Home Brewing thread.....and GO!

Swagger

Swagger

Putting boot to ass since 1967!
So I make wine, mead and more aggressive spirits and have enjoyed making and partaking in all of them. I currently have runs of Spanish Rioja, Monte Pulciano and Raspberry port going along with a batch of mead made from imported Norwegian berry honey.

What I've not done by myself yet is beer. I've helped Miss Kitty's parents make beer (it's upon their initiative that I started makin ANY of this stuff) but mainly as a 'Hold this' guy.

I do have an aim in this ramble.....
A few years ago at a now defunct pub I had a creme ale that was labled 'Nelsons' and I've not been able to find it anywhere so I'd like to recreate it but haven't a clue where to start.
It had almost no hoppy bitter quality, my female accompaniment at the time described it as "gentle, almost like desert", it was medium amber in color and had a nice stout body and thick head. It drank with a certain amount of mass, more like swallowing Guinness rather than a watery(by comparison) lager. The other standout for me was the exhalation which normally is something I think of when considering wine, but it brought to mind English style tea....served with milk or creme.

Any of you beer types have any ideas?
 
Believe it or not, I'm allergic to the yeast in beer. I found that out during my first year of University... So, Im a Tequilia and Vodka guy...
 
Hmmmm.... Swagger it sound's to me what you just descried was Baileys (Irish Crème Liquor)


I can't be too sure as it's not my 'go to' drink, but sounds quite abit like what you described, might want to check it out.
 
Swagger, I have made a few Irish Cream ales that sound similar to that. I have made a couple of these and my wife, who is not a beer lover has asked me to make more. I used a Munton's Mount Melnicks Irish cream ale can(Kit) and some of their beer enhancers and some extra dried hops. i need to dig out the brew sheet for the last batch I did in 2004. It was one of the best brews I made and I hope to remake it. An Irish cream ale is like a lite coloured stout, same body and head but a lite red or golden colour. Very yummy. I am planning to make this next after the kit I have in my secondary fermenter now. If i cna find my notes form the last batch I will send them your way.
 
Ratbag22: Nope, I'm familiar with Bailey's but that in no way could be confused with beer that I know of. Thanks though....

Maritime: Hey that'd be spectacular sir, thank you!
 
Swag, have you ever had Kilkenny? It is an Irish cream ale, but not quite the same as I made, it is good, brewed with guiness and all. same frothy body etc, but a much lighter beer in colour and taste. I am trying to find my notes on the Munton;s product that I made now. I want to remake the batch I did..... I remember boiling the can and using some dried hops and a beer enhancer along with the dextrose. One thing I can mention is, you have to keep everything sanitized with beer, I have made wine and clean works fine, but with beer, clean isn't enough, sanitized is the required level. Idofor is your friend, as well as chlorine. Also let it sit for twice what the kit says and it will taste way better, if it says 2 weeks in bottles, leave it fro at least 4. it gets better with time. I have made it so you can drink it right out of the bottles with 0 to no sediment. but it takes 3-4 time longer than the kit instructions call for.

Cheers. Oh yeah, if you have a mead recipe I would love a copy.

Mike
 
Thanks Swag, I like mead and always though of making it myself, oh and i just found a really nice Maple syrup Wine I would love to make myself./
 
Really mead IS that simple, but do take some time and read his site...full of tricks!
 
Working on getting my own little vineyard started, once I get the vines healthy and producing I'll post up more on my 100% home done wine.
 
Kilkenny hey? I think I made a decent knock-off of that a year or so ago. Not too hard, but you will need some basic specialty grains and pot that can hold a few quarts easily. Ah, here it is:

Boingks Brew #52

1.7kg hopped liquid malt extract ('beer kit')
500g LDME (light dried malt extract)
300g white sugar
200g Crystal grain (Bring 1.5qt water to 65'C and put grains in, keep temp level and stir frequently for 20min)
50g Amber grain (After stirring, strain contents through fine wire colander and boil with hops)
20g Fuggles @ 15 min (boiled with the grain liquor for 15 minutes)

That will give you more of an English Special Bitter, but if you swap out the Amber grain for Black then I think that'll get you in the ballpark. Also, I would leave out the hopping for the Irish ale as they don't traditionally have much. You could also leave out the sugar if you want a beer thats truer to style and a bit lower in alcohol (4-ish percent as opposed to 5-ish)

Cheers - boingk

EDIT: Forgot to say that this is made to a final volume of 22 litres and best fermented at either 20~24'C with regular kit yeast ('514' more often than not) or 17~19'C with a more traditional English yeast like Safale S-04.
 
OK, proper creamy Irish style red recipe. Converted from an all-grain recipe but should work out just fine:

1.7kg hopped liquid malt extract
500g LDME
300g white sugar
300g Weyermann Caraaroma (as per above these 3 lot of grain to be mini-mashed in 2qt of water)
250g Flaked Wheat
150g Weyerman Carared
20g Kent/Goldings (boiled with strained grain liquor for 15 minutes)

- boingk
 
Saki san, are you using Americanized vine starts? What variety? We've had whole European vine crops lost in recent years to that friggin' root mite. You can get any variety on an Americanized root start. You probably already knew that though....sorry if I'm saying stuff you already knew.
 
Swag thanks for the link, good info there for sure, read a bunch last night and now I just got to figure out where to get some of the product. I am sure my local brew house should have it. There is some great honey producers around these parts as well and I think I may check them out for the supply of the honey I will need, there is some unique single flower stuff etc. Lost my cream ale recipe notes. Boingks seems to be pretty close to what I remember doing. The starting malt though for sure was the Munton's Irish cream ale, Still have the label but lost my brew notes.
 
I love this place!

I have been into home brewing for quite a long time but have not really made very many batches. I have made beer (ales only) a few times with really good success. I have also tried my hand at distilling spirits a few times with limited success, the couple batches of corn whiskey (moonshine) were pretty successful and you could power a small rocket with it. If you drank a couple shots of it, you would want to ride that rocket! My problem was that I made too small of yields for all the effort, but it was HIGHLY POTENT! I have also tried to create a few other spirits that were a complete disaster! Totally undrinkable and looked even worse than it tasted! I tried wine once and made vinegar I think, I could not stomach the smell, so I did not try it, nor did I offer it to anyone else! I want to get back to making my own ales as they were very tasty, much cheaper than purchasing from a store once I was set up and just a cool conversation starter for guest of my home who I shared them with.
 
Hey Swag:


Email me offline about this. Have I got a story for you...


I've made quite a few batches myself, and like the guy said, beer is quite a bit different (some say difficult) than wine due to sanitation requirements. I do all grains brews and currently have a red rye ale in the primary fermentor.


--Chris
 
Chris, that sounds tasty, my favourite beer is a red ale. There is a micro brewery here that makes the best I have ever tasted. Love to hear how yours turns out. I need to get a proper set up to do all grain.

Cheers.

Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DTT Light or Dark

  • DTT Light
    • www.jadusmotorcycleparts.com
    www.lostapostle.ca/
    www.sparckmoto.com

    Spread the Love

    Back
    Top Bottom