Update: Wherry

Today marked a week(ish) since I put the Wherry into the bottles and barrel and it has been in the Boiler Room to (hopefully) do its secondary fermentation for a week.  So today I moved it out to the shed for some cold conditioning.  Most kits say they are ready to drink after a week or two but this is a lie.  The minimum conditioning for kits is normally about 4 weeks but 6-8 are preferable.  I've read that this one definitely bnefits from a long conditioning and that's good because the Linthwaite is going down quite slowly (thanks to the faff of it being hugely carbonated).

Will obviously let you know how this is when I eventually try it.  The next kit brew I do will be a Brupak's Brewer's choice Old English Ale, which I'm looking forward to as its a little more involved to make the kit up...

First Bottles Labelled

So I managed to get some of Henry's labels printed off and have stuck them to the 4 bottles of Wherry I managed to get filled.  I made my own addition to the label so that I can actually tell what beer is in each bottle, hope you don't mind, Henners!

Bit of a Bottling Nightmare

So I finally got round to barrelling/bottling the Wherry today after school.  My plan was to do what I usually do to put the beer into a barrel then use the tap from the barrel with some tubing on the end to fill six bottles (I've decided I'm going to do this from now on with kits so I have some things to give to friends etc.).  A sound plan you might think?  Well, me too!

But NO!  Transferring into the barrel went fine, aided by a G clamp I bought today to hold the syphon tube in place.  However, my problems started when I realised the tubing I wanted to use didn't fit over the tap so I had to rethink my plan and ended up syphoning again out of the barrel into the bottles.  This was okay but I kept on over filling them and it was a bit hassle-ous.  The tragedy came when I tried to put the crown caps on the bottles.  Two of the bottles I had used wouldn't take the capper!  This means I've now wasted 2 pints (ish) of beer, which is pretty much a cardinal sin in my world...

That said, I now have a barrel and four bottles full of Wherry that ended up dropping to 1.010, which gives me a very rough ABV of 4.1%.  However, this is far from an accurate measurement (one calculator i found online gave me an ABV of 4.8%! Seems a little high...)

I shall post a picture once I've printed labels and stuck them on the bottles...

Damn this weak immune system...

So I was planning on barrelling and bottling the Wherry this week but I feel rather a lot like someone has bricked me in the forehead then poured snot into all of my sinuses.  I had yesterday off work and am off again today but don;t feel up to doing anything (also, don't like the idea of sneezing into the brew).  This is frustrating, but at least it gives the beer some more time to do some preliminary clearing (I've read that this kit can take a while to clear...)

You can be sure that when I do get round to doing this you'll know, committed readers!

Update: Wherry

At 7 days in the FV I figured it was time to check up on this little guy.  Took a hydro reading which came out at 1.012, which I'm pretty sure means it has stopped.  Tipped the sample into a glass (through a tea strainer) and had a taste: it is lovely!  I can see why it has a good reputation as a kit.  My only concern is that it is looking very cloudy.  I plan to leave it until at least Friday before bottling/barrelling to try and get it to clear a bit more.  To aid this I have turned the immersion heater off, hoping that the colder temp will make some of the whateveritis settle out.  Here's a picture how cloudy it is:

First Taste: Linthwaite Light

 The Linthwaite should be ready on Monday but I'm an impatient man so I've (tried at least) to pour myself a pint tonight.  It seems that I may have over primed it slightly as the pint I just drew off was actually only a half of beer with a half of head on top.  Hopefully this will settle down a little because it is a cracking beer.  Will definitely be trying another of these Brupaks Pride of Yorkshire kits...

Bottle Label

So the amazing Henry Ireland has made me an awesome label to put on bottles.  This is it and I love it, there will be plenty of bottles of beer coming your way soon Henry!

Wherry progress

Again, progress as in how it's going, not as in the hops (I think I'll start using the word 'update' instead).

Just check on the Wherry at teh 24 hour point and it's got a healthy frothy head up top, which is encouraging.  Look:

Brewing Woodforde's Wherry

Got home from school earlier than usual tonight (because there are parents evenings this week so I try and get away as early as possible on the other days to make up for it), so I decided that it was finally time to put this Wherry on.  And I took pictures! So here we go:

Started off by cleaning the sink area throughly

Threw all the equipment into the fermenting bucket, added sanitiser powder and filled with hot water

While waiting for the stuff to sanitise, I started getting the yeast ready.  Here it is in the packet: Safale S04, a good substitute for kit yeast, which is normally rubbish.

