Topic: Beer Machine

[topconker]

Here we go,
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae for ale and Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis for lager.
Had a sleep since last night after a superb chilli.
TC

[George]

TC

As I said, you've really set me thinking about getting geared up to make some beer. It's quite a step in terms of all the bits and pieces needed. I just found an Australian lager kit at 40 pints for ?8.75. OK, there are some extra costs but the starting point of 20p per pint doesn't seem too bad:

http://www.whyteshomewineequipment.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=379&osCsid=ec7e7290460f4693587a62be1d0875d7

And here's an account of someone's first attempt at making lager. He seems pleased enough:

http://www.thehomebrewsite.org.uk/homebrew-recipes/lager-recipes/homemade-lagerbadger-lager.htm#more-15

Regards
George

[topconker]

Hi George,
Looks like a good starting point, although you'll notice the guy talks about a slight sharp taste, this is the kit tang I spoke about, and will never go.
I have some kit improvement ideas somewhere and will try and dig them out, and seem to remember one of them is to increase the hopping by producing a hop gravy.
You're right insomuch there is a fair bit of bits and pieces to gather, but once you've got them, they'll last a lifetime of brewing, probably the hardest things are the Burco boilers, but these are available in car boot sales and even E-Bay.
TC

[George]

Even the wet kits, those that come in a tin and are boiled up to make 5 gallons are poor and have the kit tang associated with them

TC

Ah, I see what you mean. I'll avoid the kits, then. What would you say are the smallest quantities one could succesfully mix for a trial run? Or, like some people say for base sauce, do you need a large volume to make it viable? I don't agree for base sauce but I could believe it for beer making.

Regards
George

[topconker]

Believe it or not, I can remeber giving a talk on brewing small quantities in a large Thermos flask and scaling down everything else.
Again, if you're interested I'll try and find it all out.
The only thing I will say though is, brewing good beers/lagers etc. do not suffer these smaller quantities well as the variables of weights, temperatures and volumes are very hard to control.
TC