Funny, huh.

Bottling Your Brew - Bottle Time

Here are the steps I take and a basic description of why.

Decanting from brew drum to priming drum

Bottling Your Brew - Decision Time

Last week we put down a batch of beer. Time to bottle? There are a few simple decisions you should have already made by now.  In this post, we quickly cover some pro's and con's...

Minor Restructure, and Another Blog

I didn't know what I wanted from this blog when I started it back in January.  I think I was just blogging out of boredom.  Once we were home from our flood-ruined holidays, I didn't touch the blog for 2 months.

Last month I posted a few nerdy linux and android related articles, and I just don't think they belong here.  I still want to keep them though, so I've created another blog for all that boring stuff.  This means this place can concentrate on the bikes and beer.

If you're here looking for the linux or android instructions I've written, you can find them at Six3SevenLinux.

Wikio top 30 motorcycle Blogs

I regularly visit Return of the Cafe Racers, one of many blogs I enjoy reading.  I noted with interest he made 19th in the wikio top thirty motorcycle blogs. See his ROTCR post for more...

Bike EXIF took out top honors, a nice result since it was the only blog I voted for in the Best Australian Blogs competition. And it's Australian. And we all like seeing a good Aussie taking out a win.

Home Brew Beer - Putting Down Your Brew

Now that you've got the kit, you'll want to make some beer!

You'll need some consumables.  I'll list the stuff I use for a popular recipe I use.

1 x tin of Coopers brand Pale Ale malt extract

1kg of sugars - Homebrewers Warehouse 'Goodies Pack' (or Coopers 1kg Brew enhancer Nr. 2)

1 x 450g jar of no name honey

1 x jar of sterilizer (you'll get several cleans out of 1 jar)

2L of ice cubes

I buy all this stuff from Homebrewers Warehouse, they give out free replacement yeast that works better for tropics, their prices are cheaper than the supermarket, and they are just nice guys.

Putting down a brew only takes a few minutes once you're organised and know what you are doing.

Home Brew Beer - The Kit

I brew my own beer.  The basic principle is a two stage process. First stage is unpressurised fermentation to produce alcohol, the second stage is pressurised fermentation to produce bubbles.  The yeast culture consumes sugars in both stages to produce the desired result.  The sugars you use will influence flavour and mouth feel.

I'm putting down a brew today, this is just the first stage (producing alcohol).  This post will cover setting up your kit.  A second post today will cover putting down your first batch.  I will cover bottling (producing bubbles) in about a week.

Some people will say you need a $80 brew kit, Hydrometer, etc.  These things add cost, and aren't really necessary. Here's the kit I put together...

My kit