Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃus<alt.beer.home-brewing & rec.food.drink.beer
added in the vain hope that it may resuscitate them>
Mead can be very simple to make - but not necessarily cheap -
depending on the honey used. The 30L one I racked today cost $150
in Rainforest honey and $20 for the 2 packs of special mead yeast
that I use.
Yeah, thats a hell of a lot more than I ever spend on a batch of beer.
Indeed it is, but then my motives for home brewing isn't purely to
save money. I actually prefer my beer to almost all commercial beers.
Yeah, me too, and thats the reason I started brewing, a mate of mine's
home brew was at least as good as the commercial stuff and when he
told me that you didnt have to wash the stubbys that they were fine in
the dishwasher, and I tried them in mine and found he was right, I
started saving the commercial stubbys myself.
The dishwasher should do a pretty good job of washing
Yep, close to perfect. You do get a few that need to go thru the machine twice, but very few.
Post by BruceS(no soap or detergent)
I just put them in with the normal load, so they get the normal detergent.
The rinse phase is so thorough that you never get any residue at all, in
fact they are so brilliantly clean that they are visibly better than by hand.
I dont use any rinse aid.
Post by BruceSand sterilizing.
I rely on the final hot rinse to that.
Doesnt work for my mate tho, his dishwasher doesnt do as good a job.
Havent compared them to see why.
He prefers to use plastic soft drink bottles for his beer, mainly
because he fills 1/3 or 1/4 as many bottles per batch.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃusMy favourite commercial beer - from the bigger breweries
at least - has always been Coopers, so sediment has never
been something that's bothered me.
Yeah, I dont even bother to not pour out the very last from the stubby
anymore. I always drink from a proper glass now that I have stopped
drinking the commercial beers.
The only exception is the last stubby in a bottling run, I dont drink that sediment.
What's different there?
That last stubby has a hell olf a lot of sediment in it. Very visible when
just filled, you cant even see thru the bottle there's so much sediment.
That settles before I drink it but still has much more visible in the bottle
before pouring out the beer. You dont get any in the glass if you are
careful, its easy to see it coming with the last of the beer.
I never drink from the stubbys anymore except when I am out
visiting and bring my own beer and dont bother to take a glass.
I find that the beer tastes a lot better from a proper glass.
I used to drink the commercial stuff from the stubby, and
still do on the rare ocassion when I still drink commercial
beer, because the only alternative is softdrink etc.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃusAs for the mead, well I just love the stuff and it's very expensive
to buy, assuming you can even find some to buy, that is.
Yeah, I've never noticed it for sale. Havent looked for it tho.
I almost want to dissuade you from doing that. Commercial mead is
not only expensive, IME it's also generally sweet and still. What you
brew yourself will be as good, or better. Just don't expect the same
speed as beer, as yeast doesn't like to eat honey. Then again, maybe
a commercial mead will turn you on to what you can do on your own.
I do plan to try some. Managed to forget to check what
honey is available at the farmers markets yesterday tho.
Whats the story on the brewing temps ? I've just stopped
the beer brewing because its getting too hot here now.
We can have 10 days over 40C, tho we havent this year yet.
Obviously where I brew the beer doesnt get that hot but it
can easily get to 30C and I choose not to brew when I have
to heat or cool just to keep the cost down. Its normally easy
to brew when I dont need to heat or cool since I normally
brew 3 batches at a time.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedMight try some just like I did with cider etc.
Post by JeÃusI'll likely get a spirit still next. The mate of mine that
I infected with the beer brewing bug has just got one
and its worked out pretty well.
Mostly scotch, I do spend a bit on commercial scotch currently.
Unlikely that the 80 year old scotch will be viable to make myself tho.
I've been distilling for a couple of years now, at first with one of those 'air' stills,
Yeah, thats what the mate of mine has just got.
What's an "air" still?
Doesnt use water to cool the condenser.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃusbut now mainly I use a pot still. I'm not really a spirit drinker,
I do it in bursts.
I drink quite a bit of whisky, and a decent amount of whiskey.
I prefer scotch myself. My mate does prefer whiskey.
Post by BruceSAlmost enough to make me do more cloud pics, but
not nearly enough to see genies or whatever in them.
Never get that, the worst I ever get it that
I have to be a bit more careful walking.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃusbut I do like apple cider brandy and other brandies.
I intend to lightly distill mead at some point, hoping to
make a mead liqueur. There is a Tasmanian company
that makes one, and it's bloody delicious, neat with ice.
I drink my scotch neat with no ice and a drop of water,
quite literally just a single drop.
No water here. I tried that with a couple of whisky brands, and
didn't think it added anything, so I just drink it neat. A guy at a
liquor shop the other night told me he did the same, but kept notes,
and found some whiskies were better with that drop, others not.
Maybe I quit too soon.
I havent tried a proper double blind trial, not clear if I could pick it.
Post by BruceSPost by Rod SpeedI love the best single malts, hate the prices tho.
Dont expect I will ever make anything like that tho,
hell of a lot of work and years quite literally too.
I really just want to replace the commercial blended
scotches that arent cheap due to the duty system here.
Here ether. I just trust that the work to get the best effect is
more than the cost of just buying it, and test various brands.
Post by Rod SpeedPost by JeÃusThe vodka comes in handy for making vanilla essence as well.
I drink almost no vodka, except the occasional zubrufka (sp) from Poland.
I dont even drink that.
When I was in college, I majored in chemistry, a crazy Danish
temporary visitor who was escaped the Danish conscription
system in the 60s made some schapps with what chemists
call SVR, basically the purest ethanol you can get. It isnt safe
to drink the other form of pure ethanol, what chemists call
absolute alcohol, since the residual water is removed using
benzine and there will always be some benzene remaining
and its carcenogic.
He just added water and an oil whose name I cant quite remember,
probably carraway seed oil, but that doesnt sound quite right.
Dunno if it would appeal as much as it did then, damned near half a century ago now, bugger.
Post by BruceSI used to drink a bit of rum in college, but have very little now.
Same goes for gin, though I tapered off more slowly.
I've never drunk it neat, only as G&T. That is a nice change from beer in the hottest weather.
Post by BruceSNow it's beer, wine, mead, and whisk{e}y.
With me its all of those with G&T instead of mead.
Post by BruceSI have barely had any liqueur (exc. in margaritas) since college.
I like a decent brandy but the only true liquer I have had in decades
was a bottle of Midori, and only because the local regional airline
had an opening special that included a bottle of that for some reason.
Post by BruceSIf any of this seems incoherent, it's because I had a little party here
for home brewers, and it's quite possible I overindulged just a little bit.
You're doing fine. Not even any spelling mistakes, thats usually the giveaway with me.
Post by BruceSI know I wouldn't want to have tried driving home from this, but since I hosted it, no problemo.