With my current brew 'Way to Amarillo' bottled and having 12 or so bottles left my thought is now going to my next batch. 

The weathers dark, dank and miserably....Spring has no sign of coming around soon (even in Home Brew terms), my idea of brewing a Spring ale has been put on hold until a few months time. 

I then got thinking/a craving for Hobgoblin, one of my favourite beers. Its perfect for this time of year.

After a few afternoons & quieter periods at work! I found an Extract clone of HobGoblin by the Home Brewer Orfy.  This was dated back a few years, however it has been well tried and tested by many and recently too. 

I also thought that before I did a brew completely from scratch it probably was a wise idea to get a feel for Steeping Grains with a recipe that has got so many good comments back from it. Saying its very close to the commercial HobGoblin. 

Until next time.......Happy Brewing

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For Christmas I was lucky to receive a Strainer and Stand, from The Home Brew Shop.

Hop Strainer clipped on top of bucket

I have a standard 25L fermenter bucket and also a 30L bottling bucket, both of which the stand clips on it very securly.

The bag has 4 slits that go through the top of the stands arms, was a bit fiddly to find if it was inside out or not, so I made sure the seam was on the inside, although some hop debris did collect around it washing it in a bowl of hot water easily removed any Klingons.

In order to strain my wort I used a sanitised jug and poured a jug full at a time into the strainer. Once all the wort and hops were out of my boiler pan I decided to pass the top up water through the strainer that had all the hops still in place.
I must say that I was concerned (as once I passed water through it did pull quite tights) if this would split the bag however as the recipe used 50g it wasn't enough to do so.

I wouldn't want to put any more than this in the strainer, also the hops were leaf hops not pellets so I'll have to keep this in mind if I use pellet hops next time.

Once the required amount of water was in the fermenter the strainer was just about touching the top of the wort, but it was already slightly aerated.

Emptying the strainer was simple, just turned the strainer inside out and the hops plopped into the bin. I set aside the strainer in my boil pot until I finished aerating and pitching the yeast.

I know there are other methods of straining, many people just simply use a coarse colander and I've read into hop spiders,bazookas or filters that can be directly used within the boiling wort.

I've been really impressed with how clear the packaged beers have been. I force carbed 1 TAD and a week after initial carbonation you can see straight though the glass once poured. Something of a luxury that I never have had before. An instant success which I look forward to using next time.

The only thing is that it could be a little stronger and also larger inner dimensions, just so it could be comfortable in holding the hops without the fear of it splitting or ripping of the arms, this is only minor as I wouldn't think I'd put much more hops than this in one batch, I like hoppy beers but not overly hoppy.

4 1/2 Bottles out of 5

What do you use for straining hops/wort, if anything? Have you noticed any improvements using one compared to not?

Until next time......Happy Brewing

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I maybe still new to Home Brew in the grand scheme of things, but I find researching into certain aspects very interesting so probably my overall knowledge is quite high for someone who has only really brewed for 6 months. It helps with the all the established home brew forums out there.
The best one I repeatedly go back to is The Home Brew Forum, it has certainly been usefully diving into the forum & the established members are usually very swift and knowledgeable to help with any issues or the like.

As I have a background in Computing,Multimedia, Web & Graphic design I have always enjoyed designing & creating labels of some description for all the brews Ive done. 

Labels don't go on all the bottles, I usually save my nice 500ml flip top bottles for either myself, social gatherings or family so I know I'll get the bottles back and I tend not to put labels on if only I'll be drinking it. 

Front Labels of my previous brews

I do however put labels on ones that I either cap or go to friends or family as Homemade presents, as it rounds it all off into a neat presentation. It gives me a sense of pride giving something you've spent lots of time on that also looks the part. 

I originally started making labels like luggage tags (see left) that I hole punched at the top and tied them on via string to the neck of the bottles. This gave a nice handmade country shop feel to it but was quite labor intensive so I only attached the labels as and when. 

Way to Amarillo Label
(next brew to bottle)

I have recently found some avery labels (ones that are designed to fit a 3.5" floppy disk) I must have had these ages! Finding the label template on the web, I started redesigning the layout of my designs for future brews. As I use Photoshop I always either have a basic design template saved as .psd or I modify an existing brew label, if I want to save some time.  

These look a perfect size for any shaped & sized bottles (300ml or 500ml)


I also produced a back label, The luggage type had it printed on the reverse, the new avery style will be stuck on the other side of the bottle.  I needed to do this as many 'give away' bottles people were just pouring the whole bottle in, so the sediment was being disturbed and yeast sometimes going in the glass. 

