Don't call it a comeback

Things have been deadly quite on here for over a year, which is a real shame. Anyhow, I stopped brewing for a while thanks to a couple of brews going bad in a row and work becoming more hectic. i was also a little worried about how much beer this hobby was making me drink, so I had to think of different ways of doing it.

So, now to the present. I've moved house with my lovely fiancee (can't work out how to get the accent on the 'e') and now live in a lovely cottage. Several friends have pointed out that this house suits homebrewing so it'd be a crime not to do any, therefore: I'm starting up again. Last week I brewed up a kit for Woodforde's Great Eastern Ale and it is doing pretty well. I tested it today (about a week on) and it's down to 1.019 from 1.040, so I'm planning on leaving it in the fermenter for another week (I'm pretty sure I remember leaving things for 2 weeks before) and then whack it into some mini-kegs. That's the other thing: it's my plan to stop me drinking the stuff too much. I'll split the brew into mini kegs so that it'll keep better and I'll only have to drink it up once I've cracked into a keg. It won't last as long once opened as a standard large keg will, but that'll just stop me from tapping one on a whim on a Tuesday night.

Anyhow, I'll update here next week when I've (hopefully) put the Great Eastern in the kegs and talk about what I have planned next...

Update: Brewer's Choice Old Ale

So I've come back to my house after convalescing at my parents' place for a couple of weeks after the operation.  This means I've finally been able to check up on the Old Ale.  I wasn't too hopeful when I smelled vinegar after opening the fermenting bin.  I was even less hopeful when I saw a whiteish film on top of the beer.  Not to be put off, I took a sample and checked the SG (down to 1.010, which is good).  Just to make sure all was definitely lost I took a swig from the sample jar.  Disgusting vinegar taste.  Disaster!

Oh well, I'll tip it down the drain and start the next brew (Geordie Mild).

On a more positive side, I brought the Wherry in from the shed and have drawn off a bit to see what it looks/tastes like.  Pretty happy with it (it's a bit cloudy but I think that's just a chill haze).

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...

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:

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...