Director finds 13c beer in 'Beeretnam'

Yep, 3000Dong 'fresh' beer (draught) in Hoi An, Vietnam. Other beer carefully assessed included LaRue, Saigon Export, Saigon Red, 333, San Miguel, Tiger and the list goes on...

All beers were consumed with Vietnamese Spring Rolls(for breakfast, lunch and tea)!

Hopping for a great Spring!

Our hops are ready to RUN! Run Hops Run!

Follow Us on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/HumpbackBrewing

Brew 24- American Brown Ale... well and truely KEGGED!

"Well I woke up th's morn'n kegg'ns on my miiind"!

Lots of yeast by-product in the fermenter, it seemed more than usual? Maybe Humpback can produce 'Vegemite', couldn't do any worse than Dick Smith.

Anyway the yeast by-product will be used to attract snails and slugs from the garden. Snails to the chook, slugs... well just say they'll be 'flat out like a lizard drink'n'!

Brew 24- East Kent Goldings... don't get confused with West Kent!

Added 20gms of East Kent Goldings, stirred not shaken!

Brew 22 AIPA- kegged and lov'n it!

Kegging is exciting! We love to KEG!

Brew 24- American Brown Ale

Brown Ale (American Brown Ale- Pete's Wicked Ale)
*Clone Brews. Recipes for 200 Commercial Beers. Tess and Mark Szamatulski

Original Gravity (OG): 1.053
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012
Alcohol (ABV): 5.20 %
Colour (SRM): 27
Bitterness (IBU): 30

227g American Crystal Malt
113g American Chocolate Malt
1.8kg Alexander's Light Malt Syrup
1.4kg Muntons Light DME

28g Brewer's Gold (8 HBU)
14g East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
.........................................
1.3 g/L Willamette (7.1% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.5 g/L Hersbrucker (2.8% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
0.9 g/L Amarillo (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)
0.9 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)
0.9 g/L Willamette (7.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)


Single step Infusion at 68°C for 55 Minutes. Boil for 70 Minutes.........................................

Fermented at 20°C with SAFALE S-O4

Notes: Mash temperatures
65.5 degrees C for 30 minutes
68 degrees C for 55 minutes
78 degrees C for 10 minutes

final specific gravity @ 25 litres = 1.012

Brew 23- and a little bit more...

Dry Hopped Brew 23 with Columbus Hops (CTZ)- 40gms

Description from BrewDudes

"Aroma: Earthy, spicy, pungent, with some citrus overtones.  Not overwhelmingly citrus like Cascade.

Alpha Acid: 14% to 16%

Typical Usage: Dual purpose hop. Many sources saying it was a good candidate for a single hopped beer.

Beer Styles:  American pales (AIPA) and IPA. Bittering for American stouts and lagers."

http://www.brew-dudes.com/columbus-hops/423

More HOPS than a mob of Kangaroos! (Brew 22)

Well a 'hop in the hand is worth two in the bush'?
Guest 'HOPPER' Ian from BrewSkot Brewery added 30gms of Citra and 20gms of Amarillo (dry hop) to Brew 22- AIPA. mmmmm we liked to be hopped out of our heads!!!

Amarillo Hops
The resultant aroma is of medium strength and very distinct. The aroma is described as flowery, spicy and citrus-like with a distinct orange bouquet. The hop is good for flavor and aroma. It can also be used for bittering effectively because of the low cohumulone content.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo_hops

Citra
Citra is a dual-purpose hop released in 2007 by the Hop Breeding Company. It is a cross of Hallertauer Mittelfruh, U.S. Tettnanger, East Kent Golding, Bavarian, Brewers Gold, and other unknown hops. Citra has a citrus aroma and flavor, with a heavy aroma of tropical fruits (guava, mango, tropical fruit). It is typically used as an aroma hop, but due to its high alpha % and low cohumulone content, it makes an excellent bittering hop as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hop_varieties

Brew 23- There's GOLD in them there hills!

Golden Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 47.0
Total Grain (kg): 9.631
Total Hops (g): 118.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.048 (°P): 11.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.72 %
Colour (SRM): 7.0 (EBC): 13.8
Bitterness (IBU): 27.8 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.990 kg Pilsner (62.19%)
3.020 kg Wheat Malt (31.36%)
0.454 kg Munich II (4.71%)
0.091 kg Crystal Medium (0.94%)
0.076 kg Chocolate (0.79%)

Hop Bill
----------------
18.0 g Galaxy Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 12 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
40.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 15°C with Safale S-04

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Brew 22 AIPA- it's a 'catch' 22 situation!

