My first ginger beer

. . . and alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages other than beer and spirits. Post discussion on recipes, methods, equipment and the like about these drinks here.

Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Saturday Feb 11, 2012 12:36 am

Cool thanks guys good to know!
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby tazcat » Friday Apr 20, 2012 11:39 am

hyjak wrote:Bum, the LHBS in Hobart offers this exact advice to newbie brewers and the instructions are even handed out in the kits that new brewers buy.


To clear this up, the directions on a can of wort aren't exactly to form and from what I can remember from the instructions on the can the fermentation temps were a bit high to make good tasting beer also the yeast supplied was a bit suspect as passing ale yeast off in a lager pack which is well known. My advice FWIW is to buy unhopped wort, add whatever hops for a beer you wish to try and emulate and use a good dry yeast such as fermentis. As for advice from the Tasmanian Homebrew Supplies Amanda Conrad usually fronts the counter, she is academically qualified to answer any questions on homebrewing and has a barrel load of practical experience to back her up on making beer, nevertheless her primary object is to sell her wares to pay for the advice.
Why have a sixpak when you can have a keg
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Friday Apr 20, 2012 11:56 am

tazcat wrote:she is academically qualified to answer any questions on homebrewing

If she wrote the document linked on the previous page then it is her advice that needs qualification, not her. It is truly woeful stuff.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby barrelboy » Friday Apr 20, 2012 12:14 pm

Interesting. It was Amanda who stated that barley and flaked barley should be boiled
in her milk stout recipe in the milk stout thread. Mmmmm
Cheers BB
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My first ginger beer

Postby bullfrog » Friday Apr 20, 2012 12:49 pm

Has anybody checked if her academic qualifications were "earned" online from a Nigerian website?
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby tazcat » Saturday Apr 21, 2012 7:44 am

Then I suggest you put your gripes to her personally at Tasmanian Homebrew Supplies online.
Why have a sixpak when you can have a keg
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (born: 4 BC died: 65 AD at age: 68)
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Saturday Apr 21, 2012 9:24 pm

Why?
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Oliver » Friday Dec 28, 2012 5:58 pm

hyjak wrote:Here are the instructions offered, http://www.thbs.intas.net/beer_how_to.htm
The people are nice enough and they have the best range of brew supplies in Hobart but some of the advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Best thing about the store is they have an extensive brew book library which anyone can borrow from (2 weeks only) making it a great resource for scoping books before laying out your coin for them.


For posterity, here are some of the gems from this site, lest it ever disappears from the web. (As an aside, clearly the guys from the HB store have not read their own library.)

I find it incredibly hard to believe such instructions are still being espoused. They are on par with the owner of my former LHBS in regional Victoria, who used to recommend storing bottles in direct sunlight to make sure they carbonated properly.

BASIC BEER INSTRUCTIONS
If you follow these simple instructions you can become an expert brewer at your first attempt. These instructions are designed to produce 25L of great home brew
1. Sterilise your Fermenter by adding 5 teaspoons of sodium metabisulphite and filling it with cold water. Allow to stand for 2 hour, then empty and turn upside down to drain. DO NOT RINSE.
2. Add 8-10 litres of hot water (1/3 fill barrel) and stir in the beer mix and up to 1 Kg of sugar, Dextrose or malt until dissolved. (1Kg gives 5% alcohol, 500g gives 4%, no sugar gives 3%). The water need not be boiling, hot water from the tap will do.
3. Top up with cold water till the Barrel is 3/4 full. Check that the temperature is below 28 deg C then sprinkle the contents of the yeast packet on top of the brew. Stirring the yeast is optional.
4. Close the lid firmly and fit the air lock, ensuring it contains about 10-15mm of water. Fermentation should commence within 12 hours. If there is no bubbling through the air lock within this time remove the lid and look for froth on the surface of the brew, if there is froth on the surface this indicates that fermentation has started and you do not have an air tight seal on the barrel, a little Vaseline on the rim of the barrel will give a better seal without over tightening.
5. Keep in a warm place or use an immersion or belt heater to maintain a constant temperature (20-24 deg C is ideal). Allow to ferment for 2 days, then top up to the bottom of the thread in the neck with cold water, thus minimising the remaining air gap. it is important to top up before fermentation has ended so that the remaining air space is filled with carbon dioxide. If late topping up add a table spoonful of sugar to promote further fermentation.
6. Reseal the lid and allow to ferment right out. If using a heater turn it off after a further 2 days Fermentation. To avoid damage to immersion heaters make sure the heater is turned off each time you remove it from the fermenter.
7. When bubbling slows down take a hydrometer reading. If using Dextrose the reading should be 1005, half'n'half it will be 1010 and with malt it should be1015-1020. A stable end point (the same reading over 2-3 days) is essential to prevent over gassed beer. Do not bottle in less than 7 days. Leaving the beer in the fermenter for 10-14 days in total will give a much clearer beer with less sediment in the bottle. The addition of beer finings will shorten the time in the barrel to 7 days.
8. To sterilise your bottles, make sure they are clean, add 1/4 of a teaspoon of sodium metabisulphite and fill with cold water and let them stand for 2 hours, then drain the solution out. It is not necessary to rinse the bottles out after sterilising.
9. To each sterilised bottle add 1 teaspoonful of sugar then fill to within 35-40 mm of the top and fit a crown seal. If using stubbies add only 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar.
10. Store the bottles in a warm place for about a week, then store in a dark cool place
11. Leave to mature for about 3 weeks. Remember, however, that home brewed beers and stouts do not reach their best until they have been bottled for about 3 months, so try and get a stock set aside.

And this:
EXTRACT INSTRUCTIONS
The easiest way to explain how to do an extract is to use a recipe. The reason for this is each recipes timing varies greatly depending on the style, hops used and when they are added, boil time etc ... The basics still remain the same and they are:-
1. Boil the malt and selected grains with the hops in X amount of water.
2. Strain the liquid into the fermenter using more hot water to wash the grains and hops.

And last but not least:

HYDROMETER STORAGE
When the hydrometer is not in use keep the tube full of a decent chlorine solution. When you want to use it you just rinse off the chlorine, use it, then put it back in the chlorine solution and then it is sterilised and ready to use again next time.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Mad Dog » Friday Dec 28, 2012 6:20 pm

This is why I am glad I read the Palmer free book before doing anything else...
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby hyjak » Saturday Dec 29, 2012 11:35 pm

It's awesome isn't it, despite the dated info on the site. It is still the better of the 2 options in Hobart, Amanda (the owner) is always up for a chat on either beer, wine or spirits. I shop for specialty grains, dry yeast, hops and some brewing additives (gypsum and such) there as they rotate faster than the other store and grab the occasional bag of base malt as the price is decent for convenience factor ($70ish vs $45ish with bulk buys).
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