TinRoof IPA - What happens when you mess with a recipe

We started out with the recipe we designed earlier, and decided to bring it down to 21L instead of 25L and at the same time cut back the crystal malt from 0.95kg to 0.5kg and the vienna malt from 0.65kg to 0.5kg. This would give us a lighter malt load and hopefully still be balanced.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

This is the first time we are using our new wort pump, we were able to set it up to recirculate the wort through the mash

Adding the grain to the mash water, 6kg is easy, I have done this with 55kg and you know you've had a work out then.

We weighed and bagged the hop additions for the day, all 7 of them.

After the boil we ended up with 16L, so somewhere in our measurements we really messed up. We have still got a very nice beer but it's ended up at 101 IBU's instead of the 62 we were planning on and once everything has settled only about 15L of beer. 

I think we will just have to call it a limited release. 

TrainWorks Beer Fest date for 2013

The organisers of TrainWorks Winter Beer Festival have released the date for next year,

24th August 2013.

Get it on your calanders now.

TrainWorks Winter Beer Fest - Wrap Up

Well what can I say, it was an overwhelming success. Blue sky,warm day, excellent location and enough beer to keep you drinking all day. For an entry fee of $35 you got entry to the beer fest, tasting glass, 5 beer tokens and entry to the train museum.

With plenty of room to move between brewers and/or spread out on the grass, it made for a very relaxed atmosphere.

Our pick for the Ale of the show, 2 Birds Brewing Summer Ale - a light and refreshing Ale that allowing a glimpse of the crystal malt to come through the hops.

This shot is looking back to the new indoor part of the train museum and the James Squire tent

Our pick for dark beer of the show is Holgate's Temptress - a chocolate porter made with vanilla beans and a texture so smooth it will be gone before you know it.

The crowds built up after lunch, but the early birds found some seriously good tucker down in the food tents.

The first shout out goes to the organisers for having these guys and a few more around to make sure nothing got out of hand.

The second shout out goes to The Hills Cider Co for coming all the way from the Adelaide Hills to make the event.

Cheers to the organisers for putting on such a spectacular event and we look forward to next year.

The HOPS are Coming

To my surprise some of our hop plants have started sprouting already

These are the Golding, with 3 shoots

And the fuggles with 9 shoots. Both of these are new varieties for us, along with Saaz, Nugget and Hallertau they join the Cascades from last year. It will be interesting to see which is the best producer and fastest grower.

Train works winter beer festival THIS Saturday

Brewers and beer lovers will make tracks to Thirlmere on August 25 for greater Sydney’s first ever winter themed beer event – the inaugural Trainworks Winter Beer Festival, a celebration of great beer and the craftsmanship, artistry and passion that goes into its creation. 

The Trainworks Winter Beer Festival will unite some of the state’s best boutique beers and hearty winter fare at the stunning Trainworks site in Thirlmere, located about 90km southwest of Sydney, an easy one hour drive from the CBD.  

The Trainworks site will be transformed into a beer lovers’ paradise as the exhibited locos and diesel engines give wide berth for a family-friendly celebration of great beer, good food and live entertainment. A designated kid’s area and an exciting line up of live music and beer-related entertainment make the single day festival great value. 

Beer Diva Kirrily Waldhorn, ambassador for the Trainworks Winter Beer Festival, says the event will be a celebration of the versatility of beer as the ultimate Australian beverage – regardless of season.  

“There are a number of fantastic beer events on the calendar every year, but I can’t think of another one that occurs during winter, and that celebrates beer’s excellence as a partner to hearty winter fare. Beer, whilst often regarded as a perfect summer refresher, equally shines as a winter warmer,” says Ms Waldhorn. 

“With the popularity of craft beer surging in NSW, beer drinkers are embracing good beer with new-found fervor. This creates a wonderful opportunity to showcase beer’s ability to match any occasion and flourish at any time of the year.”

With its modern, expansive facility and rich heritage, Trainworks creates the perfect setting to launch NSW’s first Winter Beer Festival. Trainworks’ historical relics of engineering and craftsmanship reflect the history and heritage of beer whilst also acknowledging the innovation and modernity that breweries are bringing to beer today. 

Bookings are now open for breweries to reserve exhibitor space and explore sponsorship packages. 