American IPA (AIPA)

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 18.9
Total Grain (kg): 4.568
Total Hops (g): 70.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.057 (°P): 14.0
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014 (°P): 3.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.60 %
Colour (SRM): 12.5 (EBC): 24.7
Bitterness (IBU): 40.1 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.200 kg Pale Ale Malt (91.94%)
0.340 kg Crystal Medium (7.44%)
0.028 kg Roasted Barley (0.61%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Galaxy Pellet (13.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
14.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
14.0 g Fuggles Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
14.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
14.0 g Fuggles Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale S-04


Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Thanks Duane

Happy Brew Day to YOU!

Kegged Brew 21. Filtered out some floating hops in the transfer. Spread the 25 litres between two kegs. Had just enough gas to process the kegging.
We're ready to begin Brews 22 & 23 later this arvo.

* Experimenting to determine the BEST, quickest and easiest way to polish our kegs? More soon!

Hop to it!

Ordered our Hop Rhizomes, Tasmanian of course...
1 * SAAZ
1 * Wurtemburger
1 * Super Alpha

“Mother's in the kitchen washing out the jugs, Sister's in the pantry bottling the suds, Father's in the cellar mixin' up the hops, Johnny's on the front porch watchin' for the cops”

I put my Willi in our brew!

Added a further 30 gms of Willamette Hops to Brew #21 Stella!

Willamette is described as: 'the king of aroma hops in the US with its modest bittering value and the joyous harmony of flowers, fruit, earth and spice'!
American Pale, Brown & English style ales!

Brew 21 Stella- Hopped with a little help... Willa

Dry Hopped Brew 21 Stella with 20gms of Willamette

Please, please hop me!
Want more...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hop_varieties#Willamette

Close enough?

This is the visual distance from the BrewHouse to the GreenHouse! Taken from the Brewery... of course!

'Greening' our Brewery

Planted some of our seeds, *@ The Funny Farm, ready to transplant to the Greenhouse. Pallets used for beds and aquaponic beds will be mounted on top of the construction shown below.
 Humpback Brewing is diversifying.

We have another Greenhouse (some assembly required).
Fun in the sun!


ALDI special- enable WiFi monitoring of garden beds in the Greenhouse. On special $9
Gives- air temp., soil temp., humidity of the soil with 'alarms'!
http://www.brewerschoice.net.au/html/growing%20hops.htm

Winter Brewing in Australia

Brew 21- STELLA continues the turtle brew... slow and steady @ 14.+C
The SafLager yeasties 'like it like that'! It has the heart beat of an Olympic Marathon runner! We have a lagering space specially reserved for further maturation.

Kegged Brew 20- Olympic Moment

An Olympic event! A Gold medal performance...
Kegging the English Bitter Ale.

The previous SG confirmed our tasting that all was good BUT there was still some residule sugars/sweetness! An addition of an aquarium heater enabled us to ferment out/reactivate yeasties to completed the job.

3 days passed... SG and more tasting confirm Gold, Gold, Gold!
No need for filtering as this is a malt beer without excess hops in suspension. Plus we tilted the fermenter to enable dead yeast (RIP) to settle away from the tap.

Kegged easily, gased, regased and refrigerated. CAN'T WAIT!
Initial comments include: BALANCE, CLASSIC, FLAG SHIP (Malt)!

... and a little bit more!

How green is your beer?
Humpback Brewing are NEVER satisfied with the standard of OUR beer! At Humpback St. Paddy's day is *every day* and WE are always looking to make our beer GREENer! So we have built 2 new greenhouses to ...

What a GR8 day to drink beer!

The last of this Irish Red brew, we've been great friends... see you again soon!

A nice subtle raspberry undertone mmmm!

