On Saturday, with a little bit of a sore head from the party the night before, the Melton Sustainable Living Group hosted a home brew workshop at my house.
As my Cerveza was not quite ready, I had to dash out and buy another kit, so I have the added bonus of being able to make two batches of beer, cider or ginger beer at the same time.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Kim filmed the workshop, and I have edited it into three parts. I hope you find the time to watch this educational documentary, courtesy of the MSLG. You will notice that the standard of cinematography is a lot higher than normal, as we lashed out and bought a $30 tripod for the video camera. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes!
Part Two
Part Three with Q&A session
The next day, I checked both the Cerveza and the Cider to see their progress. The cider was not bubbling, so I took off the lid to ensure that it was indeed fermenting (which it was), so I screwed the lid back on super tight. This sealed it correctly this time, and the airlock started working ferociously.
I then took a hydrometer reading of the Cerveza, which indicated that it was finished primary brewing. I sterilized all the bottles, placed a teaspoon of sugar in the small ones, and two in the large. After I filled them all, I cleaned out the barrel ready again for another batch that I will make this weekend. I am going to brew a Coopers Dark Ale next, which I have made before, and it was very nice on a cold winters evening straight out of the shed without any prior refrigeration.
I just checked on the Cerveza, and it is clearing well, with only a very thin layer of sediment on the bottom of each bottle. I can live with that! And as for the Cider, well due to the fact that I only put in 500gm of Dextrose, it looks like it has finished fermenting as well. I will check it with the hydrometer and possibly bottle it tomorrow night! I can taste it already.
Another post for my husband to read (Daharja’s egg cost anaylsis too!)… thanks Gavin!!
@ Dixiebelle,
Yes, show your hubby. It is so easy to make. Do you think people would watch a video on how to bottle the beer?
@ Mickle,
Thanks for watching. The cider that I make is very nice indeed, and love your two stories.
I will give Butch a pat for you!
Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed watching that – and I can’t drink beer these days. Now cider is another matter ….
You’ve brought back two very funny memories for me –
1987, the barman in a Madrid Hotel who wouldn’t serve me a beer until I’d learnt to pronounce Cerveza correctly (Cervetha in Spain).
And the early 1990s when newly retired Dad had a glorious time home brewing ( he too has to be carefull with beer these days – not alcohol, just beer).
Love your beer labels. Super thanks to you and Kim, and hope you are close to having a functioning kitchen again. Give Butch a pat from me.
Great post and videos, Gav. You put Paul Mercurio to shame :-).
(For those not familiar with Coopers kits, actor/dancer Paul Mercurio (from Strictly Ballroom, and the less well-known but my favourite, Welcome To Woop Woop) does the demo on the instructional DVD that comes with them.)
I’ve got two kits as well. I use one for ginger beer only, and the other for beer. The ginger beer fermenter retains the flavour a bit, and taints any beer you make in it.
By coincidence, I bottled up my latest batch last night too! I think I’ll take your suggestion and brew a dark ale next.