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After checking my brew log, turns out I subbed in another 250g of light dry malt instead of the maple syrup.

With an OG of 1057, I had a FG of 1013 (6.4%)

I tried it again without the maple syrup (still tasty!) and had an OG of 1058 and an FG of 1019 (5.7%)

If anything I think the 2nd version was sweeter, but that may abate with time. Hope it helps!

Someone once told me that they thought Guiness tasted like soy sauce.

Ever since then, everytime I try some Guiness, all I taste is soy sauce - damn him! I'll take a Mountain Goat Surefoot stout over Guiness any day.

(I wonder if the soy sauce sickness will infect anyone else who reads this ...

I second Purvis. They have a fantastic selection, and often do beer and wine tastings. Their prices aren't as good as Dan Murphy's, but I find their knowledge right up there, while your regular Dan Murphy's staff member won't know nearly as much.

I go to Purvis for recommendations for new beers ...

lethaldog wrote:

Bimbos/Blonde Coq beer

my god where do they get these names from

Hehe, just from the names of the pizza joints. Lucky Coq has a stout called "Black Coq" too. Still tasty, still good

I third the Corkman :D

I used to go to Bridie O'Reilleys, but I find it to be overpriced. The Corkman, while not really selling any specialty beer, is nice, not overly expensive and recognises us when we go in - what more can you ask for?

Lucky Coq (in Prahran) and Bimbos (in Fitzroy) are cozy ...

I have a whole stack of (unused atm!) Grolsch (473ml) and Schwelmer Pils (500ml) bottles that I use. I haven't bulked primed anything yet (both my fermenters are usually busy!), but when I prime, I tend to just use a slightly heaped half teaspoon worth of dextrose.

It's not exact, but it's ...

I think Iron Bark is a eucalypt too (it sounds like one!) but I can't be entirely sure

It usually says if it's eucalyptus, or if it's named after a type of eucalyptus tree.

What honey is considered good depends on your own personal taste. I've heard of people using the normal generic supermarket stuff and having great results from those too.

I've always gone clover honey which has turned out quite nice for me. I'm guestimating that the lighter honeys are better for lighter beers, and the darker ones for the darker beers. It's worked for me so far anyway!

I did quite a similar recipe to you except using Hallertau hops a while back and ...

Something I find that really helps is if your bottle capper is screwed down or clamped to a solid surface. It makes sure that all the pressure you're putting down on it is going to the right place (i.e. onto the bottle cap).

I haven't broken a bottle yet, but I've definitely gotten a couple twist ...

Hooray!!

Then a fun night was had by all.

I heard you guys tried my 'hellfire' (that tasted nothing like Hellfire ) when I was in the kitchen. Do you remember the comments on that?

I think maybe next time we should be more organised :P The fact I had drunk a lot that night already may have clouded my judgement. But as far as I remember, all beers were really tasty, and despite the cold and somewhat uncomfortable settings, it was a tasty night.

Next time we need couches and ...

I use a heaped half teasoon worth of dextrose for priming each of my Grolsch bottles, and a flat half teaspoon worth to prime the 375mls.

No problems priming this way yet. They carbonate nicely and aren't too fizzy - hooray!

Mine has a bit of trouble capping twist tops, although I can hear a definite "thunk" with crown seals, and it caps perfectly.

My twist top bottles get stuck a lot easier, so you have to watch how much pressure you put on the lever.

Was anyone else at the Redoak beer tasting at Purvis this Thursday? For $5 we got to sample the Hefeweizen, honey ale, organic pale ale, vienna lager, bock, Christmas cheer and Wee heavy (as well as a couple of cheeses)

They were all extremely tasty. My favourite was the Christmas Cheer foro the ...

Yeah, I tried that!

I got another one stuck AFTER all the disasters of before. So I twisted. And twisted.

And then the top of my bottle capper (the plastic bit) came flying off!

Now I can't UNtwist it ><

On the plus side, all of my brews are now bottled.

And I must say, bottling crown seals is ...

Yeah, no action in the airlock yet. I'll give it another day or so and then if nothing happens, I'll grab a champagne yeast.

Just then my bottle capper wouldn't let go of one of my bottles. So I spent 15 minutes banging it around until the bell would loosen on the cap.

THEN I go to bottle my next one. For some reason, the valve on the bottom of the bottling tube has disappeared! So I have home brew gushing out of my ...

Just brewed this. Tastes pretty nice from the fermenter, so I might need to add some more lactose when I rack to get the desired sweetness. I based it off the recipe on the Brewcraft site, although I left the lemons in the primary.

Lemonade

14 lemons (picked from lemon tree) sliced/chopped up ...