Interesting home brew

Submitted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 22:46

ThreadID: 46129 Views:3044 Replies:7 FollowUps:16

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Member - andrew B (Kununurra)

I know there is a few home brewers amoungst us, so I thought I'd post a recent discovery....(its probably been done before, but I'd never heard of it)

I usually brew either stout or ginger beer. The Ginger is good, but a bit sweet. I go the dark and stormy route, and add 15ml rum per stubbie at the bottle stage, gives it a nice kick and takes the edge off the sweetness (IMO). I have always kep my brewing very simple, sticking to directions and keeping things very clean, with better results than others i know that experiment a bit.

I like the bit of 'bite'in the ginger beer, so I did a bit of an experiment and blended up 6 chillies, seeds and all, boiled them up for a half an hour and added them to a brew. They've only been bottled for 2 and a half weeks now, but I couldn't wait any longer so chilled a couple today....woah, this is good (IMO), still a bit green, give it a month or so and it should be great......definetly worth a try if you like hot food, rum, going crosseyed etc!

Might drop a couple around to Old Squizzy if he's keen....

Cheers , , hic, , Andrew

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Reply By: Oldsquizzy (Kununurra) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 23:33

Reply By: Member -NIFFTY (WA) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 00:50

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 00:50

Hi Andrew
As a trained brewer (micro brewery) I would have to say 6 chillies in 20 odd litres is a bleep e load. wouldn't want to be your rear end in the morning.Just a few dry ones added when you add your hot water then leave them in for the ferment should give a chilli zing and a drying flavour.You find different chillies impart different flavours so its worth experimenting.The ginger beer is always sweet because they add non fermentable sugars to the kit mix bit like nutrasweet.I have had some really nice coopers lager kits beer with a hint of chilli given to me for tasting and was impressed.
Enjoy
Niffty
GQ HQ
Perth

AnswerID: 243887

Follow Up By: Member - andrew B (Kununurra) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 08:57

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 08:57

Gday Niffty

I think I am one of the lucky ones that doesn't get that Johnny Cash feeling in the morning (burning r.... of fire) Usually if it gets past the lips its OK.

The 6 seems not no be overding it, but as you said there are chillies and there are chillies. The ones I used may have been quite mild. I would like to stay ith the fresh, but a manufactured dry powder may be more consistant.

I may try a bit in a lager or ale and see how it goes.....

Have you ever had a go at fermenting fruit (blended into a liquid, maybe strained). At times we have an abundance of rockmelons etc and even mango's at times, it would be interesting to seee what it would come out like though!

Cheers Andrew

FollowupID: 504799

Follow Up By: Member -NIFFTY (WA) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:35

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:35

Hi Andrew
Yeh I love the chilli too! The reason you should use dry whole(broken up) chilli is you will get a more consistent result and you should get less haze in your lighter colour brews due to less fresh vegetable matter to break down.Dont know about rockies (only WA) but mango should go well in a darker style Ale.Maybe Mango Stout.The way to go is: Get your brew fermenting well for a few days then add chopped mango and ferment till the end.Then rack off the remaining fruit.If you blend the fruit It will be a pain in the ass to remove sediment before bottling.Try 3-4 kilo to start and remove the skins.If you try it in a lighter style beer you may need to add some pectinase (home brew store) to get some clarity but im not sure if mango contains pectin.
If you do a search on the net for Fruit beer recipes you will find heaps.Look for the ones which are extract or kit recipes.Not all grain as I brew.If you need any help contact me on my member contact.
Cheers Niffty
GQ HQ
Perth

FollowupID: 504828

Follow Up By: slave - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 16:54

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 16:54

Niffty

There is a brewer that travels from WA to Vic
www.otwayestate.com.au/
on a regular basis ( maybe fortnightly )

Mrs S

FollowupID: 504921

Reply By: snow - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 08:41

Reply By: snow - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 09:41

Reply By: Hairy - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 09:45

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 09:45

Gday,
Sounds good.Do you make your own rum too? That's worth a go!

AnswerID: 243913

Follow Up By: TentEnKaMan - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:24

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:24

Ermmmm you have to distill to make rum and that makes it instantly illegal. So possibly not the best thing to post about hahahaha ;D Not that I care if the "moon shines" or not lmao

Nice to see some other home brewers out there! Go the Coopers :D

FollowupID: 504823

Follow Up By: Member - andrew B (Kununurra) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:47

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:47

Your right, you are not allowed to distill your own spirits, but you are alowed to distill essential oils etc for those smelly lamps etc.......I like my house to smell like rum, its just for my lantern, honestly!

