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Just wondering what has been your best brew to date ? I've dabbled in partial mash, liquid yeasts, funky fermentables (cherries etc) and a variety of malts. All said, my best brew so far was as simple as -

1.7kg Gold Rush Mabbot Ale
1 kg Light Powdered Malt
500 g Maltodextrin
12g Fuggles boil
12g Fuggles dry
Kit Yeast

We named it Bacon & Egg Bitter (or Breakfast Beer). It was supposed to be a Kilkenny clone. Wasn't much like Kilkenny but was bang on. Tasted big and malty but then balanced out nicely with the hops. It pretty much hooked me on brewing.

What about you gents (does this board have any lllllllladies) ?

so far probably just a plain Morgan's Lager which i added a Lager malt too.
I have a honey wheat beer on the cook (thanks to Dogger Dan) with a cascade spicy ghost getting it going.

As for llladies, im not a lady, but if the right offer came along

best so far for me is
Cooper's Canadian Blonde
1kg Morgan's Wheat Malt
12g Cascade Hop (steeped)
Saflager Yeast.
Brewed at 14-16 degrees. Also chilled to 8-10 degrees for 7 days at end of fermentation. Simple recipe, light bodied, full of flavour and crisp.

Evo, I think you maybe encouraging a few impostors. Hope you're prepared for some very interesting offers!

This was a real winner. Took a few months in the bottle to settle down, but it's drinking beautifully at the moment.

Cooper's Sparkling Ale
1 can Thomas Cooper's Premium Selection Sparkling Ale (1.8kg)
1 x 1.5kg can Cooper's light liquid malt
20g Pride of Ringwood hop pellets
Yeast as supplied
Yeast starter from two longnecks of Cooper's Sparkling Ale

Cheers,

Oliver

one of my first is still my favorite
Morgans blue montain lager
1kg light dried malt
200grms corn suryp
20grms hallertru hops steeped and strained int fermetor
have done variations on this many times always a winner

1 tin Tooheys Dark Ale
1kg Morgans Dark Crystal Malt
500g Light dried malt
25g fuggles (10 minutes @ 70C)
Safale

Very Black and smooth but with no burnt flavours. Had a hint of a bourbon and coke taste to it (interesting).

Cheers,
Jay.

I've yet to go past a great ginger beer I've brewed a few times now. I find it is really great drinking after 3-4 months in the bottle (if anyone can be that patient). I also put a little chilli power in for extra kick, this is a great refreshing drink for summer.

4kg Glucose
1kg Powerder Malt
9tsp Citric Acid
1 tsp Cayenne chilli power
yeast nutrient
700ml fresh ginger juice
1 Cup ginger powder
add water to 25L
champagne yeast

For some reason I find any ginger beer I make requires a lot more time in the fermenter than any other beer I've made. Just be careful testing the SG before bottling.

Is the ginger powder just the stuff you get from the Indian spice shop and the like?

How do you get the ginger juice? Just by running ginger through a juicer? What quantity of ginger do you need to get 700ml?

Sounds like a great recipe. Might give it a try, particularly since the Cooper's ginger beer was quite disappointing, being too sweet and having an overpowering artificial sweetener taste.

Cheers,

Oliver

That little Porter I just made up is cats.

I also managed to wangle some blueberries out of work a few years ago and I made a blueberry lager using a Coopers Lager and a half and half dex/dried malt and some Saaz hops that was a mighty tasty to.

A long time ago I did up a Cherry Stout that was really good but I couldn't afford it today.

The orange brew that Pyssedas is brewing was mighty clean, very dry and worth doing again

Dogger

Yeah, I don't mind the idea of a spicy ginger beer. Might have a slog at that one also.

What was the porter Dogger ? I've got one kegged at the mo. A bit too coffee-y though.

Jay, a black ale that tastes like bourbon and coke ? Are you sure someone hasn't been sipping a few too many ?

Oliver calling the sparkling ale clone as numero uno. Hmmm... And it contains the dreaded POR hops. Might have to try one of those again and see if I can get it right (although I ditched the last of my POR last night, vowing to not use it again).

...and a lady called Goatee

Evo,

If POR are an issue, try Galena

Dogger

Oliver wrote:Is the ginger powder just the stuff you get from the Indian spice shop and the like?

How do you get the ginger juice? Just by running ginger through a juicer? What quantity of ginger do you need to get 700ml?

Sounds like a great recipe. Might give it a try, particularly since the Cooper's ginger beer was quite disappointing, being too sweet and having an overpowering artificial sweetener taste.

Cheers,

Oliver

The powdered ginger is just the stuff that is in the spice isle of the supermarket. The fresh ginger I put through the juicer, it depends on the ginger as to how much juice it makes. Generally a couple of kilos will do it. Make sure the juicer has a bit of guts, I have ruined one that wasn't up to the job. It makes the kitchen smell great for a couple of days afterwards.

I have been very disappointed with all varieties of ginger beer kits on the market as well. Not much flavour to them at all.

One of my early brews and still a favourite:

Gold Rush Texas T Black Ale
500g Dark DME
500g Light DME
250g Maltodextrin
15g Goldings Hops
Kit yeast

I brew this about every 3rd brew and always have a keg of it in the fridge.

I am in the process of attempting to improve this by using liquid yeasts so far I have tried Wyeast London 1028 and early results are looking good.

My favourite I've made is
Coopers Australian Pale Ale kit with included yeast
Coopers Brew Enchancer 2
500ml or so of Honey from my dads farm
15g Cascade Hops

Trouble is I'm wary of trying new brews now that I've made one I love

Lebowski,

Try alternating batches. ie: One brew of your favourite, then one of an experimental type (or one you've not tried before). That way you should always have a supply of you staple, and you also get to try new ones too.

Greg

Buy a second fermenter

Jay.

I feel like such a goose for overlooking that option.

Greg

Spooky ! I was passing my fave homebrew shop today (the Brew Shop) and thought I'd better pop in and grab my next batch ingredients. (I get nervous if I haven't got enough brewed beer and ingredients in the house to get a small army drunk).

Decided on a Coopers Pale Ale kit, Morgans Brew Enhancer and, having a morbid fear of POR, some cascade hops. Noticed on the can of Brew Enhancer, the ingredients were malt, glucose and honey. Thought "Dogger has been right all along".

Also thought of adding more honey to bring the gravity up a bit (and to TOTALLY rip off Mr Lebowski's (the dude's) recipe). Only thing is, my dad would probably know less about honey than me. So what honey should I be using ?

Good topic Evo, brings out some good recipies. But is'nt it strange that when you get one spot on the next time you go the homebrew shop you end up walking out with something different.

too right there hillbilly!

You end up with a "stock" brew that is never quite the same, still it's a good brew to have;
I like my BlackRock Mexican Lager with 500G LME, 500g DEX, 250g DME, 1 tsp Ground coriander and Black rock Yeast. Nice Summer drink!!