UK Weekend Beerage

I bottled a large batch of hombrew today so drank the dregs - nice but really murky, full on craft murky - then onto a bunch of other homebrew as why not - some spiced porter. Then another manchester Star ale, I thought this was better . A couple of Tempest - long white cloud, easy pils and a shoefferhofer and a Tennents as it needs using up so it would be rude not to drink it.

 

Long weekend saw me try a few new ones including:

- Old Chimneys Scarlet Tiger: a very solid, full flavoured amber ale. "Proper" beer.
- BeerCat Barcelona Blonde: a lovely crisp blonde.
- Northern Alchemy Marmalade and Assam Tea IPA: obvious thing to say, but could really taste the marmalade. Nothing subtle about it. Very interesting beer.

 

Dental appointment this morning but just across the road is a very well run Spoons so there I went afterwards. Quick pint of Pheasantry Stout (the local brewery is having an event there and there were lots of Pheasantry beers on tap) , rather nice for £1.55 though it would have benefitted from a touch more condition.

 

I had another couple of homebrews tonight, an oatmalt stout based on an old recipe and a pale belgian ale. Plus some brandy to round the night off

 

Anyone on here home brew? It's going to be my next big hobby but I don't know where to start.

 

Had a couple fine beers on tap this weekend:
Siren- Caribbean Chocolate Cake
Siren- Ryesing Tides
Siren-Pompelmocello IPA
Burning Sky- Arise Session IPA
Fourpure-Northern Latitude

Good beer weekend so far

 

Lots of ways to start

This is always good, it's the first edition of How To Brew, although some things are a bit dated I think the more recent print editions are better
http://howtobrew.com/book/introduction


The homebrewing forum here would be helpful
Jims Beer Kit is probably the best UK forum
The American Homebrew Association forum is probably the best American one
Homebrewtalk is the biggest but there can be some bad info

I'd decide how much money/time/space you have available as well

I brew all grain and bottle. A full all grain batch takes me five hours, when you start it's probably closer to seven - lots of cleaning involved as well. But if you start with just tins of pre-hopped extract then you can make your brew in less than an hour - some of these taste fine but I got a bit bored of them and find all grain much better, despite the time it takes. Extract+ steeping grains is the middle one where you don't have to mash but still boil with your own hops, so you save a couple of hours on brewday. Bottling takes a couple hours and is a pain in the arse, Kegging is much quicker and better than bottling.

You really need a dedicated fridge with a controller and heater to control the fermentation temperature.

IF you have cash to burn but some limited space then have a look at the grainfather or braumeister one pot systems

some good uk shops
http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/
https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/
http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/
http://www.copperkettlehomebrewing.co.uk/boilers-and-mashing/180/30-litre-or-60-litre-pp-buckets

https://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/ - irish but good deliver to uk, take advantage of the weak euro

 

Not really been in the mood last couple of days (unusual for me) however I cracked open a bottle a couple of hours ago & have since had:

Sadlers Peaky Blinder - Unusual but ok dark ale.

Thwaites Crafty Dan - Decent but I've had this in a little too long as hops seem to have lost their edge.

Tesco Finest American Double IPA - Excellent as always.

Coldboy Norwegian Stout - Leftover bottle, inoffensive but nothing to write home about.

 

That's awesome. Like with most hobbies I'll probably take to it with a vengeance at first then find something else, but I'll definitely give it a go. Thanks for the info. I've copied and pasted it all into a word doc for future reference.

 

Let us know how you get on. Its quite good in that you can start with simple canned kits or get really into it with yeast culturing, decoction mashing, home bars etc. and it can be quite cheap to get into as well, saves you money in the long run. Plus drinking beer you made is quite satisfying unlike golf

I'm having a schoefferhofer weizen while I wait for my dinner to cook

 

De Molen Hamer & Sickel
Wiper and True Cobbles and Clouds
Sadlers Hop Bomb
Arbor/ Mezzo Passo Basta Rosse

Stand out was the W and T, a lovely version, like their previous Prelude, of a farmhouse ale brewed with NZ hops. De Molen, nice low ABV for them lightly smoked porter. Arbor nice strongly hopped red ale

 

I had a cracker night last Friday with one of my beer geek mates, over the evening we demolished:
Ballast Point Grapefruit Scuplin
Rodenbach 2011 Vintage
Jester King Snorkle
Bruery Oude Tart
Russian River Consecration
Black Damnation III Black Mes
Twas a good night.

On a different note I too prefer Jaipur on keg than cask, had it on cask by accident and said to the barman that it was off He informed me that it was not.

 

Visited the Calderdale Beer Festival last weekend and was blown away by a couple of beers from Vocation http://www.vocationbrewery.com/ Heart and Soul was particularly enjoyable. It was the first time I'd come across their beer but had heard good things about them, it was only later I discovered the link to Blue Monkey whose beers I've long admired. Seek 'em out and enjoy.

 

I'll look out for them, not sure they'll make it up here though

Drinking a Guinness FES for the first time in a while, always a decent drop

 

Onto Ax Man Rye IPA from drygate. Another british beer mislabelled as an IPA by those who should know better. Nice beer though, a spicy and aromatic rye pale ale. Only £1.80 in sainsbury too so good value

 

Nice choice of book^

Just had cloudwater dipa, Really nice, fresh. Cloudwater are quickly becoming one of my favourite new breweries.