The message
from "Andy Hunt" contains these words:
An overwhelming deluge of good advice on beer making! I am most grateful to
all (and sundry, of course!)
You're very welcome - and thanks for starting a fine thread....
Goldings hop sounds interesting - especially if it is (at least partially)
responsible for Theakston's Old Peculier. Would I be correct in thinking
that it is a golden colour, when it's on the vine? That might look very
attractive . . .
It's probably named after its breeder. Goldings look the same as most
other hops in the dried product. But I do wish I had a root of the hops
we had in the hedge all those years ago - its flavour was outstanding -
or it may just be nostalgia being better than it used to be?
Those here who assume that I am a complete novice in this department would
be 100% correct. I made some wine once, from a kit, but that's the nearest I
have ever got to this stuff. The advice about using mashed malt sounds good,
my gut feeling is that fresh is best, but I may have to begin with the
extract, just to be on the safe side. The fewer things to worry about, the
better, in the first instance, at least! I can introduce more 'variables'
one at a time.
Wise. Really - there is so much that can go wrong in beermaking. Of, and
I don't think anyone's mentioned that you need to get the right sort of
yeast to do the job properly.
When I was a lad all that was available was bakers' yeast (which don't
use!) or you might beg some beer yeast from a brewery.
There are even yeasts which are intended for different sorts of beers.
Most ales, stouts and bitters, etc use a different top-working yeast for
each, whereas lager uses a bottom-working yeast.
Also, the temperatures you ferment at are different.
I'd recommend getting a basic book to begin with - I don't know what's
on the market ATM. My first book was Brewing Better Beers by Ken Shales,
and cost me five shillings in the late sixties, when home brewing was
catching on as a hobby. I don't agree with everything in the book, but
it will give you safe levels of sugar. (However, my advice would be to
brew with only malt - much more body to the beer.)
Boots Home Winemaking and Brewing is quite useful, but you might have to
go online to look for copies of either. When you find you really like
the idea of brewing, you can look out for really detailed books. best
place to ask (I'd guess) would be in rec.crafts.brewing or
alt.homebrewing - bearing in mind that these aren't specifically UK
groups. (And the Yanks drink Budweiser..... and not the proper stuff
from wherever on the continong. (Czech Republic?)
WRT growing plots full of barley and milling it . . . well, I think you may
have me mistaken for someone who doesn't live in an end-terrace in Bury and
has to grow his veg in tubs! And you're right, Martin . . . I'm not after
the Heineken spring water. In fact, I'm not even going to go for the "pure"
bottled tap-water currently being peddled commercially by Coca-Cola (I kid
you not! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3523303.stm )
I suppose that when I wrote "from scratch", what I should have written was,
"not from a kit"! I appreciate the history lesson in brewing, though - all
stuff I was unaware of previously. If I know the background, it will stay in
the back of my mind, and give me something to aim for . . .
More history. Before the days of breweries and various
customer-protection bodies, most towns had an Ale Conner to test the
fitness of the ale or beer. He would spread a puddle of it on a bench
and sit thereon in his leather trousers. If he stuck to the bench, the
beer wasn't properly brewed. (I kid you not!)
The "Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency" sounds right up my street! I may
well "check it out", as our American friends might say. It will go with my
solar panels and wood pellet stove.
OK, here's something else then. Knowing how clay lump building blocks
were made led me to try something when my old man offered me seven sacks
of slack and dust from the coalshed.
I got several buckets of raw cowdung from my neighbours byre and mixed
it with the coaldust, trowelling the mixture into plastic flowerpots and
turning tem out like little black sandcastles. These I dried in the sun,
and they made a fantastic slow-burning fuel for my Parkray and my
Rayburn. It also works well with sawdust or chopped straw.
However, this might just be a nice thought, as I wouldn't think you have
too many dairy farms in Bury.
I will take the advice about the sugar - I don't fancy any of those complex
alcohols. If I was after that effect, there's always meths, or Esso
unleaded, or something, I suppose!
If you want to make it stronger, just reduce the proportion of water.
And if hops ARE related to cannabis (thanks Kay!), that would explain the
"smoked ale" they were serving at the Trackside over Christmas. Made from
smoked hops - absolutely delicious! ;-)
Hmmm. Applewood smoked hops - not a bad idea.
To be honest, this friend of mine and I got to know each other originally
because we both had an interested in, well, let's say 'indoor gardening'.
But cannabis has turned out to be a very dangerous 'gateway' plant . . . now
I spend all my money on gardening tools, and I've had to remortgage my
house. My family have left me because I spend all my time putting up
trellises and on internet gardening groups. I've checked in to a 'rehab'
centre, but always end up talking about their collection of rubber plants
and umbrella trees . . .
Only joking. But our conversations DO seem to have moved onto gardening in
general, and it's the same 'home grown' spirit which has inspired him to
suggest brewing, I think. So I think it may have to be a 'joint' effort . .
. ;-)
Thanks again, all!
Best of luck, then. And remember - since Mr. Marples was Home Secretary,
it's legal. (I was a 10-year-old criminal.......)
--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/