Brew 21 and we added ... Heaps of HOPS

(LAGER) BELGIUM-Stella Artois
Belgian Blond Ale

Recipe Specs.
----------------
Batch Size (L):           71.0
Total Grain (kg):         15.435
Total Hops (g):           93.22
Original Gravity (OG):    1.050  (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG):       1.013  (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  4.91 %
Colour (SRM):             3.3   (EBC): 6.4
Bitterness (IBU):         20.6   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------

15.435 kg Pilsner (100%)

Hop Bill
----------------
50.0 g Pride of Ringwood Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
43.2 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 65°C for 60 minutes.
Fermented at 10°C with Saflager S-23

Thanks Duane
Recipe Generated with BrewMate

BrewSkot Taste Sharing

Thanks Ian for the chance to drink... we mean appraise your beer!

WOW, what a great beer in such a short time.
The beer was full of fizz/effervescence bubbles and working well in the glass! This resulted in a 3 finger head.
The white, with a hue of tan head held up well over time. Sitting onto of a great earthy coloured beer.
The nose/aroma was of slight malt. The taste was really refreshing, the gaseness produced an early burp or two!
We lost a bit of the taste at the back of the tongue, the taste not lingering long.
Our tastes have moved to hoppiness and if anything we would have liked more malt balanced with more hops?
We're look'n forward to sharing more tastings.

Thanks Ian https://www.facebook.com/BrewSkotBrewery

Brew 20 If it's Ale & Brown it must be...

Brown Ale (American Brown Ale)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.055 (°P): 13.6
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014 (°P): 3.6
Alcohol (ABV): 5.40 %
Colour (SRM): 38.2 (EBC): 75.3
Bitterness (IBU): 27.3 (Average)

75.11% Pale Ale Malt
9.5% Crystal 20
4.52% Black Patent
4.52% Flaked Oats
3.62% Black Patent
2.71% Chocolate

1.7 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Willamette (7.1% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
0.5 g/L Hersbrucker (2.8% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)
0.9 g/L Amarillo (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)
0.9 g/L East Kent Golding (4.7% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)
0.9 g/L Willamette (7.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop)


Single step Infusion at 68°C for 55 Minutes. Boil for 70 Minutes

Fermented at 20°C with PRO-48 - LONDON ALE

Notes: Mash temperatures
55 degrees C for 5 minutes
68 degrees C for 55 minutes
78 degrees C for 10 minutes

half a whirlflock tablet
final specific gravity @ 25 litres = 1049.5

Notes
-----
Late start fermentation July 5

The MIGHTY Brewmeister with Peter!


Recipe Generated with BrewMate http://www.brewmate.net

Brew 19 Hopp'n MAD!

Golden Ale Citra Aroma
American Pale Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 24.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.918
Total Hops (g): 130.26
Original Gravity (OG): 1.048 (°P): 11.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.72 %
Colour (SRM): 7.0 (EBC): 13.8
Bitterness (IBU): 27.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
3.059 kg Pilsner (62.19%)
1.542 kg Wheat Malt (31.36%)
0.232 kg Munich II (4.71%)
0.046 kg Crystal 80 (0.94%)
0.039 kg Chocolate (0.79%)

Hop Bill
----------------
9.2 g Galaxy Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
15.3 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 12 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
20.4 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
15.3 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.8 g/L)
30.0 g Citra Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.2 g/L)
30.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.8 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale US-05
Fermentation completed: July 5

Notes
----------------
We have reduced the galaxy hop bill to reduce overall bitterness
July 4:
added 30g Saaz Hops
added 30g Amarilo hops
and
added 30g citra hops
* on the 6th day of fermentation


Recipe Generated with BrewMate http://www.brewmate.net

I'm IRISH- and the Irish Red (Brew 17 ) just keeps gett'n better!

This is a fantastic drop. Dark red colour, great head, crisp malt taste! Toffee and dark chocolate nose and taste. The best RED!

I'm LATE... at dry hopping our APA (Brew 18)

"Just a spoon full of hops helps the beer go down..."
20gms of SAAZ hops added at the very end of the ferment. Gotta love the SAAZ!
Our goal is to add to the aromatics, subtly with a 1gm per litre hopping... late!
Although the PURE science is flawed- 2 variable changes with no control? It will be delightful to smell & taste the result.

Rack and Stack 'em

Irish Red (Brew 17) racked and filtered- resting at 10c... for a short time only! 4l in fridge ready for a preview tasting. Final Specific Gravity 1.010.

Pilsner (Brew 16) racked & now largering at 10c for at least a couple of weeks (mmm 4)or when we get thirsty... which ever one comes first?

