The State of Brew

The State of Brew

I can quite understand peoples reluctance to read an entire blog, so i thought i would summarise the adventures so far from 29/12/07 to today 22/04/08.

I would not have made it this far or had so much fun if not for the members of: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/index.php

So the brews so far in order of brewdate:

1, Turbo Cider Alpha -5.7% sharp, farmhouse like cider that was overprimed.

2, Turbo Cider Omega - 12.3% overstrong and overcarbonated to begin with.

3, Prison Hooch - 4.5% instant screwdriver, acidic and tangy.

4, Fruit Frenzy - 5.1% tangy, mellow, ill defined flavours.

5, Coopers Bitter - 4.7% nice bitter, not too thin, good first kit.

6, Turbo Cider Yeast Battle: Bread Yeast - 5.1% sharp and zesty.

7, Turbo Cider Yeast Battle: Wine Yeast - 5.1% mellow and rounded

8, Turbo Cider Ale Yeast - 5.1% drinkable but with snakebite undertones.

9, Turbo Cider Alpha (Batch 2) - 6% less fizzy than first batch but nice.

10, Turbo Hybrid Cider -5.1% gorgeous, light, fizzy, moreish.

11, Turbo Cider Sugar Battle: Molasses - 8% untried. Ready.

12, Turbo Cider Sugar Battle: Demerara Sugar - 8.1% untried. Ready.

13, Geordie Bitter - 4% untried. Resting.

14, Atomic Lemon Sugar Battle: White Sugar - 8.7% untried. Resting.

15, Atomic Lemon Sugar Battle: Demerara Sugar - 10.7% untried. Resting.

16, Tomato Tang - 10.7 % untried. Laid Down.

17, Mead - 10.9% untried. Laid Down.

18, Mead Cyser - 12.3% untried. Laid Down.

19, Turbo Cider Demerara - 8.6% untried. Resting.

20, Youngs Lager - 3.4% untried. Resting.

21, Edme Irish Stout - brewing.

smiles
adam

Edme Stout

Edme Stout

After bottling Mead, Mead Cyser and Tomato Tang, all of which i wanted to lay down for a while. I considered that i get sad when nothing new is brewing in the house, so 45 minutes after i stopped bottling i started brewing.

This is my first stout and i have delusions of keeping it in the keg until Christmas but thats just not going to happen.

Its the first time that i have used all Light Dextrose Malt Extract (DME) as the fermentable sugars.

Usually i use Beer enhancer which is roughly 50% Sugar and 50% DME so this brew should have even more body, which as a stout is a good thing.

I have high hopes for this kit, fingers crossed.

smiles

adam

Tomato Tang

Tomato Tang

Lets not start with a lie, this brew was hard work at the end, their were frustrations and sanitisation wasn't as good as it normally is with me.

The syphon failed immediately, the stuff was too thick. So plan B after some failed tests was to pass the lot of the brew, bit by bit through one of those metalic (sieve like) covers you can put over a frying pan to stop spitting fat.

This got a lot of the solids out of the brew. Then the strained liquid was put through a coffeelike filter and funnel into a clean demijohn. By this point if the stuff was going to oxidise or pick up bacteria it had already happened. Lesson learnt, if you are attempting this recipe do the straining before the fermenting (and maybe use the by product in a pasta or pizza sauce).

Then i funneled it into bottles and sealed it up. Laying this down for a while.

Came out at about 10.7% i think it would be really nice over ice in the summer. It tastes good, like a thin but strong bloody mary with the piri piri sauce adding a fantastic furnace like finish to the taste.

Another brew, another lesson.

smiles

adam

Mead and Mead Cyser

Mead and Mead Cyser

Both of these drinks had over a month in their demijohn's to clear.

Bottled them carefully and i am hoping to leave them alone for 6 months or more now.

At the time of bottling they did not taste good but i am reassured that time is what they need, that said they did taste very alcoholic.

Mead: 10.9%

Cyser: 12.3%

So they are both strong and hopefully with time they will be delicious.

smiles

adam

Youngs Lager

Youngs Lager

I am not a big lager drinker, once a year i drink lots of lager in a field in Devon with a lot of friends but thats because little bottles of lager are easy to drink and i don't mind it warm

Otherwise i drink lager every now and again but wouldn't go out of my way for one.

With a beerkit and a ciderkit (hybrid) under my belt i thought that i would give a lager a go, that way i have something to drink in a field at the end of July and my lager loving friends can drink this while i keep my supplies of ciders and beers up.

Simple kit to do, nothing fancy about it, used beer enhancer to give it a bit of body, 16 days in the fermener and bottled. Should be about 3.4% when it has rested.

smiles
adam

Turbo Hybrid Cider - Tasting

Turbo Hybrid Cider - Tasting


This is the first cider that i have kegged, the main disadvantage of this is that i cannot chill it as easily as a bottle.

Pouring this creates a dance of particles, rushing around the glass in a spiral before quickly clearing.

It is a very drinkable cider, it tastes a little more commercial than Turbo Cider but using apple juice as the fermentables leaves it with a glorious apple-y aftertaste.

I am trying to be good and letting this one mature a bit but it is moreish. After 5 weeks i'd say i can't believe that this cider isn't available on a commercial basis (but those are dreams for another day).

smiles
adam

Turbo Cider Alpha (Batch 2) - Tasting

Turbo Cider Alpha (Batch 2) - Tasting

They say that you can never go back, even though this has the same basic recipe as the first batch it is a shallow imitation.

Thats not to say that it isn't gorgeous it just doesn't have the fun and flavour of the first.

It could be that i used a different juice brand, that i let it ferment a few days longer but i think its the fact that i overprimed the first batch and this gave the drink flavours and overfizziness that i really liked.

I don't mind this learning curve, at least i get to drink along the way.

smiles
adam