I haven't started on the rum yet, I drink a bit too much as it is with a virtually unlimited supply of beer, I'm not sure I'd cope with an unlimited supply of rum!

Cheers Andrew

FollowupID: 504831

Follow Up By: Hairy - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:54

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:54

Gday,
Yes your dead right!!!!
The trick is to lend it to someone for a couple of months and dry out!
The essential oil still im talking about.
Cheers

FollowupID: 504835

Follow Up By: Gob & Denny - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:28

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:28

goodday andew
why distil your own i am still trying to get thru a bottle i bought from the hoochery

steve

FollowupID: 504906

Follow Up By: Member - andrew B (Kununurra) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:34

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:34

I haven't had much of a go at the hoochery stuff myself, but I've heard its a bit of an aquired taste!

Still, it may be good in the dark and stormy's, my wife has won a couple of home made baily's comps in the past....her secret, the cheapest, roughest whiskey you can get your hands on. The extra bite of a cheapy goes well in the irish cream compared to a smooth whiskey.
Cheers Andrew

FollowupID: 504909

Reply By: The Bigfella - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:36

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 15:36

Andrew

You are talking about my greatest passion.
I like your idea of the "KISS" method in brewing. Keep your gear clean and watch brewing temperatures and you will make great beer after beer.
I make both beer and spirits (own my own homebrew shop). This makes ingredients easy to get.
I have a customer who makes a wheat beer that is fantastic. He does a double brew of :- 2 x Wheat Brew Cans, 2 x 1.5Kg Wheat Liquid Malt and puts a jar of Marmalade in as well. A great drop on a really hot day.
I have played around with fruit (Kiwi Fruit, Peach, Apricot) beers over the years. They are great but I find unlike all other homebrews they have a reasonably short shelf life. I find that after about 3 months in the bottle they lose their "fruit" flavour and tend to go a tad sour.
Ginger Beer is great with Cinnamon in it as well. A nice spicy flavour with the ginger. I am not a great chilli fan so have been reluctant to try it. Made a chilli beer once but overdone the chilli and threw it all out.
It would be interesting to know how many homebrewers there are on this forum. I notice the subject comes up every now and again. I thought about advertising on this sight but don't know that I would get enough custom as there are more homebrew shops popping up around the country. Supermarkets also sell some of the basic products and they are all over Australia.
Any way time for a homebrew and then go home for the day.
Cheers and beers
The Bigfella

AnswerID: 243990

Follow Up By: Member - Tony J (NSW) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 17:59

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 17:59

I brew my own spirits. Much Much cheaper, but now the Pepsi cost me a whole lot more!

FollowupID: 504944

Follow Up By: Member - eerfree(QLD) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 21:55

Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 21:55

My brothers and I decided to brew our own spirits a long time ago, thought about potato's but used onions instead---WHEW--- talk about Johnny Cash!!!

eerfree

FollowupID: 505019

Follow Up By: Member -NIFFTY (WA) - Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 11:21

Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 11:21

Yeh I brew at home although all grain.Love It!
Where is your shop bigfella?
Niffty
GQ HQ
Perth

FollowupID: 505108

Follow Up By: Member - Ron O (VIC) - Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 16:35

Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 16:35

Been brewing spirits for over 5 years only brought 12 cans in that time when l ran out on the nullabor luv it

FollowupID: 505162

Follow Up By: The Bigfella - Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 17:43

Saturday, Jun 02, 2007 at 17:43

Niffty & Ron O

I do the odd brew with all grain. Just that with my own shop and access to plenty of supplies I tend to tickle the kits up all the time. Our brew shop chain have all our own brands. Not looking for free advertising but have a look at www.countrybrewer.com.au
and if you click on the Bathurst store my ugly head will show up.
To answer your question I am in Bathurst.
It is a great hobby and can save you heaps of money.
I do a fair bit of travelling (with my Terracan and Coromal Camper) and do heaps of homebrew in PRT bottles for travelling. I have taken homebrew to Cape York and a 5 week trip to WA. Over the years I have always had plenty of homebrew on board when ever I travel our great country.
On the spirits side you can make anything you like. I don't mind a rum and my wife drinks contreau(spelling). Always have plenty of both when on the road.
Having the shop now restricts my travelling but hope to do more in the coming years.
Cheers and beer (and spirits)

The Bigfella

FollowupID: 505174