Aussie Brewmakers

Home Brew News No. 3

Welcome to our Third Newsletter

Making beer, wine and spirits at home is a fabulous hobby and is a very rewarding experience if the perfect brew is achieved. We hope these regular newsletters contain some useful information to make that perfect brew and if you need any further help, please give us a call.

Bundy Update

After our article last month on Bundaberg Rum, we quickly sold out of Samuel Willards Premium Queensland Rum.

It’s now back in stock is and still going gang busters!

Out and About in Mansfield

Last month, Aussie Brewmakers raised the bar on its public profile. We attended the Bush Market and the Mansfield Show. It was good to see so many familiar faces and so much local interest in our stand. Both were extremely successful and we’ll be there next time. Thanks to everyone especially Andy and Sue for helping out.

Beer Brewing Tips

Here’s a couple of good ideas to increase the consistency of your brewing:

·         Make every effort to ferment your beer at as constant temperature as possible. Read all labels carefully. You should be in the low to mid twenties but try to keep it constant.

·         From your own experience, try to pitch the yeast into the wort at the same temperature that it’s going to ferment at. Ideally 22C. The rehydration of the yeast temperature optimises the performance temperature.

·        Instead of periodically drawing some brew from the tap to take hydrometer readings, just leave it in the fermenter.

Morgans Queenslander Beer Kits

Morgans has recently added to its Australian series of beer kits. This new range of three kits is specially formulated for the Queensland taste and brewing in hot weather. They are available in Bitter, Lager and Gold.

Ginger Beer Kits

We now stock two brands of Ginger Beer Kits – Morgans and Coopers. Both make 20 litres, alcoholic (Approx. 3-4%) or non-alcoholic.

Either way, these are a perfect thirst quencher during summer.

Dark and Stormy Recipes

Pour 60ml of Bundaberg Rum into a glass over ice. Add Ginger Beer. Squeeze in a lime wedge, drop in and enjoy.

And for bulk quantities………After fermenting the Ginger Beer, pour it into a keg, add 1125ml Bundaberg Rum….and presto….Dark and Stormy on tap.

Yeasts

Most beer kit manufacturers include a very neutral type yeast with their can. The typical kit yeast is chosen for its neutral flavours so that it will do a good job with all beers without making them too fruity or aromatic.

Good brewing yeasts are expensive and because of this many of the cheap supermarket beer kits include a cheap yeast. However, if you want to make a better beer, use a premium quality yeast. You will be both surprised and very pleased with the results.  

We strongly recommend these 15gram Brew Cellar yeasts:

·         Premium Lager Yeast – Originating from Berlin, bottom fermenting to produce clean, if anything estery notes. Sedimentation is high. Best temperature is 12-15°C.

·         European Lager Yeast – A famous strain from Weihenstephan in Germany. This is the most popular Lager yeast in the world. Sedimentation is high. Best temperature is 12-15°C.

·         Wheat Beer Yeast – A top fermenting German ale yeast which is most suitable for Belgian style wheat beers. Sedimentation is low. Best temperature is 18-22°C.

·         Premium Ale Yeast – A fast top fermenting English ale yeast. Very compact sediment for high beer clarity. Sedimentation is high. Best temperature is 18-22°C.

·         American Ale Yeast – The most famous ale yeast strain in America. Produces a balanced beer with a very clean, crisp end palate. Sedimentation is low. Best temperature is 18-22°C.

·         English Ale Yeast – Will leave a relatively high final gravity. Produces strong tasting bitter beer, stout,weizen and hefe weizen. Best temperature 15-22°C.

Thought for the Day

The most inspirational and motivational thought you will hear in a long time…………”Lets open the bar”.

New Classic Spirit Recipes

We have just updated our “Classic” spirit recipe section. Please have a look as it covers most of the popular spirits.

Johnnie Walker Taste Test

Last month, we conducted a taste test to determine the closest essence to the famous Johnnie Walker icon. Five of our best selling Whisky essences and two of our Whisky Profile Kit recipes were compared against the real thing we purchased at the local.

The results were as follows:

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Winner: Samuel Willards Premium Highlander Whisky Essence

Runner Up: Whisky Profile Kit Recipe

Johnnie Walker Red Label

Winner: Samuel Willards Gold Star Scotch Whisky Essence

Runner Up: Whisky Profile Kit Recipe 

The other essences tested were all very ordinary and could not be rated against the above products. 

Whisky Profile Kit

We now have in stock a Whisky Profile Kit. This is good value as the kit contains 12 bottles of essence, all the equipment to accurately measure the smallest quantities and a recipe book to make every Whisky. Every item in the kit can be indivually replaced.

Some Trivia

In our recent travels to FNQ we found a piece of little known naval history in the Cooktown Museum which we thought worth sharing….This is an extract from Captain Cook’s journal of May 1773 – “Our beer was brewed with a decoction of the leaves of the spruce tree mixed with impissated juice of wort and molasses”.

Wine in 35 Days

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we had just started making our first Cabernet Sauvignon from a wine kit. This was bottled last week and tasted really good. It will be aged for a while and we will let you know the results soon.

Happy Home Brewing

Regards Aussie Brewmakers