Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted October 14, 2018 Posted October 14, 2018 To quote Bernard Miles' Mackeson ad of 1965 - if you don't remember it you drank too much Mackeson! Quote It looks good, it tastes good, and by Golly it does you good! Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 14, 2018 Posted October 14, 2018 2 hours ago, Gary Taylor - Scotland AO said: This is a bad idea Dave, you’ve a lot of work to get through this winter without this sort of distraction You’re right of course, but I’m also thinking alcohol may be required when it comes to those FW tub sides/rear panel/arch joints. 2 Quote
Alan France Posted October 14, 2018 Posted October 14, 2018 We can get to Dover in less than 2 hours so use a well know wine supermarket in Calais. (Others are available.) Spend £250 and get a free return ferry or tunnel ticket for car and passengers. We always go for the really, really, good stuff at £1.99 a bottle. That’s our tin top full and smiles all round. 1 Quote
Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO Posted October 14, 2018 Posted October 14, 2018 11 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said: You’re right of course, but I’m also thinking alcohol may be required when it comes to those FW tub sides/rear panel/arch joints. Best start your brew now then! Not that a man of your abilities will have a problem with FW body work I'm sure Looking forward to your "refresh" thread already! Quote
Blatman Posted October 14, 2018 Posted October 14, 2018 On 12/10/2018 at 22:17, Captain Colonial said: ...said The Voice Of Experience... There was an advert on the telly... Er... Quote
SootySport Posted October 15, 2018 Posted October 15, 2018 On 14/10/2018 at 09:57, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: It's been several decades since I started so my kit is more 'established'. Most start with a fermentation bin like this and bottles. If you have somewhere warm to put the fermenter so much the better, or you can use a heater like this as I do because my basement is never warmer than about 15ºC. A book such as this might be a wise buy. For serious beer making at an intermediate level as is mine, a keg or two are best for storage and dispensing. Bottles are a pain to clean and fill. Briefly my brewing routine is like this: As I use a kit (alarmingly out of stock!) but I don't follow their directions. Pour the wort (liquid kit contents) into a large stainless jam making saucepan. Boil three litres of water in two kettlesful and add to the wort washing out the wort tin on the way. Stir and bring to the boil very carefully (it foams) and simmer for about ten minutes during which the foam subsides (the 'break') and then pour into the fermenting vessel which has already got some cold water in to reduce the thermal shock to the plastic tub. Boil a kettleful of water and then dissolve a kilo of sugar in the preserving pan with the water and then add to the fermenter. I then carry the fermenter down to my basement but that's just local action! Make up to 40 pints with cold water and then stir in the yeast from the sachet. Cover with the lid but if using a snap down lid like the one shown leave it very slightly unfastened to allow gas to escape. Maintain 20 - 23ºC ideally. After a week if no bubbles are rising in the brew then it's ready to keg (in my case). Usually I leave it for ten to fourteen days to be sure as I don't use a hydrometer. I then run it through a plastic tube from the tap on my fermenter. Add finings here and close the barrel to allow clearing. After a week the beer is usually clear (the first half pint is cloudy because of yeast settling in the tap, but thereafter it's clear. I do not prime with further sugar as that doesn't work in my cold basement and tends to cloud the beer again anyway - it's a secondary fermentation. Often I don't need to put CO2 on the barrel at all or only for part of the barrel's contents because natural condition produces enough gas. Cleanliness is paramount if you don't want to make vinegar. I use sodium metabisulphate to sterilise my equipment. A strong solution (enough to make your eyes water - a teaspoon per pint of water) sloshed about in a freshly washed vessel seems sufficient. I reuse mine until it no longer makes the cat sneeze! Most home brewers start out keenly but give up after a couple of failures, but it really is worth pressing on if you want a decent pint of ale on tap at little inconvenience. Art of Brewing is where I buy stuff but there's a few out there and I didn't bother with using the very basic ingredients and mashing my own wort, I use a kit. It's the beer I'm after not the making of it. But there's a whole community out there who really do it properly. This forum has all the enthusiasts you could ever want - a bit like WSCC! Cheers! So where is this pub? Looks very appetising Quote
pistonbroke Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 On 14/10/2018 at 12:18, Alan France, Route66 - Shows & Events Coordinator said: We can get to Dover in less than 2 hours so use a well know wine supermarket in Calais. (Others are available.) Spend £250 and get a free return ferry or tunnel ticket for car and passengers. We always go for the really, really, good stuff at £1.99 a bottle. That’s our tin top full and smiles all round. Soon to end as Brexit arrives Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted October 18, 2018 Posted October 18, 2018 11 hours ago, pistonbroke said: Soon to end as Brexit arrives Soon? I should live so long! It looks interminable from here. 1 Quote
Alan France Posted October 18, 2018 Posted October 18, 2018 What’s Brexit, I’ve seen nothing in the press or on TV about it? Quote
Jim cunliffe Posted October 18, 2018 Posted October 18, 2018 On 13/10/2018 at 19:05, DamperMan said: Can’t beat some home brew. I went to an Oktoberfest last night and.... still suffering so i’ll Be very dry tonight. Me too, went on Friday don’t remember Sat !! Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted October 18, 2018 Posted October 18, 2018 This is a tribute to my Westfield! 1 Quote
BigSkyBrad Posted October 27, 2018 Posted October 27, 2018 Many years ago, my dad tried beer brewing but it didn't last long - inconsistent brews and exploding bottles. Luckily, it is legal to distill in NZ for personal consumption - as long as you don't sell it, it's all good, so he's been distilling for the last twenty years. He has used it for barter, if someone does him a favour or a 'cashie', they go away with a bottle of bourbon under their arm. Whether that is for profit is arguable, and frankly the authorities are busy enough chasing weed farms and meth labs to be worried about some old coot 'giving away' hooch! His still is a converted copper household hot water cylinder, and he yields 33 litres per batch. Consistently 36-38% alcohol, you don't get a hangover because he charcoal filters it for months, and keeping the alcohol percentage low means you don't go blind! Essentially vodka, he then flavours it with essences from the home-brew shop to get scotch, bourbon, gin, rum etc. To further the taste, a bottle of whisky will get a stick of oak dropped in and left to diffuse, bourbon gets hickery etc - the sticks come from the homebrew shop and are from cut-up old distilling barrels. My mum is in on it too and makes Baileys, and her two favourites - mason jars stored with gin-soaked prunes (lovely with ice-cream), and brandy-soaked red grapes. 3 Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 27, 2018 Posted October 27, 2018 ^i think I want to emigrate! 1 1 Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted October 27, 2018 Posted October 27, 2018 My liver is already pickled enough thanks! 1 Quote
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