Back Bottle Condition Label

So this back label was made to tell the drinker its bottled conditioned, do they read it and pour carefully......probably not all the time! 
It really does make me cringe if I see how they pour it from the bottle. 
Hopefully now, as Ive stepped up my labels to mirror a proper packaged bottle it'll be more striking to drinkers.







What do you think? Do you label your brews & how? Do you want to label your brews? 


Until next time.......Happy Brewing

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When I first started brewing I bought 2 boxes of swing top bottles from the The Range they were £9 for 12 500ml bottles, good value! Although they wont last forever they are a great style of bottle that allows the beer to carbonate very well. I love the sound they make when they open. 

Over time I've boasted my individual bottles from either the odd supermarket bought bottle or from a BBQ or house party and helped with the 'recycling' by taking a few empties home with me.  

Now I have enough bottles to probably do a complete batch in bottles if I wish (or do 3/4 bottles and 1 TAD, so I have some leftover bottles for a batch sooner than waiting another month. 

I've basically found that there's certain types of bottles that wont cap well due to the neck being a bit more dumpy, so my hand capper can't fully grip on the bottle. These I've found are Kopparberg, Wychwood and Badger bottles, some bottles like the Proper Job or 660ML Punk IPA bottles have either the label on a piece of plastic then glued onto the bottle (which stinks and leaves the bottle very sticky if you do try to remove it). Which I then have had to recycle for real. 

Really easy bottles to reuse I've found Budweiser, Rekorderlig or the standard ale bottles that you usually get in the 3 for £5 deals at the supermarket. These labels generally just soak of after some time in hot soapy water, you'll then just have to lightly scrub off any label stickiness that is left.

It's nice to have a mix of swing/flip top, standard capped bottles (that look good if you are giving them away for presents) and a larger dispensing system.

Until next time........Happy Brewing. 

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Brew Diaries/Journals//Notes I keep one, I expect you keep one but they are a great means to keep track of how the brew has gone and any unexpected outcomes during the course of the brew.

I have kept one since I first started brewing up kits, even the simplest form of brewing your can come up with noteworthy points, especially points on how well its conditioning over time and flavour development.

I also keep a track of the music I am listening to at the time, its a nice little remembrance thing like in a normal diary, a piece of history. Do you remember the study/saying that people play music to plants to encourage growth, its like in beer you wont get the same outcome playing two different styles of music. 

As a standard each entry in my Brew Diary I'll have:

• Recipe (instructions from recipe packs/kits or a list written by me and affixed to the page) 
• The name of the kit or beer I'm brewing (this could be a made up name if the recipe is my own) I usually have given a kit a nickname for the brew as it looks better on the labels I make on ones I give away and its also abit of fun
• The date of brew and bottle day OG, FG and ABV
• Any noteworthy points or observations from the start of the brew day all the way through to the drinking the beer after conditioning. Things like how well the brew day went, how long it took before fermentation started, if the temperature drops during primary fermentation, flavour development during conditioning
• Things I would do differently next time if I brewed this again - like reducing or increasing volume, making sure I strain hops better etc.

There are many forms out there, I just use a spiral binned A5 notebook, some probably buy a premade book, others use blogs.  All aimed at doing the same thing.

What do you keep in yours? How long have you kept one?  

Until next time......Happy Brewing 

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Ever had any bottle bombs due to over carbonation? 

Ever had a flat beer from under carbonation?

Branching out on creating different styles in 2016?

I have recently come across a few Priming Sugar Calculators that will help, it certainly opened my eyes to the different beers styles and amount of sugar & CO2 that is recommended.


When I first starting brewing I came across a quick and fast rule of the sugar amount, which with the beers I was brewing probably made them off style and in cases slightly over carbonated. 

The best one I found was Homebrew Dad's Priming Sugar Calculator  this calculator has both the option to input the desired CO2 level that you want to achieve (for the science boffin). If you like me find it easier to relate to the styles they have a very extensive list to select from and aims to place the carbonation at the mid range level of each style. 

A very useful tool indeed! I'll certainly be using it in the future.

Until Next time......Happy Brewing. 

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With 2015 finally over and the New Year goals fresh on our to do lists, what are your brewing goals for this year? Are you a seasonal brewer or do you brew what you feel like?

I would say I fall under the spur of the moment brewer, to a point, although until now I haven't had much flexibility in brews so it really just has been picking what kit I liked the sound of at the time of ordering. 

Now though I have much more choice and variety of what I can do. Maybe this year I'll do a Rhubarb Saison or a Pumpkin Ale?? 