Cleaned, sterilized and a weeee tasting!
Enviro. Humpback
*Yeast to compost
*use tank/rain water
*solar generated electricity

AND
our new addition, 2 * green houses- now what can we grow!
If we pee'd and poop'd in the garden ... sweet!

Brew 18- Just when you thought it was saf(ale)

Just when you thought it was saf(ale)

(ALE) AUS-Golden Ale- American Pale Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 47.0
Total Grain (kg): 9.631
Total Hops (g): 118.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.048 (°P): 11.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.72 %
Colour (SRM): 7.0 (EBC): 13.8
Bitterness (IBU): 27.8 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.990 kg Pilsner (62.19%)
3.020 kg Wheat Malt (31.36%)
0.454 kg Munich II (4.71%)
0.091 kg Crystal Medium (0.94%)
0.076 kg Chocolate (0.79%)

Hop Bill
----------------
18.0 g Galaxy Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 12 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
40.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 15°C with Safale S-04

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Brew 17- You take the high road and...

Irish Red Ale

Total Grain (kg): 4.180
Total Hops: 4.180g + see below
Original Specific Gravity : 1.041
Final Gravity: tba
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): tba (expecting 4.03%)
Boil Time mins: 60

Grain Bill
3.670 kg Pale Ale Malt (Bairds) 87.8%
0.170 kg Crystal Medium (Bairds) 4.07%
0.170 kg Crystal Pale (Bairds) 4.07%
0.170 kg Roasted Barley 4.07%

Hop Bill
40.00g East Kent Golding Pellet 4.7% @ 60mins (Boil) (1.7 g/l
Single step Infusion at 66C for 60 minutes
Yeast: 10 gms Safale S-04 English Ale
Fermented at 18C*

Recipe generated with BrewMate
Thanks Duane

http://www.ambernectar.com.au
http://www.centralcoasthomebrew.com/
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/08/24/irish-red-ale-recipes/

Spirit 3- Drip, Drip, Drip...

By the light of the silvery moonshine still!
Two batches completed. You MUST have plenty of time available to make shine! Lucky there was beer!! We have RECYCLED old beer, wine and thrown it all in the 'WASH'!
More soon ...

Brew 16- TEN Degrees of Fermentation... Stella

(LAGER) BELGIUM-Stella Artois- Belgian Blond

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 71.0
Total Grain (kg): 15.435
Total Hops (g): 93.22
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.91 %
Colour (SRM): 3.3 (EBC): 6.4
Bitterness (IBU): 20.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
15.435 kg Pilsner (100%)
Hop Bill
----------------
50.0 g Pride of Ringwood Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
43.2 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 65°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 10°C with Saflager S-23

Dry Hopped (Day 4)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (coffee plunger)

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Brew 15- Kegging Day is the day we like the best!

WOW the aroma is FANTASTIC. *see earlier post on Brew 15 for details of Dry Hopping.Kegged up the brew, charged with CO2, released and charged again to evacuate air/O2 from kegs.
The whole process is free of grunts, perspiration and angry/sad faces. IT CAN'T BE THIS EASY?

* Final specific gravity (FG) 1.010

Irrigation to Filtration

Bunnings, it's not just for BBQ sausage sandwichs ... this inline garden irrigation filter was converted to distiller spirit filter! The internal cage holds the active carbon and the distiller spirit is passed through the filter several times (*although once would be OK). We now have two filter systems that WORK! The rest is ... history!

Triple Filtered! Spirit 1

Invention/Creativity? We emptied our Spirit 1 into an empty keg and then used CO2 to force the spirit through an 'under sink' water filter, 1 micron sediment filter cartridge and a ½ micron carbon block filter cartridge. We adapted the tubing to attach to a 'corney' ball-lock and with a bit of tinkering all worked fine. Ready to savour the flavour! Stay tuned for our:

* Captain Ahab Dark Rum

* Bombay Fail Whale

and

* Southern Right Comfort Whale?

It's Easter and we're HOPPING MAD!

Brewing is a science and we are mad scientists! More on Brew 15- The BIG hop, dry hopped on the 3rd day of rising/fermentation with 60gms of Citra hops- yeah that's 60( six O) grams. our goal is to dramatically increase the aroma of our final product without increasing the bitterness. Hoppy Easter!

