Hey Gang, my newbie career in brewing is paying off great dividends, now in the midst of enjoying all 3 of my return to brewing brews !!
My first batch was a Coopers IPA with LME nothing fancy at all, and to make it easier I primed with carbonation drops and Coopers oxbar bottles. only downside I found was I primed some with 1 tab and some with 2, the two tab bottles are much nicer thus they are nearly gone only thing lacking here was some hacking to improve the aroma which is nearly nil (brewed end Feb.)
Next Up was the Bulldog Imerial Red Cat this took a bit longer to ferment and again I used the carbonation tabs 1 seemed suffiecient for this brew, the initial bottles where only ok a bit of an aquired taste, improving over the weeks but dont think I'd brew again (especially with so much to choose from)
Thirdly I did a coopers recipe the lighting strike summer ale, some extra hacking required with this one but its the best of the 3 by far, even though still young, this one I batched primed from secondary with dextrose and I'm really happy with carbonation and a fine head which stays whole way down ! first one after 3 weeks was lovely and improving with time.
So with a communion do finish the end of the month and with June on the horizon I'll brew again in early june but what to do
I really like the recipes for the brew kits on the Coopers website, and as I had such success with the Lighting strike might try another one from there
http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/ale/detail/red-rattler-ale/
is there any other suggestions anyone can offer, if i order the recipe items its e30 worth of ingredients, the price doesnt bother me too much but I'm guessing there must be alternative, should I just plump for a nice youngs kit
Any help !!!
Geterbrewed have 10% off beer kits at the moment making the Festival kits €27, and the Young's American kits €25.86. These seem to be the 'elite' kits of the moment, and I doubt you'll find them cheaper. You can also bundle 1kg spraymalt for a very cheap €3.33. You won't need it for the kit, but it may be handy for a hack along the line.
maybe this:
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/index.php/topic,679.msg6921.html#msg6921 (http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/index.php/topic,679.msg6921.html#msg6921)
Scored 40 in the nationals a couple of years ago
http://homebrewandbeer.com/homebrew/our-homebrews
I started using this site for hacks etc, some nice beers
thanks eoin like the sound of that one must do a recipe search will warmer summer temps be ok for that brew no temp control for summer heat for me yet