I poured some boiled water into a sterilised mug and let it cool to 20C or so, then sprinkled the packet onto the top of the water.  Covered the mug with a plate and put it to one side.

At this point I figured I'd get the kit out and start sorting it out.  This is what I'm brewing: Woodforde's Wherry (based on a commercial brew, although I've never tried it).

Put the 2 massive cans into hot water to soften the wort inside

Meanwhile, back in the bathroom...the FV is full of sanitising fluid.

When all the stuff had been in the fluid for 15 minutes, I took it out, rinsed it and left it on the side.

Finally it was time to open the cans up.  This is the first one, after an epic struggle with the tin opener...

Wort being poured into the bucket, the smell that comes off it is heavenly.

Filled each can up with boiled water and stirred to dissolve any wort left on the sides of the can

This is the mixture after both cans and two cans of boiling water were put in.  I normally give it a good stir at this point to dissolve all the wort and stop large globs of it sticking to the bottom and not dissolving properly.

Topping it all up with cold water, note my handy, improvised 2 litre jug...

Hydrometer reading after it's topped up to 23 litres.  You'll have to believe me that it is 1.040

Here we return to our friend S04, who has rehydrated nicely.  Now I just have to pour this into the brew, drop the heater in, plug it in and pop the lid on and we are...

...DONE!

Thanks for reading, hopefully this will show some people how easy this whole business is and make them want to try it...

Appreciation: Cooper's Sparkling Ale

So I figure I might do some 'appreciations' of beers that I drink if it occurs to me to do so.  Tonight, SWMBO has gone for dinner with 'the girls' leaving me at her place with nobody to play with.  I walked her down to the restaurant and called into Oddbins on the way to pick up something to drink.  They had a reasonable selection including this Antipodean offering that I fancied trying because there is a kit version avilable.  So here goes:

As I kind of expected, this isn't really an 'ale' as we in Britain would think of it.  To me, it's much more like a Wheat Beer, which I think of as a lager.  That said, it is nice.  It is pretty fizzy, which is what hits you first, followed by a reasonably high level of bitterness.  The mouthfeel is somewhat thin, but this is made up for by the pretty large aromas coming through the nose.

As you can see, I'm not very good at writing about beer, I'm better at drinking it.  But maybe I'll get better...

Wouldn't it be luverly?

Was 'busy' whiling away some time today when I should really have been doing something else and I found Brewlab's website and details of their 3 day brewing course, which looks awesome to me...

Maybe I'll have to start saving towards this...

Future Plans

So I'm feeling in a speculative mood (looking to accumulate, y'see) so thought I'd put some of my ideas for developing the Boiler Room into more than a glorified bucket...

For Christmas, I have various relatives and significant others coordinated to hopefully furnish me with some lovely new kit so that I can move to the next level.(Extract brewing).

First up, SWMBO (the light of my life) will hopefully be getting me one of these bad boys which, while it calls itself a mash bin, is a boiler with an electric element and a thermostat thingy. This is what I will use to boil the malt extract and hops up together so that they can do their mgical stuff.  It's a 25 litre capacity, so should just about be able to manage a 23l boil (40 pints) without too much risk of boil over but I intend to start off with just very small batches of about 10 litres.  My thinking is that this will enable me to hone my skills more and try out more different things without ending up with huge amounts of beer to drink (I've heard that the stuff's not overly good for you in large amounts...)

And from my parents I'm hoping to receive one of these nifty starter sets.  This is because 10litres is nowhere near enough to put in a big pressure keg like the 2 I have atm, it would risk infection or something.  So the plan is to put half of each 10l batch into one of these, then bottle the other half, giving me a stock of bottles for comparisons and gifts, then a mini keg of each brew to crack open when desired, or take to parties.  The tap system on these is also simpler than the S30, meaning that the flatmate might feel better about drinking my brews.

As I said, my plan is to get a good few extract brews under my belt, then move on to all gain brewing, probably doing small batches to start off with again, but after I'm used to how to do it, who knows!

Plans for the more immediate future are to get the Woodforde's Wherry kit I have on my shelf going at some point this week to give it plenty of time to stop fermenting and start clearing before the budget barrel is available...