Trainworks Winter Beer Festival Ticket Details:

• Saturday 25th August 2012, 10am - 5pm

• Adult entry only - $25.00 

• Minors 13-17yrs entry only - $25.00 (must be accompanied by an adult)

• Children 12 and under - free (must be accompanied by an adult)

• Adult tasting ticket - $35.00 includes entry, tasting glass, program and 5 tasting tokens

• Adult entry & transport ticket return – from Sydney $49, from Campbelltown $47

• Adult tasting & transport ticket return – from Sydney $59, from Campbelltown $57

• Minors 13-17yrs entry & transport ticket – from  Sydney $44, from Campbelltown $42

• Children 12 and under entry & transport ticket – from Sydney $24, from Campbelltown $23

Road test : Irish Dry Stout by Ezy Brew

The Ezy brew range of beer kits are made and distributed by ES Brewing, and have achieved quite a following in the homebrew community. This Irish Dry Stout is the first of the range to undergo a revamping and I’m sure it will prove to be a hit.

This beer could not be better named, Ezy Brew and it is at that. Pour in the kit, add water to make up 22L and add the yeast Safale S-04, then sit back and watch it ferment.

In making it up to 22L we achieved a starting gravity of 1.052, and after fermentation was complete a finishing gravity of 1.016 giving us a 5.1% alc beer after priming.

Now for the tasting: we tried this stout both straight out of the fridge and a second one which had been out for the fridge for 20mins, and found that the second one (which had been allowed to warm slightly) gave us better flavours and aromas.

Packed with flavour this stout contains much more than just the usual roast malt and coffee, although they are there, they play a background role to an organic soy / savoury taste that is also quite sweet and with a nutritious thickness to it so you know you’ve had something filling.

The aroma is a mix of dark roasted malt, with hints of coffee and bitter chocolate that matches well with this very dark but clean beer.

Ok now down to the nitty gritty:

Time – 10 min to sterilise the fermenter and tools, 10 min to make up the batch and 5 min to clean up. Priming and bottling took 30min and clean up took 15min.

Total Time – 70min plus 18 days fermenting and conditioning

Cost – kit $34 – yeast $4.75 - bottles $32 (you need 32 650ml bottles)

Total Cost $38.75    (or $70.75 with bottles)

Changes I would make next time would be to only make it up to 20L giving it a higher alcohol and changing the yeast to WLP 004 Irish Ale Yeast.

Making My own Kegerator

The time had arrived where by we were finally sick of continuously washing bottles.

We decided it was time to make the move to using kegs. This meant we needed a way to dispense the beer from the kegs, hence the need for a kegerator.

The choice was then: buy a ready made one, or make one ourselves.

Several factors came into play here, the first being price.  A new kegerator is about $600 with twin taps, and takes 3 kegs.

We bought a 200L chest freezer for $300, a twin tap font for $120, a temperature controller for $80 and hoses and fitting for $40. Total price $540.

We could have cut the controller price to $35 if we wanted to just replace the freezer controller, but we opted for an external unit which still allows us to use it as a freezer if needed.

The second factor was space.  The freezer can fit 4 19L kegs, plus 2 9L kegs on the motor shelf.

The last factor is the running costs or efficiency.  The chest freezer running at fridge temps, and because it has better insulation, hardly runs at all.  And because it is top opening, you retain all the cold air when you open it - unlike the kegerator which is more like a small bar fridge and needs to run quite often to hold its temperature.

So how did we do it?

We started off by marking out and drilling 2 holes through the lid to take the beer lines.
We then used rubber grommets to line and seal the holes around the beer lines.

                  We then feed the beer lines through, and screwed the font to the lid of the freezer.

                                                      The keg lines were then connected

And after a couple of hours to cool down the first beers were ready to be poured.

You will notice that we placed the taps to one side rather than in the middle, this gives us room to mount a second set of taps at a later date.

We haven't mentioned the gas bottle...at the moment it lives inside the freezer as we have only 2 kegs in there. As we get more the gas bottle will be outside the freezer, and the gas line run over the lip between the lid and the body.

Disclaimer : we are not knocking the kegerator brand,

this will just give us more of what we were looking for.

