Brewing=Beerporn

[sock merchant]

Yeah as I said I use it all the time. There should be enough to carb the whole batch though

[morehu]

Got a temp controller on the way. Am interested in making a fermentation box now. Needs me a little project to tinker on. Ill be looking at another fridge when we move if theres room. You made that stir plate yet Sock ?

[Maucrephy]

Morehu's going Pro Ive been flat out lately so I havnt been able to get ya book or beers on the road yet ,I'll try to get them down next week or otherwise my sister's down on the 11th
On the upnote I had a darkside tonight............booya, I also had a Doris shes still a tarty bitch deff getting alot more plum from her now

[morehu]

Morehus lost the plot

No worries bout the book. If it happens on the 11th Ill be able to make sure Ive got some beer to send back to you

[sock merchant]

Originally Posted by morehu

You made that stir plate yet Sock ?

Negative. I ended up spending all my loose change on kegging stuff. Then got another keg

Been getting together once a week with some local brewers (well, for the past few weeks) which has been awesome. Good to talk shop etc. Some of them are pretty good brewers too. Some...less so. Its good to have something to measure my own efforts against.

[morehu]

My favourite thing to hear is "Oh youve been brewing your own beer. I do that. What kits do you use ? Do you put in heaps of sugar so its real strong ? (Takes a sip of his Tui)"

Got a friend here that brews and we back and forth. My brother always threatens to come help out but never shows up. Theres a bit of a stigma towards brewing your own beer down here. Not sure how it is in your guys neck of the woods. If you mention to half the guys at the local craft beer places that you lay down your own brews they roll their eyes and start talking about anoraks (Just had to look up what they were. Whats wrong with calling them jackets?)

[sock merchant]

Well most home brew taste like ass. Therefore most people think poorly of homebrew.

Not too much stigma over here I guess. People tend to accept it. Most people quite dig what I make if the come round anyway.

Man i honestly can hardly believe how much my brews have improved over the past 6 months. Guess I've also been brewing more and getting my system down. The previous year and a half I brewed a lot less

[morehu]

Yeah I generally find thats the case. Theyre a bit stand offish for good reason. Then you put a glass of your beer in their hand and they suddenly get why youre so excited about what your doin

Ive found the same with my brews. I like to think I learn and improve upon part of my technique with each batch

[sock merchant]

Man, looks like I'll be doing another brew this weekend. Fifth weekend in a row I think.

I'm going to do a brown ale. Keen to do something a little different. There's a small chance of me changing it to a porter but reckon I'll do the brown.

That Belgian dark strong is coming along nicely. Currently at 1.016 down from 1.090. I'll bottle it over Easter. Will probably need to some time in the bottle to condition and carb up.

this is a previous (slightly darker) one

[Maucrephy]

Originally Posted by morehu

If you mention to half the guys at the local craft beer places that you lay down your own brews they roll their eyes and start talking about anoraks (Just had to look up what they were. Whats wrong with calling them jackets?)

Oooh the wellie beer snobs there are some real tools out there , There arent many AG brewers around me ,most people dont get homebrewing at all I get all kinds of comments like "well it must be ok because you arnt dead" but im getting peeps trying to buy and trade for it now so im happy.
I finally got time to bottle and keg my latest beer ,its a KPA (R3) the dry hopping went well too a real flavour smack and a easy 4.3% I drank a bottle straight from the conditioner flat pretty happy with it
happy with Morehu's progress too in going AG ,I told you its way more satisifing than brewing with kits
Nice head on that dark Sock ,dark beers always look great with the creamy white head and dark beer

[sock merchant]

Pray tell mr mau...what is a KPA?

Man I just tapped my summer ale, and i am very happy with it. A touch watery by my standards, but its also half the gravity of my usuals

Basically mostly NZ mild ale and a bit of pils and a bit of wheat (was gonna do a smash....but i cant follow recipes). Hops is all motueka, which i really like. 40IBU's and some dry hopping. Bloody easy to drink. On my third glass

Will be doing my brown ale tomorrow. Was tossing up between different recipe ideas but have settled on:

5kg Weyermann pale ale
0.18kg Chocolate
0.45 Light Crystal
0.15 Special B
0.25 wheat malt
20g Black

60g Kent goldings (4.5%) @60
18g willamette (4.9%) @10
16g hallertauer (6.8%) @0

will be using a jar of wyeast 1335 (british ale II) i got from one of the locals. The weekly local get togethers have been really cool actually. Got an assload of glass 750's as well (good for the belgian dark strong and upcoming barley wine aging)

Reckon it will come out pretty tasty. It will also provide me with a starter for a barley wine i want to do.

PS. Kegging rules!

Edit:
My yeast is having a sexy party getting ready for tomorrow

[morehu]

Probably shouldve labeled that photo NSFW Sock

Thanks Mau. I think I did one kit and one partial. If your gonna do something do it right I always say

Am holding of doing another batch til I get my temp controller. Had my porter spike 6 deg on me and Im worried it could be too yeastie. Probably wont really no for sure til I cold store it

Am currently drinking an Anchor Liberty Ale. Its pretty delicious. Want to do a California common ale at some point

[Maucrephy]

Originally Posted by sock merchant

Pray tell mr mau...what is a KPA?

Its a Kiwi Pale Ale all NZ ingredients- NZ super alpha ,NZ Hallertau and Riwaka hops with NZ malts...............the Yeast is British tho

I love Riwaka hops and hallertau give a nice lemony zing

[sock merchant]

Originally Posted by morehu

Probably shouldve labeled that photo NSFW Sock

Thanks Mau. I think I did one kit and one partial. If your gonna do something do it right I always say

Am holding of doing another batch til I get my temp controller. Had my porter spike 6 deg on me and Im worried it could be too yeastie. Probably wont really no for sure til I cold store it

Am currently drinking an Anchor Liberty Ale. Its pretty delicious. Want to do a California common ale at some point

You show such restraint. My weekly (or close to) brewing shows i have none. Though i am comfortable with my process now. I haven't made a bad beer in a long time (In my opinion of course). Though a few of the recent ones will benefit from ageing so not allowed to touch them for a few months.

You switched quite quickly. I did 2 kits (that came with my gear) and more than a year of partial. Honestly, if done right i think partials can be excellent. I think the biggest improvements for me came from fermentation control (even in swamp cooler) and doing full boils

I really should rebrew some previous beers but there is so much stuff i havent made yet and want to. The only ones I do rebrew are saisons and they tend to be different recipes.

[morehu]

Im absolutely chomping at the bit to do another brew. Have sated the itch somewhat by doing a batch of limoncello, shrub rum and am messing around with some orange bitters and have some Riwaka hops steeping in some high proof vodka to make some hopped grapefruit bitters. 1 day in and the hops are already smelling awesome