*Update- Spirit 2 (Twilight meets Ghost Busters)

The WASH is happy and bubbling ... just right! Great smell, even though it is just sugar, water, nutrient and yeast. Purchased a great 'flip top' flagon AND

• Bombay Sapphire Gin 'flavoration' *I was looking at a homemade recipe for Bombay but will try this first.
• Jamaican (Dark) Rum 'flavoration'

and

• Southern Comfort 'flavoration'

Brew 15 Not JUST another Golden Ale

But wait there's more...

(ALE) AUS-Golden Ale- American Pale Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L):           47.0
Total Grain (kg):         9.631
Total Hops (g):           118.00
Original Gravity (OG):    1.048  (°P): 11.9
Final Gravity (FG):       1.012  (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  4.72 %
Colour (SRM):             7.0   (EBC): 13.8
Bitterness (IBU):         27.8   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes):      60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.990 kg Pilsner (62.19%)
3.020 kg Wheat Malt (31.36%)
0.454 kg Munich II (4.71%)
0.091 kg Crystal Medium (0.94%)
0.076 kg Chocolate (0.79%)

Hop Bill
----------------
18.0 g Galaxy Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 12 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
40.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale US-05

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Spirit 2 (Twilight meets Ghost Busters)

As 'Rock Lobster' says... Down Down Down! Another spirit is Busted and bubbling up a storm. This yeast and nutrient mix/powder is POWERFUL stuff, within 5 minutes the spirit was up and bubbling!!
How can it be this easy?

It's not complicated at all?

Still Crazy after all these years!

By the light of the silvery moonshine.

Humpback enjoyed the time (longer than expected) for distillation by enjoying some of our great Humpback Brewed Beers from the keg and also from the 'vault'!
The result was crystal clear alcohol, ready to be passed over active charcol to remove any lingering taste, smell and colour.
*see Spirit 1 for details of the brew.

Cornelius Kegging Bits and Pieces

Each Cornelious keg has two ports/posts.
The "liquid-out" port or 'post' has a long tube which reaches to the bottom of the keg. The end of the tube sits in a small circular well that ensures that every drop is available.
When pressurised gas (Carbon Dioxide) is forced into the "gas-in" port/post, it pushes the liquid from the bottom of the keg, out of the "liquid-out" port/post.
Although we do not have a programmed schedule of cleaning or maintenance of the 'posts' we had some time while kegging our recent brews so we checked and cleaned the posts and tube.

Clean and Keg!

Decisions... made easy!

Great Weather for brewing Pilsner

The cool change (we LOST an ENTIRE Summer this year) ensured that our APA & Pilsner (larger) had a consistent, slow fermentation. The POPPING is stopping! Time to larger and a final 'dry hop'!

Spirit 1 START your Engines!

Alcohol

POT stills enable you to produce a product that will have some of the charateristics (flavours) of the mash eg. Schnapps and Whisky etc.

REFLUX or FRACTIONATING stills are what we BORROW to make neutral tasteless alcohol that we flavour later.

What we did...
Cleansed our 25l fermenter
Added 8kg of the cheapest sugar we could buy
Dissolved the sugar by adding boiling water until fully dissolved
Added tap water to make up a total of 20l
The adding of the yeast/nutrient is not as critical as beer/wine brewing/making BUT we did ensure that the 'wash' temp. was below 30C
The initial specific gravity (SG) was around 1.06 - 1.07
Ferment the wash at +25oC -30oC until airlock stops bubbling- gotta love the bubble both for sound and smell.
Let settle for a day, then syphon carefully into the still
We plugged in the still and started heating...
Start the cooling water- we use the rainwater water tank water and pumped it back into the tank. Gotta love our council for subsidising our still!
The heated water will be cooled by the condensor once the temp. gets to about 50-60oC, then once it has started distilling; discard the first 50 mL's, this may contain some methanol, we would LOVE to try this in the car!

Collect the distillate
Kept any left overs (wash) & distillate which smells (yucky) to be added to the next wash. Never waste a drop, it can be cleaned up then.

The 'neutral spirit' is diluted  down to 30-50 % purity.
Filter through activated charcol/carbon to help clean up any flavours or colours still present.
Dilute it down to drinking strength (20-40%) It's WAY too strong even after just one distillation.
Then the spirit is aged and flavoured using either commercial essences, oak chips, fruits, botanicals etc..

