Glass
2nd November 2014, 09:15 PM
Well it's been a very difficult year on the back of 6 years that have steadily been more and more difficult challenges to face. I knew last year would be tough and my prophetic words at the end of last year about this year have proven... well prophetic. I did put my 4+ year long battle with the taxman behind me so that was good. Even if the only upside for the year.
So lets dwell on something less crap for a few minutes. It occurred to me I've been home brewing for 12 months now. I did my first in October last year to be ready for Xmas. 20 brews under my belt. Although my numbers are up to #21. Don't forget we skipped #13 for suspicions sake.
Of course it's been easy doing it from a kit and tinkering around the edges with flavour, hops and carbonation. Trying different bottle types. Using metal crown caps and screw on plastic. Messing with temps. Trying different yeasts.
It's been interesting and fun for sure. The response from people has been mostly positive. I think a couple of the brews had a twang to them but for the most part they came out great. Some people think they should be able to buy the beer I'm brewing. Don't know about that. Lets face it Coopers do all the hard work and I don't think they sell hopped extracts in volume. I'm also never sure if people are being honest or polite.
I certainly could stand to brew beers all day no problem. If you do it all grain it probably would take all day to get a brew down. I really need to be brewing 10Gal /40-46L batches. I'll need more or bigger fermenters. I need more space. Right now I've got 3 brews on the go plus a couple being conditioned. I'm going to try and keep 3 going all the time. We see if it can be done.
A fridge is also something I need to sort out. And a chest freezer. On the list but getting time right now is tough. busy for the next 3 weekends at least.
Kegs. Again.want these at some point. The bottle washing is getting a bit tedious now. They tend to stack up quickly I've noticed. Still I like the natural carbonation.
I've kept a few bottles for most of the brews. I try to keep a couple of each. Some I drank all. I had the first bottle of my first batch with my Dad. He was surprised how good it was. I kept the last bottle from that batch to share with him next time. We only ever shared that first one.
Its good fun. Takes a bit of time to keep on top of things. Is worth it though. I think I bought maybe 3 or 4 cases of beer the whole year.
So lets dwell on something less crap for a few minutes. It occurred to me I've been home brewing for 12 months now. I did my first in October last year to be ready for Xmas. 20 brews under my belt. Although my numbers are up to #21. Don't forget we skipped #13 for suspicions sake.
Of course it's been easy doing it from a kit and tinkering around the edges with flavour, hops and carbonation. Trying different bottle types. Using metal crown caps and screw on plastic. Messing with temps. Trying different yeasts.
It's been interesting and fun for sure. The response from people has been mostly positive. I think a couple of the brews had a twang to them but for the most part they came out great. Some people think they should be able to buy the beer I'm brewing. Don't know about that. Lets face it Coopers do all the hard work and I don't think they sell hopped extracts in volume. I'm also never sure if people are being honest or polite.
I certainly could stand to brew beers all day no problem. If you do it all grain it probably would take all day to get a brew down. I really need to be brewing 10Gal /40-46L batches. I'll need more or bigger fermenters. I need more space. Right now I've got 3 brews on the go plus a couple being conditioned. I'm going to try and keep 3 going all the time. We see if it can be done.
A fridge is also something I need to sort out. And a chest freezer. On the list but getting time right now is tough. busy for the next 3 weekends at least.
Kegs. Again.want these at some point. The bottle washing is getting a bit tedious now. They tend to stack up quickly I've noticed. Still I like the natural carbonation.
I've kept a few bottles for most of the brews. I try to keep a couple of each. Some I drank all. I had the first bottle of my first batch with my Dad. He was surprised how good it was. I kept the last bottle from that batch to share with him next time. We only ever shared that first one.
Its good fun. Takes a bit of time to keep on top of things. Is worth it though. I think I bought maybe 3 or 4 cases of beer the whole year.