First all grain brew of 2012

Well, after a reasonably short winter the temperatures in the house are once again stable enough for me to think about getting a brew on. Don't get me wrong I haven't been sat here shivering but the temp throughout the day varies a lot when relying on a wood burner for primary heating.

When I can afford the luxury of a temp controlled fermentation cupboard plus a place to keep bottled beers warm to prime, the weather won't be such an issue.

So, after too long a break from brewing and worse still having run out of great beer I've dug all my equipment out of the barn, cleaned it up and got it ready for a brew day tomorrow.

I have had a lovely 30kg sack of malts delivered from the superb Malt Miller based in the UK and so it begins.

What to brew? I am torn right now between a traditional English bitter and a German Dunkel Weissen ... I've been culturing a lovely Belgian yeast from a bottle of Chimay over the winter but I think first job is to get a batch of quaffing bitter on the go.

So, I'm having a go at an own recipe idea based largely on the fact I still have an excess of Amber malt. I've been using Amber malt in some recipes now but only in small quantities so for this one I'm going for the maximum of 20% of the grain bill.

75%Pale malt, 20% Amber malt and 5% Torrefied wheat to hopefully help with a nice, thick head.

Hops are going to be Challenger, Northern brewer for bittering and Bramling Cross for aroma.

As the first two are dual purpose I shall also be dry hopping with a few grams of all three.

I'll be using Safale SO4 and I think I might have a go at batch sparging rather than using my spray bar this time. We'll see.

Ok, so that's that for now, watch this space for the brew day.

My wife's homemade bags Etsy shop

Ok so this is nothing to do with home brewing but it is hand crafted. My wife, Sarah (nickname Saz) has been making her own hand bags, messenger bags etc for a while now using recycled materials. She's had such a great response from friends, family and friends of friends that she has launched her own online shop, SazBags with Etsy.

Example: upcycled denim messenger bag with floral interior

The bags are really well made and I have been blown away with how great they are, Sarah really does have a gift indeed.

Anyway, why not pop and have a look. They're great value and would make nice gifts. Here's a link... Upcycled Bags Handmade In France

I'm still here and still brewing.

It's been an age since I posted anything on here and so this is just to say I am still around and still brewing.

I've done several all grain brews since my last post and enjoyed a lovely range of different beers over the Christmas period.

My Christmas Brew was superb and got better and better before it sadly ran out on 7th January.

Another success which I yet have to post was the re-brew of my first ever all grain brew, Brewer's Pride. I'll be putting that brew day on here soon. I think this beer is quite possibly my favourite as far as balance between aroma and flavours go, it's delicious and smells great.

There has been what I think is a disaster, my Everards Tiger. After a ridiculously slow fermentation the damn stuff still hasn't cleared in the bottles and has a strange smell to it.

Still to post the brewday on here and another superb beer was Wadsworths JCB taken from Graham Wheeler's Brew Your Own British Real Ale, very nice indeed as was my Old Peculier from the same book. Although it was nothing like how I remember Old Peculier (and not dark enough) it was delightful in its own right.

A pint of my all grain Old Peculier

So, I really must get my ass back in gear and get updated on here.