Brew 14 Noth'n like a GREAT Belgium Blond

(LAGER) BELGIUM-Stella Artois- Belgian Blond Ale

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L):           71.0
Total Grain (kg):         15.435
Total Hops (g):           93.22
Original Gravity (OG):    1.050  (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG):       1.013  (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  4.91 %
Colour (SRM):             3.3   (EBC): 6.4
Bitterness (IBU):         20.6   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes):      60

Grain Bill
----------------
15.435 kg Pilsner (100%)
Hop Bill
----------------
50.0 g Pride of Ringwood Pellet (9.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)
43.2 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 65°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 10°C with Saflager S-23
Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Brew 13 Golden Ale- the APA Way!

(ALE) AUS-Golden Ale- American Pale Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L):           47.0
Total Grain (kg):         9.631
Total Hops (g):           125.00
Original Gravity (OG):    1.048  (°P): 11.9
Final Gravity (FG):       1.012  (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV):  4.72 %
Colour (SRM):             7.0   (EBC): 13.8
Bitterness (IBU):         34.0   (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes):      60
Grain Bill
----------------
5.990 kg Pilsner (62.19%)
3.020 kg Wheat Malt (31.36%)
0.454 kg Munich II (4.71%)
0.091 kg Crystal Medium (0.94%)
0.076 kg Chocolate (0.79%)

Hop Bill
----------------
25.0 g Galaxy Pellet (14.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 12 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
40.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
30.0 g Amarillo Pellet (9.3% Alpha) @ 1 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale US-05

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Rolled Up The Sleeve- Bent the Elbow- Greased the Wheel- Burnt the Candle both ends

Every so often... with Directorè Piccalo
BIG clean including: pipes, taps, guns, kegs, floors and glasses *after we drank out of 'em!
Filtered the 'home made' ginger beer *Brew 9- reduced sweetness full fermentation, compared to ginger beer *Brew 7
We 'once upon a time' used my 'blue shearers' to filter... now we use a 1 micron filter, the siphon method was too slow so now we PUSH the liquid through the filter using CO2.
Planning the next brew/s. The PERFECT Pale Ale and a Pilsener (PILS).

That's me, butt mine are blue!

Brew 11 American Pale Ale

Yeast: Safale s-04 11.5g

Ambient Temp: 22.4C

Thirsty Work OR What?

Jobs...
Taste of the Irish Red... mmm really improved! Great head, really nice taste(not too hoppy, just hoppy enough). YES we have 'nose' BUT at this stage NOT the strong nose we are after? Smooth with a hint of latte/caramel!

Chemical clean of beer lines & taps. Flushed with fresh water.

Cleaned empty keg and filled with Blowhole Stout which has been largering in the fridge. Pressurised keg with 40+lbs psi and returned to fridge. Couldn't help giving it a little shake!!! We bottled 6 bottles of BHS with a black jellybean for effect! So far it's pretty good.

Moved kegged Ginger Beer from fridge to kegerator NOW ready to pour.

That's 3 kegs in the kegerator- Irish Red, Ginger Beer and the last of the Labatt Blue!
AND the keg of Blowhole Stout in the fridge! But wait there's more...
Moved the 'new' ginger beer from 'The Funny Farm' to 'Humpback Brewery'. We have allowed and encouraged a FULL/Complete fermentation to produce a very dry ginger beer to contrast our earlier sweet GB.
ps... fitted alarm system!

Jobs Day- No NOT Steve

• Clean and Rinse Kegging System.
• Transfer Irish Red from Chilled Fermenter (lagering in fridge) to Keg. Apply initial 50lb psi pressure to carbonate.
• Transfer STOUT from fermenter to clean fermenter for chilled storage (approx. 1 week).
• Transfer HOME made Ginger Beer from fermentation to clean fermenter for chilled storage (approx. 1 week).
• Prepare fermenter for NEW Brew (Brew 11) American Pale Ale... but wait there's more- with finishing hops. Check blog for more info. soon.

Now 30+C is beer drinking weather!

Brew 10- Coopers Stout- Guinness Style... well we are all a little bit Irish!

Coopers STOUT Beer Kit (Hopped Malt Extract)

Dark Liquid Malt 1.5kg (100% Barley Malt)

S-04 English Ale 12gm

Brewings such a strain!

