What are you brewing?

[nzbrewer]

Since this is the most popular thread on the RealBeer.co.nz forum I thought I would start it here just to see what happens

[Barry]

That's impressive efficiency Steve, well done.

Just joking about the roast, I lean towards the black patent for porters/roast for stouts guide myself, but I recently purchased the 2008 homebrewing rulebook and it clearly states "it's your own beer do what you bloody well like".

Got your kegs going yet?

[Steve Baker]

2 kegs arrived last week. I picked up a $20 fridge in the weekend and it turns out to be the perfect size for 2 kegs + 1 carboy + whatever bottles I can fit in - so I'm pretty happy with that.

I've decided to use sodastream bottles for now. I've modified an unused garden sprayer so I can use air as my gas to clean the kegs.

So now I just need to way for the next budget allocation (pay day) so I can order a sodastream adapter and a picnic tap then Leveson Estate Brewery will be in business.

[James P]

Snap! I am in the middle of modifying my garden sprayer / party keg and have just received my order from Craftbrewer in AU for the adapter etc. Thinking about getting an engineer friend of mine to take a look at making these adaptors when he cuts up my keg for a brew kettle.

[Edward Siddle]

while i agree with 'you do what you bloody like' i kinda had the same reaction but for a slightly different reason. i'm just not sure it is necessary to include both of those grains within the same recipe.

[Steve Baker]

Yeah, looking back on my inspiration recipes I don't know why I used black and roast. Oh well, we'll see how it tastes.

[Stu McKinlay]

Maybe it was my American Stout/Porter the HomeBrewFest last year ;-) That had black malt and roast barley in it and I felt pain at every pint given away. I should have called it Yeastie Boys "All Mine". Anyway, this years version has just retired to the cellar and it only has black malt and it is better than Portishead's latest album (which I reckon is probably as over-rated as anything that comes out with Radiohead emblazoned on it).

[Mark]

i recently obeyed the no roast barely mantra and made a porter that had a lot of black patent and it tastes like i'd ground a lump of coal in the beer! it's not bad but i can't help wishing there was the nice coffee flavour of some roast barely in there

[Barry]

Sure you don't have the two mixed up there Mark?
To my taste, roast has an acrid, drying, coal-like note, black patent less so.

[Mark]

it was the kind of recipe where i threw a bit of everything in but it definitely had no roast barely. it had chocolate, black patent and carafa type 1, maybe it's the carafa that's giving it a dusty burnt flavour. in any event it's certainly not the nicest beer i've brewed. i may have over extracted the dark grains in the mash. what's the general consensus on grinding dark grains? i've read somewhere that they should be put in whole rather than grinding them to avoid overly astringent flavours

[Barry]

Yeah I've also heard of people adding them really late in the mash. I guess it depends also on how much you use - everyones system will be different so it's a matter of trying and adjusting.
I've never used any kind of carafa, but I have used chocolate with black and it takes some subtlety - my typical porter (recipe posted above somewhere) uses pale chocolate -300gm and only 230gm black - an increase from the last one I brewed and I can definitely taste it. Thats for a 23lt batch of 1.062 robust porter

[Mark]

i think subtlety is the key, it's easy to heap too much dark grain in the mash

[Tony]

Just put down a Pale ale.

I used a brew kit starter- cascade pale ale with 2.7kg muntons medium malt.

I steeped 100g of crystal malt for 30 minutes, to start the boil.
50g- English goldings at start of boil
50g- Willamette at 40 minutes
50g- Cascade at finish

50 minute boil

Safale 05 yeast @ 25 deg

OG- 1060 @ 26L

I wanted a heart warming, hoppy Pale ale for winter nights. I hope I have achieved it? It certainly smells the part. All ingredients care of Brewers coop, Auckland.