Homebrew Blog

Posted October 14, 2009 - Filed under Personal

I finally took the plunge this week and did what every Australian male has to do one time or another during his life and that is make my own home brew.

I picked up a kit from Dave’s Home Brew in North Sydney for a shade under $90. The amount of beer that can be made from this initial kit, which includes all the ingredients, would cost you $100 from the bottle shop so it’s worth a try. Even if you do need to hold your nose every time you drink your first brew.

So on Saturday evening I cleaned and sanitised all the equipment then panicked. As every brewer knows the enemy of the brew is germs and my nose was leaking and I was coughing after a pretty nasty cold. Having to mix everything up in the bathroom as well didn’t help my confidence levels. Regardless I moved on and mixed the batch up – what will hopefully become a nice pilsener. The kit used was a Morgan’s Golden Saaz Pilsener.

Fermentation

After mixing the batch up and sealing the bucket all there was to do was to wait for some bubbling action through the airlock. I waited and waited and come Sunday there was no action to speak of, except for the occasional bubble every twenty minutes. Once again I was panicking. By Sunday evening though the airlock was bubbling away which continued through until Tuesday evening when it stopped again.

After reading through the forums on the net I decided Wednesday evening to crack open the bucket and take a reading using the hydrometer. This reading was 1011 which according the hydrometer markings is a finished beer. The colour is a bright yellow and slightly cloudy with a fair amount of carbonation even though bottling and secondary fermentation is meant to achieve carbonation.

Tomorrow I’ll take another reading and if it’s the same then it’s time to bottle. Finding 30 750 ml bottles is going to be a challenge though. My collection currently stands at two. Luckily I have a friend who may be able to help out.

Bottling

It’s Saturday, exactly a week after I mixed up the brew and it seems to have finished.

As it turned out my friend didn’t have anywhere near enough standard sized bottles. So I forked out $36 for 30 PET plastic homebrew bottles. So it looks like I’m going to at least have to brew two batches to make it a worthwhile investment. Given the ingredients for the next batch should run to about $30 I’ll probably just break even.

I took another reading of Specific Gravity (SG) this time the proper way by using the valve at the bottom of the bucket. Allowing 100 mls or so to drain off then taking the reading from another couple of hundred mls. I knew I was going to get different readings because the last was taken from the top and this time it appears to be 1014 (a little high for a finished beer). I don’t know how much I trust these readings as getting an accurate reading with this equipment is like trying to get a cat to sit still. The hydrometer just keeps bobbing about and sticking to the edges of the test tube.

You’re not really meant to bottle while you’re getting different SG figures but it’s been a week with the brew at a pretty constant 22C and it tastes ready. In fact it’s tasting pretty good now. It’s got quite a malty flavour and not as hoppy or metallic as I was expecting from a Pilsner.

Update: I’m holding off on bottling and will check the SG again in a few days. The general consensus on the interwebs is that the SG is far too high. Plus after moving the bucket a bit and letting it settle down it bubbled a bit more so I think it’s just taking its time.

The Saturday after

It’s been two weeks now since I “pitched” my brew and since checking on Wednesday the SG has remained at 1011. Still high but it’s time to go. After spending a couple of hours cleaning the kitchen and sanitising the bottles I bottled most of it. Except for a spare I kept to refrigerate and drink that night. Boy did that give me nightmares, but that may be because it was too young. I’m hoping once the minimum of a week is up I can try a fully carbonated beer that doesn’t taste like a lollypop and won’t leave me wondering what those dreams were about the next day.

More updates in a week or two when it’s time to crack open the finished product.

The drinking

Two weeks after bottling the beer it has matured enough to drink. Pouring the chilled beer shows it is well carbonated but has almost no head. It is slightly cloudy and has a very rich sugary yellow colour.

It smells like beer, slightly yeasty.

Given my un-trained palate I would say it tastes caramelish with a slight medicinal taste (I suspect idophor sanitiser). There are hints of ginger. The aftertaste is very much like apple.

Although the alcohol level seems quite low I’m very happy. I can drink a couple of bottles without having nightmares or feeling ill the next day. Time to brew my second batch soon.

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