Advice from the SOBA NHC Champions

[Stu McKinlay]

Surprised nobody has asked this yet - or have they asked and I missed it?

Last year I was delighted to see a dry yeast user pick up "Brewer of the Year", I've always been a proponent of getting all your sh!t together before you start playing around with yeast (the most difficult part of brewing good beer).

This year the "Brewer of the Year" (and a couple of other major prizes) were swept away by another dry yeast user who - SHOCK HORROR - also uses malt extract.

This goes some way to proving that the 'liquid yeast, all-grain mecca' is not always what it is cracked up to be.


To everyone out there who picked up best in class awards, or one of the major awards - what is the secret to your brewing success? What are you still working on? And where are you headed next (soon, and further down the track)?

Cheers
Stu

ps. Well done everyone.

[Mike Neilson]

I wish I had entered this event, not so much as contest but more to pin point flaws in my brewing. The beer I brew tastes fine to my un-trained palate, but im sure it needs alot of tweaking. I am having to use the case swap as my first attempt at getting genuine feedback on my beers so that I can improve on what I think is drinkable beer.

[Stu McKinlay]

you're always welcome to drop some at my place Mike ;-)

[Kempicus]

yeah me too! ;0)

[Mike Neilson]

will do!! Friday? good for you lads?

[Stu McKinlay]

actually, you should pop up kieran's christmas drinks

http://themothersmilk.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-drinks.html

you'll get plenty of feedback there.

[Mike Neilson]

Bugger, would of loved to but thursdays are a no go for me, prior bookings. Damn Christmas time!! would still like to drop off samples though.

[Stu McKinlay]

how about a swap? I can whip down to your work on friday (I'm in town).

I'll drop you a 500ml of Mild Ale and a 330ml of Imperial Stout (steady, it's only been 5 weeks since it was just a tiny little 1.100 wort!). I'm brewing more this weekend, and again before new year, so will have some more for you in late Jan.

[Stu McKinlay]

Or you could meet James and i at 12pm, D4, for a Christmas pint. (and swap there).

[Kempicus]

Yeah good plan! I've got bugger all to swap with though sorry...my stocks are sorely depleted!

[Mike Neilson]

Sounds Good!! see you at 12 @ D4. Dosnt worry me about swapping more so feedback on my beers.

[Kempicus]

Tricky question

To be honest I don’t really know, if you saw my kit and some of my techniques you’d probably cry but maybe that’s what it is, I tend to not focus on brand new kit and the best this and that and just think carefully about the ingredients and what I’m wanting to achieve, as Marty Friedman says “it doesn’t matter how much flash guitar kit you’ve got if you can’t play guitar you’re gonna sound like shit’.

I think there’s no substitute for beer flavour experience, I’ve drunk a lot of different beers in a lot of countries and I kind of know what’s good and what’s not so I brew and use that experience….I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s hard to brew what you want if you’re the brewing equivalent of Beethoven.

For the comp I brewed to my strengths (which is high alc beer).

I brew experimental small batches of around about 11 litres and always write down what I do, I don’t use any beer software…..I got a free version of beersmith from a mate the other day and haven’t even opened it yet. I do use this website to estimate alc% and balance but it doesn’t work very well….

http://beercalculus.com/recipe

Just had a disaster with an APA (well not really a disaster it’s just more bitter than I wanted), my instinct told me one thing but I ignored it….I guess that’s it, I use my instinct and try not to overcomplicate things.

Specifics:
I entered 5 beers in the comp, Imperial Russian stout, two old ales, wee heavy and a barley wine. I use extract as a base malt and then use specialty malts to achieve the styles that I want, (some of the beers I brew have up to 9 different malts added to achieve the flavours I wanted) I steep at 70°C.
I use dry yeast and hop pellets, I dump hops straight into the boil or barrel I don’t use hop bags. I always make a wee starter I just use a bit of boiling wort diluted down with some cold water in a cup….bit of Glad wrap over the top 15 mins later bob’s your uncle.
I don’t filter my water and I don’t ever secondary ferment, I ferment at around 22-25°C I don’t own a fridge with a temp control I have a heat pad that Greig gave me, constant temp is more important to me than low or high temp…I like esters!

Bottling, I don’t sterilise I swill with hot water, I don’t bulk prime….never had a problem

Wow that was a ramble sorry, main things for me are not over complicating things, a constant temp, thinking about what I brew and what ingredients very carefully and using my instincts....oh and my Wife's constant support!

What am I up to now….perfecting my use of hops, had a very interesting discussion with Luke at the Armageddon release party so I’m trying to perfect those techniques….my APA is a wee bit too challenging!

[Steve Baker]

So what brand of extract do you use and where do you get it from?