Barrelling Linthwaite Light

So, true to my word, I came home and checked the Gravity of this and found it was at 1.012 like yesterday.  Because I didn't think I'd be able to do anything with it later in the week and am heading to Paris for a week after that I figured I should go for it and whack it in the barrel.  I may regret this choice as when I got down to the bottom of the FV, I noticed a few bubbles still going, which suggests that the yeast was still a little active...Oh well...

So here's how it all went down:

I santised the barrel in question (the syphon tube, thermometre and other gubbins are in there too)

While that was going on, I set up the 'area' and boiled ~80g of Brewer's sugar in 200ml of water and left it to cool.

Moved the FV to the table.

Opened it up and had a look.  The bubbles up top should've told me not to do it really, but I'm tired and impatient...

Temperature probe and the aquariam heater.

Barrel done with sanitising and all rinsed out, we're ready to go.

Little suck on the end of the hose and we're in business.

Arty shot of the barrel filling up.

When it's all full up, it goes back to the trusty boiler room to do some secondary fermenting.







And I get a treat for a job well done:

This is the Coopers Stout I wrote about the other day, and it is lovely (this picture does not do it justice...)

Cheers!

Linthwaite Light progress

That's progress as in how well it's going, not as in the hops...

Just took a sample of this and SG was at 1.012, which is normally what a 2 can kit will go down to with S04. Will check it again tomorrow and if it's constant I'll probably wack it in the barrel (will try and take pictures to put up). Was thinking about bottling a few of these in the glass bottles I've been collecting but will see if I can be arsed to go buy a crown capper and caps after school.

I obviously took a swig from the sample I took and it's tasting luverly...

Temperature Issues

So I've got a Brupaks Linthwaite Light fermenting at the moment but thanks to my latest gadget I have noticed that the temperature has been getting a bit high during the days. The max temp has been up near 30 for the past couple of days...

I'm putting it down to the aquarium heater I hang in the brew being on the fritz possibly. Guess I'll have to check it out in some water after this brew is bottled. This will no longer be a problem after I've sorted my temperature control cupboard (a fridge with a heater in it and one of these). There will be more on this in the future...

Milestone Lion's Pride

Chris and I just drank the last couple of pints of this darkish session ale last night. It's the third Milestone kit I have done, and the only one to get down to its target gravity of 1.009 (from 1.040) which I put down to me getting the yeast (a pack of Safale S04 that I substituted) going in a bottle of the wort before pouring it in, and using Yeast Vit.

It was a good, drinkable beer. Being quite sweet and not particularly hoppy, some might say too sweet and not hoppy enough, made it the sort of beer one could knock three or four of which back before noticing how many you'd drunk. One problem was a slight after taste of banana (more so than in the stout that I'm currently drinking) which I think was down to fermenting it a little bit too high.

Cooper's Stout

So I had the first couple of pints of this last night and I must say it is brilliant. I made the kit up with Medium Spraymalt (dry malt extract) and reduced the brewlength to 20l (most kits are 23l as standard). Reducing the length tends to give the brew more body, and this is certainly the case for this beer.

I'd describe the taste as a little more malty than Guinness, but a similar level of hop flavour and bitterness. I overprimed the barrel a little (not deliberately) which means it's quite lively out of the tap. To poor a pint you have to open the tap very very slightly and let it trickle out slowly until the last bit when ou can open the tap up more to get a good head on the top. This is the first of my brews that retains its head for a substantial amount of time, but I don't really care about the sort of thing much.

The only taste problems are that the overpriming has left it a little more carbonated than I would like and there is still a slight 'chemically' after taste to it. For the next brew, I'll try treating the water with a campden tablet to get rid of any nasty chloramines. There is also a hint of a fruity aftertaste (banana?) which I've read can be caused by fermenting too hot, so I'll watch that in the future.

Photo to follow...

Slow Starter

Hi, and welcome to the Boiler Room Brewery Blog.

I started brewing beer a few months back and so far have 4 successful (and 1 unsuccessful) kit brews under my belt. By kit brews I mean the sort of kit that you can buy which contains a can or two of malt extract and some yeast. You basically pour the cans into your bucket, add water then sprinkle the yeast on and hey presto you're brewing! Kit brewing is easy and creates drinkable (some very nice) results. But it is a little boring.

I intend to move towards Extract, and then All Grain, brewing over the next few months, and will write about what I do and how I do it here. As well as what kits I've been up to and what equipment I use.

For now, if you are looking to get into brewing, you could do a lot worse than heading over to Jim's Beer Kit to find out what you want to know.