Road Test - Morgans Blue Mountain Lager

Sold as a Lager - this kit really makes an Ale. “Why?”, I hear you ask.  Well I will tell you: it’s supplied with a top fermenting Ale yeast and it suggests you ferment it at between 22 – 25*c. Both of these mean that while you get a reasonable beer at the end, you don’t get that clean taste you associate with a proper Lager.

You are also told to add a kilo of white sugar, which if used will give you a very thin astringent beer. We went for a different option; a body booster kit, which contains 500gm of light malt, 250gm maltodextrin and 250gm of dextrose. This brings the finishing gravity up to about 1.012 and adds a good amount of body and mouth feel to the beer.

Now for the process itself -it’s very easy and straight forward. Add the can to 2L hot water and stir, add in the sugar or body booster, stir, add water to measure 23L, add the yeast and stir again. Close it up and let it ferment.

Starting gravity 1.040   Finishing gravity 1.012 Alcohol including bottle priming approx. 4%

Cost - $17.50 for the can plus $3 for the sugar or $9 for 1kg of body booster. You will need 60 bottles for this and 330ml stubbies are 60c each ($36 for 60) plus priming drops $3

Total cost as we made it - $29.50

With bottles - $65.50

Time taken –

10min to sterilize fermenter and stirrer

20min to make up the batch

15min to sterilize bottles and filler

40 min to bottle

10min wash up of fermenter

Total working time – 1hr 35mins

Total fermentation time 16 days

Other changes we would make to the brew are, adding extra hops, a 12gm bag of hops (you choose the type) costs $3.50, soak them in boiling water for 20mins for extra flavor and add them when you add the yeast. You could also change the yeast to Safale US -05 for a cost of $4.95 and get a cleaner taste profile with fewer esters.

The biggest change we would make is to keep the brewing temperature below 21*c it makes the world of difference.

Riverside Brewing - Parramattas newest Brewery

Riverside Brewing was started 18 months ago by Head Brewer David Padden and his business partner Stephen Pan and began trading earlier this year. David started home brewing at 19, and has been involved with the Western Sydney Brewers (Homebrew ) Club since it was formed. With that sort of experience it seemed like a natural progression for David to go into commercial brewing.

Riverside Brewing offers six beers, all of which contain all natural ingredients, no preservatives, are unfiltered and bottle conditioned. The beers are offered in 330ml stubbies, 19L corny kegs, 50L kegs, and growlers coming soon. All sizes are available to the general public, which is a real boon for people with kegerators or keg set ups.            

The beers are:

Sixty Nine – Summer Ale – 4.6% using all Australian barley, wheat and Galaxy hops thrown in near the end. Light gold in colour this is a very easy drinking beer and it’s no wonder that it’s their best seller.

Fifty Five – Pale Ale – 5.5% with a generous amount of Cascade thrown in, this deep amber Pale Ale is one to watch out for as it will really grow on you.

Seventy Seven – IPA – 7.7% an American styled IPA packed with Amarillo hops and a dry finish, this hop driven IPA is great with curries and spicy food.

Thirty Three – Golden Ale – 4.8% a blending of American and English Pale Ales available soon.

Forty Four – American Amber Ale – 6.5% full of crystal and roasted malts, and using Cascade and Centennial hops, this Amber Ale does not have the overt malt sweetness usually associated with using lots of crystal malts. A nicely balanced beer.

Eighty Eight – Robust Porter – 6% dark mahogany in colour and with subtle chocolate tastes to go with the roasted malts.

With a batch size of 2000L, David brews once a week at the moment - though this will increase as more fermentation tanks come online. David is still looking for farmers or schools who are interested in taking the spent grain away, so if you know of anyone send them over to him.

Future plans include opening a cellar door so they can have a point of sale for all of the beers (currently no one venue has all the beers available), and including a growler refill station. Later: having their own bar in the Parramatta area.

Currently the beers are available at: The Spooning Goat in Sydney, Courtney’s Brasserie in Parramatta, The Baron in Castle Hill, Dank’s St Depot in Newtown and the Beer Cartel in Artarmon.

Riverside Brewing will be at Trainworks Winter Beer Festival and the Willoughby Hotel Beer Festival so rock up and have a chat with David and try their beers, you won’t be disappointed.

So thanks to David for his time and we look forward to catching up with him soon.