Beer

• Brewing
• Bottling
• Brew log
• Store bought

Notes & reminders

• To buy:
• Draught or Lager (both take Enhancer 2, ferment 21-27 C).
• Starter jar?
• Always consult Coopers before buying:
• Brewing instructions for all recipes here. Some need cooler fermentation temps.
• Enhancer required, Big W can be wrong.
• Put yeast in fridge.
• Get ABV: Coopers math ABV = (OG - FG) / 7.46 + 0.5 or calculator here.
• It's 1 scoop Oxyclean to 3 ltr water.
• It's 1.5 ml StarSan to 1 ltr water.
• When taking gravity reading:
• Pour 30 ml and discard it, then fill to top.
• Take from bottom of the curve (meniscus).
• When using tap, loosen lid to avoid suck back.
• In summer, put a wet towel around FV. Put in freezer for 30 mins if super hot.
• Pry off bottles:
• Sail & Anchor.
• The tap should look like this. The lever is on the short end:

Brewing

This takes ~3 hours from start to finish.

When it's hot this takes 2 days because you need 4 ltr cold fridge water. On day 1 just rinse and sanitise the 4 ltr container and fill to 5 cm from top with filtered water and put in fridge.

To get an idea of temp after mixing, use the scale spreadsheet as follows:

Note: There is 1350 ml liquid in the 1.7 kg extract cans. Take this into account when doing water calcs.

First calculation

• W1 - 16000 (water in FV, 2 ltr removed for sugar).
• T1 - 22 (FV temp).
• W2 - 3300 (2 ltr taken from FV + 1.3 ltr can).
• T2 - 50 (heat of liquid used to mix sugar).
• TW - 19300.0.
• TT - 26.8.

Second calculation

Now we punch in the TW and TT as follows:

• W1 - 19300 (from above).
• T1 - 26.8 (from above).
• W2 - 4000 (fridge water).
• T2 - 6 (fridge water).
• TW - 23300.0.
• TT - 23.2.

We should end up with 23.3 ltr @ ~23 C. This is harder to control in summer. A key point is step ? below. If you can get this temp lower it helps (I think).

When filling FV, you will top up every minute so it's easier to just stay there otherwise you're up and down.

1. Grab all pots from garage - yes you'll need all of them.
2. In kitchen, give both pots and jug a quick rinse.
3. Put 1 scoop Oxyclean in big pot.
4. Boil 1.5 ltr water then add to pot, top up with 1.5 ltr cold water. Mix with big spoon.
5. Add 1.5 ml StarSan and 1 ltr water to jug.
6. Cut off 2 squares of glad wrap and put in jug.
7. Go outside. Clean/rinse/sanitise everything. Including temp gauge.
8. Attach tap and put glad wrap on it.
9. Go inside. Sanitise filter and sit on FV opening and put glad wrap around holes.
10. Add 18 ltr water to FV.
11. As you start filling water do this:
• Remove label from can.
• Put can in small pot and cover with tap water.
• Remove can and heat to a boil (~10 mins).
• Add sponge to pot then can, lower it with a fork.
12. After ~1 hour you should have ~23.3 ltr total (18 + 4 + 1.3 [the can] = 23.3) with ~.3 left over.
13. Add 2 ltr from FV to big pot.
14. Heat to 50 C max. (FV now has 16 ltr). If you go higher it'll be warmer at pitch time.
15. Add brew enhancer slowly. Stir vigorously as it chunks up and sticks to everything.
16. Add can contents and mix well.
17. Tip some back into can. Scrape out as much contents as you can and pour back into pot.
18. Give it another mix. The temp will be ~40 C.
19. Pour pot into FV.
20. Grab fridge water and put ~1 ltr in big pot, rinse then add to FV.
21. Top up as needed.
22. Take a sample for later. Don't put temp gauge in wort, use the sample.
23. Move FV onto the freezer in the Bassment.
24. Give it a good stir to aerate.
25. Sprinkle yeast, don't stir it.
26. Done.

Bottling

Cleaning

1. Bring out bottles and clean/sanitise first. Once racked bring out FV to settle. You'll have more space to work.
2. Put 1.5 ltr in kettle and boil it.
3. Add 1 scoop Oxyclean and 2.5 ltr cold water to big pot. (need 4 ltr to submerge bottles)
4. Clean and rinse everything.
5. Put 2 bottles in small pot and fill with tap water (for rinsing).
6. Add 1.5 ml StarSan and 1 ltr water to bottling pot.
7. Work with 2 bottles at a time and do this:
1. Submerge and scrub.
2. Rinse clean water.
3. Stick finger in and spin it.
4. Sanitise and rack. Should get 24 done in ~15 mins.

Filling

1. Tip all water into jug and small pot to use later for cleaning.
2. Flip big pot and put FV on top.
3. Take a sample.
4. Boil small amount of water in kettle.
5. When using tap, loosen lid to avoid suck back.
6. Assemble bottling wand. Pour water from kettle on the end of the adapter thingy, it helps putting on tap.

New setup going left to right to minimise double handling:

• Big chopping board over sink with empty slab on it.
• Capper machine, carb drops and bottle caps jug next to it.
• Big pot with FV on top.
• 2 stacked slabs with empty bottles.

1. As in picture, fill 6 at a time.
2. Add carb drop to each.
3. Cap each then rack. Should get all done in ~30 mins.

Brew log

#	Beer	Pitch	OG	FG	Bottled	Notes
6	Dark ale?
5	Draught					Can $17, Enhancer 2 $10. Pitch yeast ? C. Ferm range. ABV %.
4	European lager	29/3/2024	1042	1014	8/4/2024	Can $19.70, Enhancer 3 $11, Drops $4.50. Pitch yeast 23 C. Ferm range 18-23. ABV 4.2%. It was 1014 on day 6 but I fermented 10 days per recipe.
3	Mexican cerveza	6/3/2024	1042	1012	13/3/2024	Can $19.70, Enhancer 2 $10, Drops $4.50. Pitch yeast 22 C. Ferm range 22-24. ABV 4.5%. 48 bottles.
2	Real ale 🍺🍺	7/2/2024	1042	1012	15/2/2024	Can $17, Enhancer 2 $10, Drops $4.50. Pitch yeast 22 C. Ferm range 20-24. ABV 4.5%. 48 bottles.
1	Pale ale 🍺🍺	2/1/2024	1042	1012	10/1/2024	Can $15.76, Enhancer 2 $8, Drops $3.60. Pitch yeast 25 C. Ferm range 22-25. ABV 4.5%. 50 bottles.

Store bought

🍺🍺🍺

• John Boston - Crisp lager, dry hopped
• John Boston - Coastal XPA
• Mountain Goat - Very Enjoyable Beer

🍺🍺

• Byron Bay Brewery Premium Lager
• Fixation Obsession IPA
• Hofler rein lager light
• John Boston Pale ale
• Mountain Goat steam ale
• Mythos Hellenic beer
• Sail & Anchor pale ale
• Stubbie Refreshing Ale
• Tona lager Nicaragua
• Yarra valley Dortmund style lager

🍺

• James Squire Shackles lager
• Wakachangi lager