BEER
Interesting facts from sailors and a sudsy bedroom!
How pleasant to awake not only to the sight of snow on the ground, but two carboys each with a healthy head indicating a good start to fermentation.
EXPLORE
Fendog
27 articles in this section.
BEER
Belgian Wheat Beer
last 15 mins: 20 g Hallertauer Hersbrcker. 8g Irish moss. 11g crushed corriander seeds. 10g orange peel.
BEER
Chilling
With the reduction in temperature today, it seems natural to turn my thoughts to the chilling of wort. Of the people I’ve chatted to recently about it, immersion chillers just don’t seem to chill the wort that far. As their name might…
RECIPES
Stawberry Wine
Not content to let Trenchfoot hog the limelight, I am finally back and ready for action after my compatriot has laid down the gauntlet with his ‘turd in a jar’ mead. I’ve had some tinned strawberries in the cupboard for quite some time…
BEER
Harvesting Yeast from Bottle
Finally got around to my bottles of Chimay this evening. Decided to boil up all my gear to sterilise, and boil up the wort in one of my mason jars within the pan too. I made up a smaller starter, so’s not to drown the yeast – 400 ml,…
BEER
Special Brews...
I’ve decided that in addition to the pale ales I’m doing for both weddings, that it’d be nice to do something a little bit different, which I could bottle, and maybe Basil and the Senator / the Stud and his Lady could keep say half of.
WINE
(c)Racking Ginger
Well… I didn’t get a very good taste of it, but the ginger smelt like ginger, and seemed to taste ok too. I think this is promising. Excited about getting that brandy in and seeing what that does to it.
BEER
Beer Bottling Week
Q’s mash tun in the foreground, and the propane burner with copper behind it
BEER
South Sudan - Israel Brewery Tour
Well as is a very common story in my life, my recent travels promised much but delivered little in the world of beer. I had planned to visit the White Bull Brewery in Juba during my trip to South Sudan for work, and then on to Moody’s…
BOTTLING AND KEGGING
Mead: clearing and bottling...
My mead has proven to be someone stubborn in its clearing, but having added finings on 3rd March, today I finally bottled it with the aid of a fine young filly. It tasted foul before it was cleared properly (Trenchfoot will testify to…
BANTER
The Brush and The Senator begin conferring honours
I was walking to church this morning, and met with the delight of a call from my favourite Brush, with the somewhat unsurprising news that the Senator had asked her whether he might interest her in the idea of marriage to him, and she…
MAKE YOUR OWN BREWING EQUIPMENT
Summer Brewing Projects 2: Sparge Arm
While silent I may have been over the past couple of months, inactive I have not. More about Basil and the Senator’s wedding, and my alleged poisoning of the guests, another time.
GROWING HOPS
Growing Hops
Came across a useful looking hop growing website just now – hoping to get a few plants going on the farm next spring to follow in Trenchfootsteps.
BEER
Kegging and Bottling the Wedding Brews...
This weekend I finally got around to bottling and kegging some of my brews. On Saturday I bottled I think the second full-mash that I’d made, which I think was a clone of Old Speckled, which I was considering for Basil and the Senator,…
BEER
Back-to-Back Brewing
1040 Return. Check mash temp. It’s 66, rather than 67 I hoped for. I ponder and figure it’s best just to leave it.
BEER
Double brewday…
Well, for the first time since I can remember, I had a completely free saturday. After having to cancel yesterday’s brew because I had to go to High Table at Christ Church with Maggie’s Mate, I was determined to squeeze in two today.
BEER
5 down, 5 to go...
It’s been over a week since my last brew, which in this crazy brewing frenzy is quite a long time. What could have been a very productive bank holiday weekend was spent in Glasgow supping fine whiskies, catching up with some good…
BEER
Going Full Mash
With over two months since the last brew, and the pressure of the imminent wedding brews, a brew day was well overdue. With Trenchfoot occupied with the ministry of the Word, I was going to be going solo, and do so properly (and…
WINE
Experimental Wines…
With Trenchfoot ministering to the good folk of Banbury today, as in our former ministerial days, I shall be walking in his footsteps in a couple of weeks, so am getting in some prep this afternoon, with the carboy of ale fermenting on…
BEER
OBC and Explosions
Trenchfoot and I finally acquired the pressurised keg from the Squire, and having cleaned out the rather soily odours, we filled it with the OBC that had been stewing in my room for several weeks. The one drawback to the keg approach,…
BEER
Homebrews go down a treat
Following the dismal failure that was brew2, Trenchfoot’s and my confidence in brewing has been knocked for six. We’ve tended to stick to our big guns, i.e. various country wines. In fact, my experience with brew3 at the stag do a few…
WINE
Dandelion in Demijohn
Having had the pleasure of tackling the appearance of God’s glory at the first sacrifices of the first Aaronic priesthood at our Church’s evening gathering, I felt due a day off, and I was glad to get back to that dandelion.
WINE
New adventures in Dandelion
Following my failure to tend to the dandelions picked by myself and Trenchfoot, they consequently picked up rather too much flavour for my liking, such that the utility room began to smell much like a dead cat I found curled up in the…
WINE
Ginger: demijohning
Now… having been away in Germany, and leaving the ginger unattended, I was pleased to come home to find the Ginger on fire. Wopped my head inside the bucket for a good noseful, and it certainly put me in a happy place, and singed most…
WINE
Mint and Ginger...
No. Not together. That would be worse than dodgy. Wacked the mint in the demijohn today, and continue to be suspicious of it. However, did get the ginger on the go today, and this I am excited about. It’s going to be a fortified wine…
WINE
Mint
I’ve been excited about doing a mint wine for some time now, although response to this has been mixed. Finally got started, but immediately felt this may be an error. Still, you’ve got to try these things, even if it does end up…
WINE
Mead: the beginning
In a stroke of ungentlemanly conduct, I stole the idea that trenchfoot had been speaking of for weeks by starting my own mead, my first non-kit wine. Simple: no need for a bucket, boil it all up and add yeast. This beast is going to be…