Topic: Beer Machine

[Bobby Bhuna]

This is almost certainly the best invention in the world. http://www.beermachine.com
Number one on my xmas list! I bet this baby would work a treat for my beer and curry nights... Now it can all be home made!  ;D

[mike travis]

Hi Bobby,  nice one chap. I have had a crack at the homebrew without much success. This could be the answer. Let us know how you get on..  ;D

[Secret Santa]

Now that looks the business. If only it had a tap on there labelled vindaloo as well

[George]

I have had a crack at the homebrew without much success.

By chance I was thinking a few weeks back of trying to make some beer/lager for the first time. What would say was the reason for your lack of success? Is it simply that it's far from easy and quite expensive to produce anything which tastes even in remotely the same league as lager off the shelf?

Regards
George

[topconker]

Have to say guys, this would probably be the last thing I'd want.
These types of kits have been around the homebrewing world for a long time and none have yet made anything close to beer or lager you buy.
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.
To make a decent beer or lager you have to make it as the brewerys do, that is to mash, sparge and ferment.
Far better then to have a go at this than to be dissapointed at the poor quality you will certainly get, a bit like BIR really, make as the experts do.
Trust me on this one, it's something I know about.
I can supply recipes and methods if you need them from strong continental lagers, traditional ales to stouts, all will make exceptional quality beers as long as you follow some simple rules and methods.
TC

[Bobby Bhuna]

That would be awesome TopConker. What's the chance that you could post a thread with the basic instructions?  ;D

[topconker]

OK BB,
Will post a bitter recipe which is simple using a few basic ingredients and equipment.
This recipe is my copy of Fuller's London Pride and will post when I get home from work tonight.
In the meantime, you will need to find the following if possible:

New fermenting bin, (must be new as old ones hold bacteria)
2 boilers one that will hold 5 gallons of water anbd the other up to 3 gallons, I use Baby Burco boilers which you can find in car boot sales etc.
A 2 gallon white plastic bucket no lid needed.
Large spoon/ladle, (should be easy to find).
Length of food grade plastic tube with a small water rose fitted to end.

With these basics you will be able to brew any type of beer you want.
The Baby Burcos are the ideal boilers but you can get away with very large saucepans.
Dont be put off by the list as I can even give you a recipe and method using a vacuum flask to maje small quantities !!
All the recipes are guaranteed, (if you follow them), to produce award winning beers that are tried and proved by me in competions across the country.

TC

[Shug]

Got a recipe for Cobra to go with the curries? 

[George]

Topconker - many thanks for sharing your findings and know-how here. I'd be most grateful for any tips and guidelines on how to make any lager, whether it tastes more like Fosters, Cobra or anything. This thread has the potential to become most interesting.

Something else I'm interested in is how to increase the alcohol, and improve the taste as a consequence, to low alcohol lagers sold by the supermarkets, like 85p for a pack of 4 cans. I assume this can be done since I was aware that expats were doing it in the Middle East, based on alcohol-free lager, which is all you can buy in some countries. Or would you says it's better and cheaper (in the UK) to start from scratch, from raw ingredients?

Regards
George

[topconker]

Low alcohol beer is no problem to make, it's a simple case of how many fermentable sugars are produced in the mash, the harder part is balancing the lower alcohol with the hop balance.
Typically home produced light ales and lagers have an alcohol content of no more than 4% and lower alpha acid hops are used to balance this.
Whilst the continental styles of lagers are 5 - 6 % and higher which require a different hop blend for both aroma and bitterness.
It gets even more complicated, (interesting), because you then start to require a level of DMS in your lagers to produce the continental taste and style, which in turn needs a slightlu different approach to late hopping and a process called standing on.
Again, I can let you have these if members are interested.
TC