The message
from "Nick Wagg" contains these words:

Paul Theakston, who left the family brewery and Old Peculier (note "e" not
"a") when it was
acquired by Scottish and Newcastle breweries. Then set up Black Sheep
Brewery (and ale)
See http://www/blacksheepbrewery.com/history/history1.cfm if you're
interested.

Ply me with Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild.......

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...

[snip]

You'd need a really decent-sized planter - I'd say about 500 cm, and
feed it well with something like Tomorite.

I have never come across 15 ft planters.
They must cost a bundle to fill with potting compost.

But they molish fine wigwams of hop-poles innit.

Either that or divide by ten - I would have said 18" but no hooter
understands proper measurements any more.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Nick Wagg" contains these words:

Paul Theakston, who left the family brewery and Old Peculier (note "e" not
"a") when it was
acquired by Scottish and Newcastle breweries. Then set up Black Sheep
Brewery (and ale)
See http://www/blacksheepbrewery.com/history/history1.cfm if you're
interested.

Ply me with Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild.......

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Nick Wagg" contains these words:

Paul Theakston, who left the family brewery and Old Peculier (note "e" not
"a") when it was
acquired by Scottish and Newcastle breweries. Then set up Black Sheep
Brewery (and ale)
See http://www/blacksheepbrewery.com/history/history1.cfm if you're
interested.

Ply me with Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild.......

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 16:46:49 -0000, "Mike Crossland"
wrote:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Woohoo!
Thanks for the info.
--
Nick Wagg

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 16:46:49 -0000, "Mike Crossland"
wrote:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Woohoo!
Thanks for the info.
--
Nick Wagg

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 16:46:49 -0000, "Mike Crossland"
wrote:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Woohoo!
Thanks for the info.
--
Nick Wagg

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 16:46:49 -0000, "Mike Crossland"
wrote:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Woohoo!
Thanks for the info.
--
Nick Wagg

The message
from martin contains these words:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Thank God for that!

Mind you, does any beer?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from martin contains these words:

Theakstons have got their brewery back from Scottish and Newcastle.
Theakston's beer didn't fit in with their image :-)

Thank God for that!

Mind you, does any beer?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

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/

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.)

A book sounds like good advice. I shall have a 'browse' . . . "Brewing for
Idiots" would be a good one to start with I think - if it exists!


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?)

No - not the proper stuff at all. Budweiser Budvar is the proper stuff, a
quality Czech "beer", along with Staropramen ("Star of Prague"). Both
absolutely delicious served cold on a hot summer's day, outside in the sun,
and both a million miles from the gnats' water which goes by the same name
in the States. I'm not anti-American by any means, I know some good people
over there, but "Budweiser" is not one of the better things to come out of
that place, IMHO . . .

But NEITHER can compete with the Belgian "Kriek" beer . . . like the best
bitter and the best lager-beer you've ever tasted, all rolled into one, with
a kick like a rabid tyrannosaur (weighing in at 8% alcohol). Never managed
more than one at one sitting - not exactly a "session" beer. They do a
weaker version at a mere 6%, which is a cherry beer - sounds disgusting, but
again, it's like the nectar of the gods.


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!)

Lol . . . I met a girl once in a club who claimed her job was "beer tester".
I was disappointed to learn that it involved mass spectrometer analysis and
the like, and nothing more exciting. A cruel end to a budding romantic
interest. (only joking!)

Of course, in the 'olden days', people HAD to drink beer, as it was the only
sterile drink around. The Oriental peoples solved the problem by boiling
their water of course, and tea was "discovered" when a Chinese Emperor was
boiling his water, and a tea leaf accidentally fell in. Or so I hear!

Beer and tea - two wonderful drinks. Wouldn't it be terrible if we were all
the same!


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.

There are a few in Summerseat, actually, which is not far away, but being
the proud owner of a mountain bike only, I think I might have some problems
transporting the stuff to my house.

What I AM looking at is a "log maker" from the Centre for Alternative
Technology in Machynlleth, Wales, which presses old soggy newspapers into
"bricks", which you can then dry out and burn on a fire. As the wood pellet
stove I'm planning on getting only takes wood pellets (they have 'liquid'
properties, and feed automatically), I'm planning on using the "paper logs"
for my outside fire (made out of bricks from a building which was itself
demolished by a fire), which I have a few times every year, to burn all the
garden rubbish etc. It's a nice 'earthy'-type ritual to have every so often,
I find - quite cathartic in a way. Who knows - I might even have some home
brew to drink at the next one!

On the subject of combustion (pyromaniacs of the world - ignite!), one thing
I will have when I get my wood pellet stove which I don't have at the moment
is a hot water cylinder - my boiler's a gas combi at the moment. Presumably
I would need to brew my beer next to the hot water cylinder, to get the heat
.. . . ?


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.......)

Ah! So it's not true that they're starting younger these days, then . . . ?
;-)

If I get it all together, I'll most certainly keep you up to date on it! My
house has had huge changes since I first joined this group - garden walls
covered in camo netting, a yard full of pots, a bathroom full of 'silk' ivy
.. . . I've even got a buch of seed packets with all sorts of nice things in,
ready to go. Sweetcorn, radishes, mangetout peas, turnips, rocket . . . the
list goes on! Even got a couple of blueberry bushes (well one of them is
more of a 'twig' than a bush, it doesn't look too good actually) - and an
apple tree with three varieties grafted on. I'll take some photies in a
couple of months and post them up on my homepage - "before URG and after"!

Even made a sign for my house - "Green Cottage". And when I get my solar
panels, it will be even more true!

Yours greenly,

Andrew

"............Lol . . . I met a girl once in a club who claimed her job was
"beer tester". I was disappointed to learn that it involved mass
spectrometer analysis and the like, and nothing more exciting. A cruel end
to a budding romantic interest. (only joking!) .........."

So you came away a little Budwiser...?


--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 17:39:19 -0000, "David Hill"
wrote:

"............Lol . . . I met a girl once in a club who claimed her job was
"beer tester". I was disappointed to learn that it involved mass
spectrometer analysis and the like, and nothing more exciting. A cruel end
to a budding romantic interest. (only joking!) .........."

So you came away a little Budwiser...?

You are a real barrel of laughs :-)
--

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

"Andy Hunt" wrote in message ...
An overwhelming deluge of good advice on beer making! I am most grateful to
all (and sundry, of course!)

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 . . .

(excuse the intrusion from a brewer, with greenhands only from
weighing hops :~)

no, goldings have ordinary dark-green leaves & pale-green cones (still
pleasant IMO & excellent English aroma hop); I think the decorative
ones someone mentioned above have golden leaves, but I would be a bit
suspicious of their taste/aroma in beer.

snip

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! ;-)

I've also read that hops & dope (& nettles?) are all related.

I would guess that the smoked beer had smoked malt rather than hops,
but could be wrong - it's a German speciality (Bamberg, Franconia)
which to me tastes a cross between brown ale & smoked bacon, but oddly
quite nice despite that. (there's a tale of how you shouldn't make up
your mind whether you like it or not, until you've drunk about 6
litres)

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 . .
. ;-)

there are a few homebrewers & european commercial brewers who've made
*dopey* brews, the commercial ones use THC-free varieties, but still
have that powerful marijuana-taste & smell (hemp lager, cannabia, etc)
cheers
MikeMcG