Same recipe as previously. The difference here was fermenting in my new Fermzilla fermenter. I had intended to do a pressure ferment but when I went to keg it, I discovered that there was no pressure in the Fermzilla – I had accidentally left the pressure release open! I did my first attempt at a …
Category: Home Brewing
Sep 07 2016
Does full volume mash affect maltiness and body of the beer ?
I came across a very interesting discussion on the effect of full volume mash on the fermentablity of the wort and resulting maltiness and body of the beer in BIAB brewing on HomeBrewTalk. My approach is to mash with about 2/3 of the water with 1/3 reserved for sparging. I have considered doing a full …
Oct 30 2014
Kettle trub in fermenter – could it actually be beneficial?
I used to strain out the trub with a sieve when transferring the wort from the kettle to the fermenter but on one brew I got lazy and just dumped it all into the fermenter, every last bit of trub – hot break, cold break, hops debris and every single drop of liquid and solid …
Aug 13 2012
First All Grain
I just finished my first attempt at an all-grain brew tonight. The process was similar to my partial mash process except no malt extract was used. Due to the restrictions of brewing on top of my stove and available pots, I went for a smaller batch volume of 13 litres. I think it all went …
May 22 2012
Homebrew Competition
I entered my first homebrew competition on Sunday 20th May. The event, organisesd by SOBA Nelson and held at the Sprig & Fern in Nelson, was relaxed and informal. There were 30 different beers, entered by around 15 home brewers. The beers were judged by the entrants so we each had a chance to try …
Apr 23 2012
The pasta maker grain mill
Proper grain mills can be expensive, especially here in New Zealand so when I found out that some home brewers were having success with converting cheap pasta makers into grain mills it seemed like something worth trying and I picked up one on TradeMe for $22. The rollers on a pasta maker are smooth and …
Apr 16 2012
Getting ready to do All Grain on the cheap
I’ll admit it, I’m a frugal home brewer. One of the original attractions to home-brewing for me was the cost savings aspect. But I notice a lot of home brewers get carried away by the hobby and spend a small fortune on all sorts of fancy gear. The home brewing experience for these gear obsessed …
Mar 06 2012
Brewing Software Review – BrewMate
Hey there, this post is a collaboration post with some other home brewing bloggers to review all the different brewing software applications that we use. Links to the other reviews are at the bottom of this post. I came across BrewMate when I was looking for a free recipe calculator application. In the past I …
Feb 22 2012
Working my way through a 28kg bucket of malt extract!
I found a local guy in Nelson that sells home brewing ingredients, Bill Fennell (website – ThatBeerPlace.com). I had a look through is his lists of supplies and the bulk malt extract caught my attention because it cost a fraction of what I usually pay for malt. The only snag was that it came in …
Jan 17 2012
Time for a Toucan
A toucan brew is simply one done with 2 cans of pre-hopped extract. The Coopers Stout that I brewed last year tasted nice but I felt it lacked head and body. It was a bit on the light side and I reckoned it could benefit from more concentration. So it seemed an ideal candidate for …
Jan 14 2012
Getting All Fancy!
For some reason or other I’ve resisted putting labels on my home-brew beer bottles until now as frankly I thought it was just getting a bit silly. Instead I just marked each bottle with the batch number written on a piece of masking tape so that I could tell what’s in each bottle. But after …
Dec 04 2011
Time to ramp up production!
I slacked off on the brewing during the winter, it seemed like I had an endless supply built up, but that ‘endless supply’ dwindled and was gone and I was spurred back into brewing action in October, brewing Batch #8. Then I brewed up Batch #9 last weekend, my first partial mash. But the thirsty …
Nov 25 2011
My Partial Mash Brewing Process
The next step in home brewing that I’m going to take is to do a partial mash. I’ve discovered a partial mash is actually quite similar to doing an extract brew with steeping grains. It just involves more grains soaked for longer time with a bit more attention to temperature and ratio of water to …
Oct 18 2011
A review of my first 7 brews
I’ve documented the process of making my beers here but haven’t yet reported on how they all turned out so it’s high time for a bit of a review. Batch 1 – Kit Brew – Mangrove Jacks Munich Lager A special one because it was my first, but actually I think it was one of …
Oct 17 2011
Batch No. 8 – Cascade & Amarillo American Pale Ale
Despite being over 6 months since I brewed an extract batch, brew night went more smoothly and efficiently than any of the previous extract brews that I’ve done (I must be getting the hang of this home brewing thing!). This time I used the blender to grind up my steeping grain (Crystal 60) – not …
Oct 16 2011
No The Homebrew Didn’t Kill Me!
It’s been a while since I posted here and a logical thinker may surmise that I might have succumbed to the effects of drinking my home brew. I’m happy to report that is not the case. I’ve had a bit of a break from the homebrewing over the winter. But now I’m just about to …
Apr 07 2011
Batch No. 6 – Aidan’s Slutty Red
One of my favorite commercial beers here in New Zealand is Mac’s Sassy Red so I decided to have a go at making something similar. I found a recipe for an approximation called ‘Slutty Red‘ and I converted it for extract brewing and made a few mods based on ingredients available and getting some good advice on …
Feb 22 2011
Batch No. 5 – Nelson Amber Ale
I’m calling this one ‘Nelson Amber Ale‘ because it features Nelson Sauvin hops and I’m brewing it in Nelson. I used the handy Kit & Extract Beer Designer spreadsheet to work out the recipe quantities. It’s basically in the style of an American Pale Ale or an American Amber Ale, but more towards amber than …
Feb 21 2011
Updated Extract Brewing Process
The second extract batch went smoother and quicker than my first one and the brewing process was much more relaxed and enjoyable. The biggest improvement in the process was changing my sanitiser from sodium metabisulphite to iodophor. The sodium metabisulphite requires 1 hour of air drying to work, iodophor just requires 1-2 minutes of contact …
Feb 04 2011
Thar She Blows!
The Coopers Stout kicks out one hell of a big foamy krausen: To deal with this mess, I pulled out the airlock cleaned and sanitised it, cleaned off the mess off the lid and stuck the airlock back in. It’s still foaming out of the airlock a little bit but under control.
- 1
- 2
