Darryl
Not often you find an article with such a great summary of beer related facts and information, but here is one.
Brewing is a MacGyver type experience where you can keep evolving your brewing equipment and technique. Even if I do make the perfect beer I would still look at ways to improve the process and the end result…what a great hobby.
Jump on board if you are not making your own beer and experience the satisfaction of making a style of beer you want to drink.
Darryl
Darryl
Following along from the cube system…why not make up a yeast starter using DME and leave (Boiled wort) in a cube overnight. This way you minimize the risk of infection and can aerate the starter with the Bamix stick blender (or other form of aerator), the next day or whenever. The starter wort can even be refrigerated to get ready for a lager yeast.
Cheers Darryl
Darryl
Been thinking about a process that will minimize the risk of infection, but give the yeast a great start….
So, despite having a cooling system….I am keen to continue with the cube system. Placing the boiling wort directly into a plastic food grade cube (swirling wort around all surfaces to ensure minimal bacteria survives) and leave to cool overnight.
The idea is to use a clean and sanitized Bamix stick blender in the cooled wort after the yeast has been added.
What does everyone think?
Cheers Darryl
Mat
Over the weekend I passed through Yarra Glen and as I walked by, Gill noticed that one place served craft beer, I looked up and laughed because I had missed Hargreaves! Well, we had to go in and we started with the stout and Russian Imperial Stout (RIS). The stout is full of flavour, but unlike many other craft stouts I have tasted recently the roasted notes are far more balanced. The stout is a nice beer and the RIS is the queen to this prince, served in a pear-shaped, angular glass and very rich – go and try it for yourself.
It was at this point that I decided a tasting paddle was a nice idea.. which I usually do first. The quick run down is that the Hefeweizen was the nicest that I have had in this style of recent times. I prefer my Hefeweizen on the drier side like this one and not being the biggest hop lover, I was surprised to enjoy this wheat beer with a more noticeable hop flavour than usual. I will be drinking this one again soon.
Now I love a Dubbel and I found that Hargreaves have an easy sipping Dubbel that I will also be coming back for. The colour was far lighter than I expected, being red, though the beer was very well balanced. This was actually my favourite beer, though the stouts are still extremely impressive.
Now for the pale and ESB. Fellow brewmate Toby adores hops like Cascade though they just don’t suit me. So whilst I don’t like the Pale with Cascade hops or the ESB with Nelson Sauvin (which I prefer ever so slightly), the beers are well made and lovers of these hops would really enjoy these examples.
It has been a long time since I have tried all of the beers at Hargreaves, never having tasted at the door, and I am impressed. All of the beers are well made and I’m so happy that I have rediscovered this brewery for myself.
Salud.
Mat
This iPhone app called The Brewer’s Nose allows you to scan the beer bottle barcode and grab info for hundreds of beers straight away. You can scan a beer then view a text description of the beer but I like the short videos by the brewers. There is also information about food pairing and people are leaving tasting notes too.
I think it is great how Cascade do have information about beers from other breweries too and there should be more of that out there. Also, anything that leads to people appreciating beer more is a good thing. Personally I don’t drink a lot of Cascade, the stout has been my favourite and I did make some Cascade HomeBrew kits when I started brewing, but I like the app. So check it out if you have an iPhone and if not then why not seek out something similar.
Salud.
Mat
Hey guys. I’ve seen a couple of episodes now and I enjoy the show. It’s down to earth and we don’t see enough of this on tv – we usually see flashes of fermenters and the like but no actual brewing content – this show actually has some beer content and visit some great micros (like True South)!
So whilst these guys cover some basic brewing processes and use of beer in cooking I am dissapointed with the tastings. The guys both seem to be very far away from my impressions of the same beer at times with (especially Gage’s) pallete being better suited to wine than beer. I say this because what they are expecting in certain beers, dark or light in colour, is not what they should be expecting and therefore rate some beers way too low. In the end this part of the show provides some great talking points amongst craft brewers and the whole promotes a lifestyle that I’m very much interested in.
This lifestyle I speak of is one where food and drink is a simple affair of daily life with the power back in the home and not always at a restaurant. In the end we can find great food and drink products in restaurants and at the home – both places excelling in their own specialities where they other can’t.
Salud.
Mat
People can come around to my place for the first time and find the chooks here at Brew Mates Brewery very curious at first but the chooks quickly find interest elsewhere. Well, that is the case except when it comes to brew day. The chooks go mad, always shuffling around at your feet. I think they love the heat and the food!
Last brew Isaac and I looked over to find the tail of one chook on fire with flames about 3 inches long! It had rubbed past the gas burner after spending quite some time on it’s back in front of the burner – what a life!
Today I was on my knees examining the gas burner when one of the chooks pecked me in the eye. Luckily I just have a little nick on my eyelid and no real harm was done. You just can’t trust these guys on brew day 
By the way, I’m brewing a Pilsener today and have already thrown the grain out for the chooks to eat – they practically bowled me over to get their grain. Hmmm, chicken and beer go well together…
Toby
Wheat beers is a style I have always liked. Why? I don’t know whether it’s the fact they are the perfect beer for long hot summer days or whether it’s that fantastic aroma of fruit and spices as you first open the bottle. And I have always liked a bit of competition so Darryl and I have decided to make an all grain hefeweizen using the same recipe. Let the battle begin!
I should note this recipe is not mine, Mathew came up with the recipe not long ago but I love its simplicity.
2.46kg Malted Wheat
2.69 Pale Malt
17g Tettnang (120 minutes)
10g of Tettnang (60 minutes)
7g Saaz (15 minutes)
Wyeast 3068.
It was mashed at 70•C for an hour and boiled for two hours. Assuming 70 percent efficiency, the recipe’s original gravity was 1045. I achieved an original gravity of 1044. It is now fermenting at 18•C.
It’s now over to Darryl. He intends to mash at a lower temperature around 68•C and ferment around 19-20•C. It will be interesting to note the differences between the two. Who will produce the better beer?
Stay tuned guys.
Mat
Yum! This is one big brew and it’s on right now! Looks like coffee right now… but coffee doesn’t usually come at 20%ABV.
Mat
Went went to Slow Beer in Hawthorn yesterday and found that it is a great alternative to our local Purvis Cellars. Slow Beer is a lot smaller but what beer they have seems to be great and expands on the beers available for some breweries as opposed to Purvis. In fact the service was respectful and more knowledgeable as well from first impressions. We will be going back for more!
