Backyard Beer Production

[Martin A1]

Agree about the cerveza (light and great on a summers day with fresh slice lime off the backyard tree) but if your going to go to the trouble of brewing your own, for the love of beer, do yourself a favour and spend an extra $5-$10 and buy quality ingredients from a home brew supplier. Branch out into some different styles. It is worth it I reckon'!
I have done plenty of supermarket brews so don't get me wrong. Much depends upon a steady brewing temperature no matter what you use. Spring is a great time to stock up with quality so get busy.

[djs-sa]

I have done so martin I purchased the brewcraft mexican with no15 brew sugar and the RO unit will ensure quality water too

[fishfood]

Have just opened a 50 litre keg of bitter that has been mellowing for 2 years [very nice ] so on tap atm well mellowed bitter couger and coke apple cider and kilkenny

[MarkEinOz]

G'day Folks,

If your really interested in improving your beers, can I recommend you visit http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com

These guys are as obsessive about brewing as we are about AP!

[jpcw]

Love your setup fishfood

I've been brewing in keg's for over 10 years now and you can't beet it. Had a disappointment earlier this year when my fridge dies on me and I've only just got a new one which isn't set up yet.

One thing I did with my postmix kegs was to stand an esky on it's end and cut a hole the size of the postmix keg. Then I could drop the keg in and fill it full of ice and take it on the road.

[duggeeeea]

Hi John
I have been home brewing (into stubbies) for about 18months using 1 tin Coopers pale ale plus 500gms brew booster which gives about a mid strength beer which I like. However over Easter a neighbour who claimed to "know all" about home brewing said to substitute malt for the brew booster??? I tried one of his made this way ......and there was no comparison to mine!!! (his was a 1000times better beer). How much malt would u use to give a "midstrength" beer??

[jpcw]

If I use malt I put about the same as I would sugar. The Malt one will come out slightly lower in strength but if you’re looking for a mid strength beer anyway then that shouldn’t be a problem.

Malt does make a difference and really adds to the body of the beer although I wouldn’t use it with most of the light flavoured beers such as Pilsners etc as the Malt gives it too much body. It also gives the beer a less ciderry taste that you can get with plain sugar. Another alternative is to use dextrose that also helps with that problem. Going to a keg also helps a lot as well.

My personal view though in order of taste improvement would be
1) Keg. The difference in taste is amazing
2) Malt. For heavier bears this is particularly good
3) Corn Syrup. Adds body, particularly good for stouts and Ales
4) Dual mix. Add two cans for the same quantity of water and add no sugar. This is much the same as adding Malt but also give a bit extra on the other flavours such as bitterness etc.
5) Dextrose. Good for light bears although personally I don’t see enough benefit to warrant the extra cost

For myself I just do number 1 most of the time unless I want to splash out and give myself a treat. When I was doing it bottles way back I used 5 or 2.

Edit. Depending on the brew booster pack you are using it may be 1/2 sugar so check the pack to see if you want to move to pure dextrose.

[jpcw]

One other thing you can try if you want a really unique beer is to add a mix of ginger beer to the brew. It gives really refreshing taste to the beer. If you use a full ginger beer pack then don’t add any sugar or malt to the mix.

[Arnoo]

Hi Fishfood,

I like your brick oven. I'm planning to build one at my place, right next to the area where I'm proposing to put mt AP setup. See attached pic. My AP system will go where the tree and the green area (ferns) is shown currently, along my side fence. This area is at the eastern side of my house, and should get enough sun (I hope) but will be protected by the fierce westerly sun.

Should make a nice entertaining area. I'm hoping that the AP system will be a pleasant sounding "water feature" and it will certainly be a discussion point at pizza parties!

Arnoo

[fishfood]

Grand plans but good on you i hope you achieve your dreams