Whilst we're on the home front, I've also racked off my wheat beer
Racking the beer takes it off the initial fermentation mulch and gives it some time to clear and for the more subtle stages of secondary fermentation to take place. I'm using 4 separate gallon demijohns to hold the beer and I'm experimenting with a couple of additives. Two are straight out of the fermenter, one is laced with hops to give it more of an aroma and one contains a combination of orange peel & crushed coriander seed in a cheesecloth bag. I'll bottle them in a week or so and a fortnight after that I get to taste the differences.
A friend has lent me a book on brewing classic British beers using malted barley & fresh hops so now I'm looking forward to getting into the arcane world of mashing, sparging, tunning and the like. I've always avoided the more 'beardy' end of homebrew, preferring to dabble with kit brews and experimenting by fermenting various fruits & vegetables with sugar, but I think it's time to up my game. It will be a challenge given our small flat but I have a few hints & tips to make it easier. But until I visit the homebrew shop I can only flick longingly through the recipes and dream. You have to love a book that has an 8 page chapter on yeast- well as long as it's not a medical text book.
Racking the beer takes it off the initial fermentation mulch and gives it some time to clear and for the more subtle stages of secondary fermentation to take place. I'm using 4 separate gallon demijohns to hold the beer and I'm experimenting with a couple of additives. Two are straight out of the fermenter, one is laced with hops to give it more of an aroma and one contains a combination of orange peel & crushed coriander seed in a cheesecloth bag. I'll bottle them in a week or so and a fortnight after that I get to taste the differences.A friend has lent me a book on brewing classic British beers using malted barley & fresh hops so now I'm looking forward to getting into the arcane world of mashing, sparging, tunning and the like. I've always avoided the more 'beardy' end of homebrew, preferring to dabble with kit brews and experimenting by fermenting various fruits & vegetables with sugar, but I think it's time to up my game. It will be a challenge given our small flat but I have a few hints & tips to make it easier. But until I visit the homebrew shop I can only flick longingly through the recipes and dream. You have to love a book that has an 8 page chapter on yeast- well as long as it's not a medical text book.
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