I've never really been a Stout or Porter drinker; I have the odd bottle/pint of Guinness/Chocolate porter/Double IPA/Innis & Gunn that would warrant being seasonal but I'd much prefer something refreshing & flavourful anytime of the year like a Proper Job or Punk IPA.

With the seasons seemingly shifting right, the coldest weather still hasn't hit, I may have to retract my statement and want a darker heavier beer by then, but by the time its fully brewed the first of Spring flowers probably will be appearing. If I have any of these urges, then that is what these commercial supermarket beers are for - the odd one or two to satisfy - it’s always good to boost the bottle tally for my next home brew too. 

Until next time...........Happy Brewing!

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Ok, so I wont say that I know everything by a long way, but I can say I know enough to get by currently and certainly enough to hold a conversation or enlighten someone on the facts.

Since taking this seemly "different" hobby up 7 months ago, (Yes a friend classified home brewing as different hobby - a very endearing way of putting it, which I would have to agree to a certain point of view as it is different to the usual video gaming, football, sports nuts that we all know)



I have noticed that there are three categories of people:

• Ones that find out you make your own beer strike a conversation about the basics (such as how long it all takes, how much it all costs and what things you need etc) - new years eve (2015) surprised me as I was able to hold a few friends attention regarding home brewing for longer than I thought, then peoples hunger kicked in and I lost them to the party food table!

• Ones that like beer....a lot and again strike a conversation on the basics but this time they ask what beers you can do with it, flavours and all the like. I was at my bosses recent leaving run and someone caught wind I made my own beer and started asking questions.
  He thought that you needed lots of equipment taking loads of space so his wife stopped him even thinking of brewing his own. I enlightened him to that fact that all my equipment & bottles (apart from my brewing bucket and new wort pan) are stored in 4 boxes in the airing cupboard. I wouldn't get away with it all around the house so I do my best to keep it for my eyes only!

• The people that either have been thinking of doing their own brew or know someone who does. I have been lucky in a way with this one, as a fellow work colleague's wife has been mentioning to my colleague that she wanted to get into it for along time, Ive been kind enough to give him bottles of every batch Ive done (sometimes more than one bottle of the same batch). This fully converted him to the idea and ordered a beginners kit for his wife's birthday. He has been, apart from my Dad, has been the biggest fan and spreads the word a bit too well.....soon I might have a queue of people at my desk to asking for a bottle of my next batch! 

With working in a male majority environment I have found that I can get a lot of feedback from my beers, most often it is good as they are surprised by the standard of what you can do with just a basically a few buckets, this was just with my first few batches from a kit too.

A few people didn't like my  Fimbelwinter Black IPA as it wasn't their type of beer or just a bit too bitter for them.
They have all said at some point though that they would happily pay for my beer at a pub, sometimes they have even said it was better than some of things they've tasted.

This new hobby is a great conversation starter, keeps you in the good books with work colleagues (it works for me!) and if this all converts someone else into the fold then all the better. 

I have converted 1 person in 7 months and have got at least 2 other people seriously thinking about the venture, not a bad success rate I don't think. 

Until next time.....Happy Brewing!

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So 2015 had its ups & downs, both in and out of Home Brew, mostly highs thankfully. 
Since June last year I've brewed 4 batches (excluding the one thats currently on the go). 

Three of those kits were kit based (Wilko's Golden Ale, Young's Raspberry & Mango Cider & Better Brews IPA), the other was a Black IPA that was an experimental beer, which did teach me a few things but ultimately I didn't have all the equipment necessary to produce something that I was completely happy with. There was lots of sediment within the bottles and my Tap a Draft (TAD)Bottle System. So much that when I came to the TAD that I couldn't drink it as it was so overly bitter, something that when I told my Dad he almost wept with the thought of lost beer.  

What a TAD (Tap a Draft) Looks like

Christmas rolls in and I not only did I get a extract recipe pack, I also got a large pot (12l) and a hop strainer.  I'll review the strainer at another point once the extract brew (Way to Amarillo)  is done and bottled so I can see how much hop debris and sediment there is compared to my previous attempt without a proper way of straining. 

I am not looking too forward into what and when I will brew next, by all accounts & past customer reviews Way To Amarillo should keep me hop happy for awhile...

However I have wanted & meaningfully said that when I got the equipment I would do an Elderflower and Honey beer, the recipe is a close secret for now as its still work in progress however I'll leave you with the name for clues to its make up....'Golden Flower'' Yes highly original I know!

I'll be back soon, until then.....

Happy Brewing.

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