Alcohol Content of Your Brew

Below is a formula that can be used to determine the alcohol content of your brew. Be sure to check the specific gravity at the start of fermentation to get your Original Gravity (OG) and also record your Final Gravity (FG) at the end of fermentation. 

Boonsbrew Info and Tips Post 1

Here are some things that I have learnt so far that might help you: 

1. Always record the details of each brew and keep them so you can know exactly what you did if things go extremely well (or terribly badly). That way you will be able to replicate your good efforts again or avoid bad recipes and techniques. 
   
2. Reduce the variables in your brew - use consistent amounts of ingredients, use all the same sized bottles etc - this will help you control each brew and create a consistent result from bottle to bottle, glass to glass. 

> To be continued......

Brew No. 3 - Fermentation and Bottling.

Brew No. 3 is another beer kit home brew. This time I have used a Brewcraft Czech Pilsner. This was my first brew in a while and as a consequence I made a few minor errors. Firstly I neglected to record what additional brewing sugars I used and secondly forgot to take an original SG reading. The later means that I am unable to calculate a true percentage of alcohol for the brew. All this aside - if the brew turns out okay, I will be happy. 

I bottled the brew into 740ml PET Bottles (Coopers Brand). This was extremely convenient as all I had to do was a quick sterilisation of the bottles - no cleaning or label removal required. The purist in me still isn't convinced with the plastic but I will wait till I taste the beer before passing complete judgement. 

Brew No. 2 - A Re-Cap

Brew No. 2 was a Premium Coopers Sparkling Ale. This second attempt showed signs of improvement or should I say - I created a beer that I enjoyed drinking more than Brew No. 1. It was however darker once again than expected. I noticed with this brew that there was minor taste changes from bottle to bottle which lead me to think that perhaps the shape, size and even the colour of the bottle will effect the brew. This I need to research further and I think a good place to start will be Home Brew Talk. Either way, I am ironing out this variable and only bottling subsequent brews in the same type of bottles. By limiting the variables I hope to increase my ability to learn from each brew. 

I used Coopers Carbonation Drops for the bottling stage. This is a very convenient an easy way to prime the bottles as with Brew No. 1 I used standard white sugar in a teaspoon measure which got tedious and messy. Also white sugar gave Brew 1 it's fruity taste - not desirable. Also to quote Brewcraft's website, "When you buy a pack of "BREWING SUGAR" from a supermarket, check the label to see what's in it. If it says "SUCROSE", this is the same as ordinary white sugar & it is definitely not glucose or dextrose. This stuff will give your beers that fruity/cidery taste that experienced brewers try to avoid." So I will continue to use Glucose based priming sugar in the future. 

I am down to my last long neck now but I am planning on saving the it until Brews 3 and 4 are ready for drinking. That way I can compare all three brews with one another. 

Brew No. 1 - A Re-Cap

It was a while ago now but my first brew went OK to be honest. I used two Malt Shovel Pale Ale Cans and I expected an outcome that would be pale in colour similar to that of Coopers Pale Ale. I have since found out from Brewcraft that the "Pale" refers to the yeast used and also to quote Wikipedia, "the pale malts used in making pale ale at its inception gave the beer a far lighter colour than the porters common in England at the time." 

At the time of drinking I was thankful that I had created a drinkable beer - one that didn't make my eyes water or my chest hairs full out. The beer turned out heavier than expected but perhaps closer to correct than I new at the time. It was closer to a New Castle Brown Ale in my opinion. 

I also used ordinary white sugar as a priming sugar - this was probably not the best thing to do as it contributed to the beer's heavy and quite fruity taste. Regardless of the outcome, all the beers from Brew No. 1 were drunk and even some family and friends stated that they enjoyed it (I hope they weren't just been polite). 

Brand New Beer Bottles

I have been wondering what is the best option when it comes to beer bottles for my homebrews. My current brew (No. 3) is in the plastic PET bottles (sold by Coopers). Whilst these were extremely easy I can't get away from the fact that the plastic is just not as nice as Glass. 

I have found Plasdene sell beer bottles by the dozen however you may need to fill a minimum order of $50. They have a couple of different options available. Their range of beer bottles can be found here. 

First Blog Entry

Welcome to Boonsbrew! I am hoping that this will be my first entry of many for this blog as I get more immersed in my hobby of Home Brewing Beer. My wife gave me my kit years ago and I am now just finding myself the time to get stuck in to some brews. I am onto my fourth brew now and learning more each time. I look forward to hearing from anyone interested in home brewing beer and also with this Blog I hope to create a bit of a destination for all things Home Brew.