Batch #010: Brewcraft Czech Pilsener

This is a Brewcraft premium imported kit, but when you read the fine print, the malt is made by Muntons. I prepared the boiled water on Saturday 8 August 2009, and let it cool overnight. Then I prepared the wort on Sunday evening using the kit and 1kg of Beer Enhancer #62

OG = 1.034
SG = 1.012

I'm bottling this after 10 days of fermentation. It smells delicious! (a bit like Hineken or Stella Artois)

30/08/2009: I tasted my first bottle of this batch tonight. It's really nice. This tastes pure. It is the best batch I have brewed to date. The yeast has settled leaving a very clear beer with good secondary fermentation. I think the trick is using the enhancer.

Brew #009: Export Stout

I enjoyed the first batch of export stout so much I decided that I should brew some more and get it ageing as soon as possible. So on 19 July 2009, I prepared another 23 litres using a Munton's kit and Brewcraft's 1kg Irish Stout #74 Brew Enhancer.

OG = 1.036 Sunday 19/07/2009
SG = 1.014 Sunday 26/07/2009
which makes it about 3.5% which doesn't seem right.

I've tasted a few bottles last week after only 2.5 weeks and it tastes nice, but a bit young.
At least I've still got plenty of Wheat Beer to enjoy, which is now 10 weeks old.

Brew #008: Munton's Wheat Beer

I've run out of lager style beer to drink, so I decided to brew another batch of Wheat Beer. This time I used Brew Blend No15 which is a mixture of dry malt extract and dextrose. This is supposed to improve the mouthfeel and head retention of the beer.

It has been fermenting at 20C, and the bubbling slowed down after a week, but kept on going slowly, so I decided to be patient and let it stay in the fermenter longer than any other batch I've made to date.

I finally bottled it on Sunday 31 May, 19 days from pitching day. It's OG=1.038 and the SG=1.012 which makes the alc% =4.1%

Brew #007: Munton's Export Stout

I am really pleased I decided to try brewing a dark beer.

The photo on the pack looks delicious and I think this is my best tasting result so far.

I got a special Brewcraft 1kg pack of No38 blend which is a combination of dry malt extract, dextrose and corn sugar. You steep it in boiling water for 10 minutes and add it to the wort to make it taste like Guiness.

Brew #006: Low Alcohol Ginger Beer

I bought this Brewcraft kit from the local Brew Shed for $22.00 and also picked up some raw ginger root to grate and soak in brandy so I could add it to the mix. I decided to not add any extra dextrose or the artificial sweetner as I want this to be a low alcohol version, so that our boys could drink it. Fermetation took 7 days
OG=1.018
SG=1.006
Alc 2.1% (not as low as I thought it would be)

This tastes very dry, but is crystal clear and is pale yellow. We're enjoying this. Ewan doesn't like it but Jordan likes it. Next time I would make the alcoholic ginger beer and hopefully it would taste slightly sweeter.

Brew #005: Muntons Export Pilsner

This brew tasted very nice. I'd recommend this one. It had an OG=1.038 and after 6 days of fermentation at 24-25C it stopped at an SG=1.006, so I used an online calculator to estimate the alcohol content as 4.9%.

I decided to buy a decent fermetation barrel from the Brew Shed. It cost me about $45 and came with an air lock, a tap and a stick on thermometer. It was worth it. The lid seals on easily and I could actually see CO2 bubbling through the airlock during the fermentation process.

I've decided to keep the fermenter in our lounge, as it's warmer there than the garage, which cools down at night. Keeping the temperature at 22C seems to work well.

I bottled this into 2 crates (24 x 750ml) and 10 stubbies (330ml) on 4 March and there is none left now.

Brew #004: Brewtec Premium Draught

Well I thought I would try a kit which I found at our local supermarket. This one cost $10 and unfortunately the beer tasted like $10 beer. I took all the care during the preparation of this batch. It's OG was 1.036 and pitched a sachet of Munton's Premium Gold yeast at 25C.

The flavour was disappointing and I won't be buying this brand again. It did improve slightly after 3 months in the bottle, but the beer is over carbonated, it is difficult to pour it without getting way too much head.

I'm contemplating dumping the rest of this batch so I can use the bottles for nice beer.