Newbie Intro

[spatch]

G'day, spatch here.
Just been introduced to brewing after recieving a kit as a gift.
Made up my first brew on Sat arvo (a Brewcraft Munich Lager with #15 enhancer).
Its bubbling away nicely and the SG has been dropping daily (@ day 4 its down to 1012, OG was 1044).
Kept it at 20-22 through the recent heat in an old "dead" fridge with a frozen bottle of water added to the fridge every 4-6hrs.

Was wondering what to expect from it tastewise - keep it pretty simple stupid for me, got a lot to learn!
Also, reading here over the last few days sounds like I would be better off leaving it in the fermenter for longer
(going to be hard-keen to sample ASAP). I take it you can leave it in the fermenter for a while once the SG has settled?

Also interested to hear from any other brewers from the Mornington region.

Cheers and look forward to chatting in future.
BTW, hope this is the right area for this kinda chatter???

[Kevnlis]

Welcome spatch!

Once you have a steady gravity reading that is the same for 2 days you can bottle. Let the bottles be at room temp for a few weeks and then give one a go. If it isn't any good give it a few more weeks and try again.

[Chris]

Hi Spatch. This is the right place for intros.

I am sure we have members from mornington. Join up with your local brewing club- you can find them listed at grainandgrape.com.au I think.

[rwh]

Also interested to hear from any other brewers from the Mornington region.

The only person on here I know of is lethaldog.

[spatch]

Thanks.

Joined the local brewcraft club when we bought the kit. There is a meet on tomorrow at 2pm so
will probably drop in to taste a few varieties & see what I like.

Begginners Q - So when I do my SG readings I tend to leave the sample in the test tube for a bit.
1/2 tends to clear up well, half is quite hazy and there is a thin layer of sediment on the bottom.
Does this sound OK to you guys.

Everyone says to relax, it'll be fine, but you can't help worry about the first batch.

[warra48]

Beginners Q - So when I do my SG readings I tend to leave the sample in the test tube for a bit.
1/2 tends to clear up well, half is quite hazy and there is a thin layer of sediment on the bottom.
Does this sound OK to you guys?
Everyone says to relax, it'll be fine, but you can't help worry about the first batch.

Sounds perfectly normal. The first samples you draw off will have quite a bit of the trub & spent yeasts which settle towards the bottom. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure your hydrometer is floating in beer in your tube, rather than heavy muck.

[spatch]

Thanks Warra.

Yep the hydrometer settles a good inch or so off the bottom of the tube. Second reading at 1008 today so I guess its
right to bottle anytime soon.
Might set my self up for next Friday.

[warra48]

Seeing as you have taken a number of samples, presumably from your tap, I suggest you give the tap a spray with sanitiser, including up the downtube, before you bottle. It appears that's been a source of infection for some.

[lethaldog]

Thanks.

Joined the local brewcraft club when we bought the kit. There is a meet on tomorrow at 2pm so
will probably drop in to taste a few varieties & see what I like.

Begginners Q - So when I do my SG readings I tend to leave the sample in the test tube for a bit.
1/2 tends to clear up well, half is quite hazy and there is a thin layer of sediment on the bottom.
Does this sound OK to you guys.

Everyone says to relax, it'll be fine, but you can't help worry about the first batch.

Down at the old one stop hey spatch, i was there yesterday but not for long, Anthony and crew are a great bunch of ppl that are always keen for a chat and to offer some advice and the get together days like yesterday they hold about every 3-4 months so its a good chance to catch up with your fellow brewers and have a snag or 2 ( with a pot or 2 of course ) in a nice and relaxed enviroment

[Chris]

It's a friggin' midi!

These bloody mexicans with their pots. Drove me nuts when I lived down there. It was always an ordeal ordering a beer! I just started saying "Coopers. A big one."

[Tipsy]

It's a friggin' midi!

Yeah nothing like an icy cold pot on a hot day.

MMM feel like a pot now. Luckily there's a pub across the road that sells pots by the thousands.

Might go get myself a pot at lunch time.

[Chris]

You're actually making me glad to live in Canberra!

Actually, it is pretty good here. Believe it or not.

[Kevnlis]

The heat wave down there is making me think I may be better off up in Bundy

I still do not understand the strange weather patterns of this country. I am not so sure any of the forecasters do either

[rwh]

I think it's hard to truly understand a country that you didn't grow up in. For me, My Country by Dorothea Mackellar gets close to capturing it. The most famous stanza is:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

[lethaldog]

It's a friggin' midi!

These bloody mexicans with their pots. Drove me nuts when I lived down there. It was always an ordeal ordering a beer! I just started saying "Coopers. A big one."

First time i stepped into a N.S.W's pub i asked for a pot and the girl behind the bar said i could either have a schooner or a midi to which my reply was " a F#@king what"

[Kevnlis]

When I first moved to SA from QLD I asked for a pot and got the reply that they had Pints, Schooners and Butchers.

Not a bad idea to give the butcher the smallest glass...

[lethaldog]

I think it's hard to truly understand a country that you didn't grow up in. For me, My Country by Dorothea Mackellar gets close to capturing it. The most famous stanza is:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

There once was this Kiwi bloke who had a little lamb
and everywhere they went it frollicked to and froe
Then the Kiwi came up behind him and gave him such a fright
His poor little lamb now cant sleep at all at night


Ok so i admit im not as educated as you but it sort of describes unzud.

[Kevnlis]

Discussion on 'ewes' is here Leigh

[cods70]

Am also newbie. I have 4 bottles of the munich lager left.

It tasted a bit young when I first drank it (althou this could have been me).

However I am about 2 months into bottle and is tasting better. However it was very drinkable when after 2 weeks>

CODS

[spatch]

Down at the old one stop hey spatch, i was there yesterday but not for long, Anthony and crew are a great bunch of ppl that are always keen for a chat and to offer some advice and the get together days like yesterday they hold about every 3-4 months so its a good chance to catch up with your fellow brewers and have a snag or 2 ( with a pot or 2 of course ) in a nice and relaxed enviroment

Yeah it was good to chat to a few blokes, but a lot of it went straight over my head to be honest.
Spent a fair bit of time talking to the guy who brought the bitter along, Steve I think his name was, and another guy Geoff
who was onto his 5th brew from memory.
I was there between 2 & 3, short bloke with a blonde crewcut.