tap on the fermenter, but that's basically by design as that's where all the gunge that you don't really wanted that's produced by fermentation settles after the yeast has shat out all the sugar it's eaten (this may not be a technically accurate description of the process.)
So the one we did there was about £24 for a '36 pint' kit and me and my brother-in-law ended up with something like 20-odd bottles each, most of which were 500ml. So you shouldn't lose much.
I'd be surprised if yuo can't buy good starter kits that come with a stout. Or ones that come without the beer kit itself included and get a stout one separate.
This Nigerian Guinness is pretty swish.
What was the quality like of the home-brew kit? Drinkable? Close to the "real thing"?
I've not made anything that's not drinkable yet. I've not made anything that I've been excited about but you can get a lot of decent beer for not that much money and only a little effort.
We're aiming to go for a stout next and hopefully making something a little more exciting.
Edit: "Inertia" by 6 Degrees North is lovely stuff. Big malty imperial thing.
Last edited by Ian; 28-09-2019 at 10:02 PM.
Last of the evening but not least, another amazing imperial from Fierce. Get your hands on their stuff if you like a dark beer and haven't tried them already, lads. These folks know their way around a stout.
This looks like one of those things you'd see on April 1st.
The bottles are already renewable, lads.
“Don’t need ice”. What the fuck is wrong with ice?
It has to be a spoof.
Just picked up some Wicklow Wolf Pointy Shoes. Limited edition 1700 can run. @Ian would love this shit.
Bottling my black ale tomorrow
Oh, if you posted that you'd got a kit I missed it. What did you buy in the end?
Brewsmarter, and then a few bits and bobs after like a proper thermometer and a capper. The lad in the shop ran me through making one and gave me loads of ideas for sprucing it up a bit.
I got a second 30l bucket for bottling but I got a bung and an airlock and put a hole in the lid so I can do two batches at once. My other one is a stout but I did a mini soak of crystal and malt grains as an addition to it and used dry malt extract instead of sugar. Should come out at around 6%.
I dry hopped the black ale last week too, so hopefully there's a good flavour off it.
Yeah you've taken an extra step there already that we've not done yet. We've been babystepping it, though admittedly we were going to do more only that the Cwtch pack was such a good deal when we saw it.
The main point the lad in Home Brew West said to me was that so long as everything is sterilised properly there's not much can go wrong so might as well experiment with hops and all. The mini grain steep is a bit of a faff as you need them at 65deg for 30 mins but apparently it's worth it, especially in a stout. You just use the water to make the beer then.
Yeah no harm in adding more stuff in to see if it makes it tastier.
If you're looking for ideas for future brews it's worth remembering that Brewdog has all of their recipes on their website. Some of them are a bit more complex but they even cover how they'd suggest getting barrel aging effects in home brew and the like.
Definitely be worth a look. There's one of the websites I've ordered from has a recipe builder that you can save and reorder handily too.
I'm gonna have to get the kit out the loft at this rate.
I'm a twit
Are any of these homebrews ever any good? Every single one that I've tried from my mates over the years has tasted absolutely disgusting.
The main thing I was told (after the sanitising) was to spend the bit extra on dry malt extract and some maltodextrin instead of sugar in the brew as it apparently makes all the difference. Also, time. Everyone starts doing stuff like bottling or drinking too early.
We'll soon see anyway, though I have never made a sugar one to compare to.
What do you make these things in? Is it just some plastic barrel (I recall making 'wine' in one of said items many moons ago) that comes as a kit or do you have to have some fancy device for heating it to certain temperatures and the like (a mash tun)?
The extract kits are made in a fermenting bucket, normally around 30 litres in size. You use a mash tun (massive saucepan) for all grain brewing where you’re making the wort from scratch instead of using the extract tins. I’ve my eye on a saucepan as soon as I can clear an area for it but you need other equipment like a cooling coil and stuff like that too, which I’d probably make.
Even if you did boil an all-grain mix you’d end up with it in the bucket to ferment anyway.
I love how Giggles went from 0-100 in a day.
I'm a twit
Balls deep.
I want a setup like that NewtoHomebrew Tom fella has now.
I had some chocolate and vanilla 'Big Milk Stout' by London Beer Factory last night. It didn't taste anywhere close to 7.5% but after a few it felt like I'd eaten a meal.
I never quite know if I like milk stouts or not. But like that, if I ever drink them I'm done after a couple.
I don't know when it started, but my local Tesco has Kriek.
Picked up some Boyne Brewhouse oatmeal stout. Glorious stuff.
Did my stout today. Coopers stout extract tin, 1kg dark dry malt, 200g sugar, soaked 600g of crystal and chocolate malt and added the water, and 700ml of cold brew coffee. Smelled savage and the initial readings would be hopeful for around 5.8%
Was keeping an eye on Eebria today as they've got the new Good King Henry in. £9 for 275ml. Fuck that.
I'll pay a bit for the good shit but that's steep even for me.
Six 500ml Leann Folláin for €15. How could I say no?
Good beer that.
Today I picked up the latest Imperial Stay Puft from Tiny Rebel. This time it's an Irish Cream one so it may be sickly as fuck but I'm prepared to take that risk.
I've the O'Haras in the fridge and I'm into my first home batch. Visually you can see all the mistakes but it's lovely.
Home brew.
About to fire into the Irish cream Stay Puft. Wish me luck.
Beer festival today.
I'm a twit
This is the pale ale from last night. Needs to be well chilled but I ended up not touching any of what I bought. (that’s my coffee stout in the background, bottling it today).
Looks decent enough anyway. How much Coffee Stout will you get out of that?
I should get 42 pint bottles but I think I only have around 37 spare.