Transferred brew to our 'lagering' fermenter. Strained out any remaining hops and separated dead yeast! Now we will wait... not for toooo long?
4 ply muslin... better than 3 ply! Shows 'finishing' hops.
Looks like vegemite, smells like vegemite ...

Humpbackbrewing is proud of it's achievement/s.

*Irish Red Update- Gravity

Tested gravity @4:15pm 17/10/2011
1.014 (*expecting 1.010)
* A gravity of 1.014 means that there is still some sugar to ferment?
This would result in a ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 3.41%
Tested final gravity @5:00pm 18/10/2011
1.011 (*expecting 1.010)
This would result in a ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 3.81%
18/10/11 refrigerated brew @5.00pm

What is it-ABV?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_by_volume
Calculating ABV
http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

Recipe Generated with BrewMate
Beauty Duane
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Brew 9- Ginger Beer... By the BOOK!

Home-made ginger beer from a ...plant?

An old family favorite introduced by my mum and perfected at university in a bath tub!

Grow your own living ginger beer plant by simply mixing up ground ginger, sugar, sultanas (yeast source) and water.

To establish a plant:
sultanas, ground ginger, sugar, water.

Plant:
6 sultanas (Initial yeast source)
1 rounded teaspoon ground ginger or crushed ginger 
1 rounded raw teaspoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

Method:
Mix all together in a jar. Loose cover (there will be gas) with the lid or piece of muslin or similar cloth and secure with a rubber band.

Each day for the next week, add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground or crushed ginger.

To make up the Ginger Beer:

For the syrup, mix together:

3kg of brown sugar
20l of warm- 22C water
* a 1:6 ratio
½ cup strained lemon juice
then:

Strain the ginger beer plant through two layers of muslin.

Pour the resulting liquid into the syrup and mix well.
* slow start to fermentation... pitched Lalvin EC-1118 (10g)
* I allow time for fermentation to use up most of the sugar producing a dryer ginger beer.

Bottling can be tricky! DON'T tighten the tops for a few days to allow excess CO2 to escape without blowing up the bottles. Use plastic bottles to prevent injury. I use a legging system.

The plant: In the spirit of family and community divide the plant left in the muslin into two halves. Place one of these in a glass jar with a cup of warm water to begin again. Then next day start feeding as before, that is, one teaspoon of ginger and one of sugar each day. The other half of the plant can be shared or discarded, or you can have two plants 'on the go'?

Pitched Finishing Hops

Irish Red Ale
Addition of 23 gms (1gm per litre) Fuggle Hops Day 4/5

http://centralcoasthomebrew.com/
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/08/24/irish-red-ale-recipes/

Oktoberfest- Eins, zwei, g'suffa!

mmmm g'suffa!

Spent the morning at ambernectar learning and sharing stories about beer and brewing with Peter, Richard and Duane from... http://www.ambernectar.com.au/

Look'n forward to more Saturday mornings... mmmm

Irish Red

Irish Red Ale
Total Grain (kg): 4.180
Total Hops: 4.180g + see below
Original Specific Gravity : 1.040
Final Gravity: tba
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): (TBA) expecting 4.03
Boil Time mins: 60

Grain Bill
3.670 kg Pale Ale Malt (Bairds) 87.8%
0.170 kg Crystal Medium (Bairds) 4.07%
0.170 kg Crystal Pale (Bairds) 4.07%
0.170 kg Roasted Barley 4.07%
Hop Bill
40.00g East Kent Golding Pellet 4.7% @ 60mins (Boil) (1.7 g/l

Single step Infusion at 66C for 60 minutes
Fermented at 18C
* Recipe generated with BrewMate

Thanks Duane
http://www.ambernectar.com.au
http://www.centralcoasthomebrew.com/

Yeast: 12 gms S-04 English Ale
Addition of 23 gms (1gm per litre) Fuggle Hops Day 4

http://centralcoasthomebrew.com/

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/08/24/irish-red-ale-recipes/

October Fest- by special appointment.

To celebrate the homecoming of Directoré Ricardo... virgin visitors to Humoback Brewery GET their first brew free!

Brew 8- SASSY (Irish) Red-with a twist?

Brew 7- Ginger Brew

Brew 6- Clickerty Click?

Brew 5- It's Alive!