Lockdown booze recipes

[Frankie23]

Most are, yes. Brewmart, BrewForAfrica, BeerGuevara (I think), and I think BrewCraft is working on their permit now. Also, BevPlus, but they SERIOUSLY hiked their prices so I don't recommend them.

I'm still looking to buy bottles for my Coopers brew, Brewmart had PET bottles in stock end of last week but when I went to check they were all sold out.

Any suggestions on where to find glass bottles these days?

Alternatively, any tips for sourcing screw caps for my stash of empty Castle NRB's?

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

A bit off topic and a noob question -

My Coopers brew's krausen/foam layer disappeared completely since Saturday evening when I started it.

The airlock bubbled like crazy on Sunday but is now not moving.

OG reading was 1040, reading now is 1018.

Thermometer strip on the fermenter reads 22.

Looks like fermentation has stopped, but I cant say for certain until I take another reading in a few days.

@Papa Smurf Any tips/tricks/hints?

im no pro on this but i too have seen many "disasters" like this since 2000 when i started brewing the easy Coopers beers
just carry on with the process, the airlock is never a true indicator of how the Coopers is going to turn out.
i have had Coopers brews not even give a single fart in the airlock and it all turned out awesome

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Thats a kuk load of ginger. Kwetsa!
Ginger burn gonna be much stronger than any alcohol kick...

challenge accepted, i LLOOVVEE ginger

 

[bwana]

Oky, liqui fruit grape batch coming soon.

I bought 500g honey this time.

I want to make the juice ( 6L ) and 1L boiled water = 7L
How much honey do you guys figure would be enough? all of it i think

Why add water? You'd just be diluting everything.

 

[Dimpie (COMPUTEK)]

A bit off topic and a noob question -

My Coopers brew's krausen/foam layer disappeared completely since Saturday evening when I started it.

The airlock bubbled like crazy on Sunday but is now not moving.

OG reading was 1040, reading now is 1018.

Thermometer strip on the fermenter reads 22.

Looks like fermentation has stopped, but I cant say for certain until I take another reading in a few days.

@Papa Smurf Any tips/tricks/hints?

Just leave the brew alone ... only do you first check on day 7 .... and then even if the readings are stable on day 8/9 .. leave it till at least day 10 before the decide to bottle ... the yeast needs time to cleanup

 

[Frankie23]

im no pro on this but i too have seen many "disasters" like this since 2000 when i started brewing the easy Coopers beers
just carry on with the process, the airlock is never a true indicator of how the Coopers is going to turn out.
i have had Coopers brews not even give a single fart in the airlock and it all turned out awesome

Just leave the brew alone ... only do you first check on day 7 .... and then even if the readings are stable on day 8/9 .. leave it till at least day 10 before the decide to bottle ... the yeast needs time to cleanup

Thanks guys, won't worry about it too much now and will take another reading on day 7.

Instructions said to leave it to ferment for 14 days, then start taking readings to see if fermentation has completed. Guess I do that

 

[ViciousClone]

Why add water? You'd just be diluting everything.

Believe me, it doesn't do much damage.

I've did it without water the taste was just to dry and strong.

The water ( i don't know why) made it strong but you got a nice taste still.

But anyway, i threw 500g pure honey in, added 8g brewers yeast to it. Now it's all wrapped up for 6 days before testing.

 

[dualmeister]

Received a "donation" just in time while I wait for my next batch to be ready

 

[Snyper564]

Oky, liqui fruit grape batch coming soon.

I bought 500g honey this time.

I want to make the juice ( 6L ) and 1L boiled water = 7L
How much honey do you guys figure would be enough? all of it i think

why add honey at all? it makes this crap more expensive than its worth

 

[ViciousClone]

why add honey at all? it makes this crap more expensive than its worth

I've read several forums that say the taste is noticeably better with honey.
Plus the wife paid without knowing

 

[Defiler]

Busy getting prepped! My first brew in about two years. I will core/juice the fruit and then pasteurize the juice before I add the liqui fruit and 4kg of dissolved sugar. I'll strain the pulp through some cheesecloth to get the maximum amount of juice out. I will also be adding 500g of muscovado sugar to the mix as an experiment. I will do the primary fermentation in my 50L stainless steel pot, works like a bomb! I'll keep a close eye on the SG and do regular taste tests until the alcohol % and sweetness hits my liking. I don't want a cider/wine as dry and flat as I normally end up with... Aiming for about 30L.

 

[Dan C]

Busy getting prepped! My first brew in about two years. I will core/juice the fruit and then pasteurize the juice before I add the liqui fruit and 4kg of dissolved sugar. I'll strain the pulp through some cheesecloth to get the maximum amount of juice out. I will also be adding 500g of muscovado sugar to the mix as an experiment. I will do the primary fermentation in my 50L stainless steel pot, works like a bomb! I'll keep a close eye on the SG and do regular taste tests until the alcohol % and sweetness hits my liking. I don't want a cider/wine as dry and flat as I normally end up with... Aiming for about 30L.

View attachment 839287 View attachment 839289

Nice. Good luck , keep us updated.

 

[Defiler]

Nice. Good luck , keep us updated.

Thanks. I'll only probably get around to doing everything on the weekend. It will be my first time pasteurizing the juice (without Campden tablets) and my first time using liquifruit, so I'm keen to check how this batch turns out! I've had awesome results with apple+pear, apple+plum, apple+grape, red grape, grape+plum, apple+apricot. When primary fermentation is complete, I plan to rack the cider and top-up the primary fermenter again with a fresh batch of liquifruit and sugar to get the ball rolling again asap.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Thanks guys, won't worry about it too much now and will take another reading on day 7.

Instructions said to leave it to ferment for 14 days, then start taking readings to see if fermentation has completed. Guess I do that

the longest i have left a Coopers to ferment is about 10 days

 

[Toxxyc]

Longer is better. Gives the yeast time to clean up after itself. I've left beers in the fermenter for months before.

 

[Toxxyc]

Any suggestions on where to find glass bottles these days?

All I can think of is restaurants. Call them, see if you can pick up empties from them.

 

[friedpiggy]

Managed to get my hands on 25 SAB quart bottles and I have 11x330ml Devils Peak bottles so that is literally just enough for my batch of Mangrove Jack Belgian Lager that should be ready for bottling on Monday. If you live in a complex, ask on your complex WhatsApp group. People might have a case of empty quart bottles that they bought before lockdown started. All it is costing me is 4 quarts once my beer is ready.

 

[Frankie23]

Thanks guys, I don't live in a complex unfortunately.

If I can't find empty bottles, the only other option is to get screw caps which I can use with a bunch of 340ml Castle empties I have, but I can't seem to find anyone selling screw caps (lots of brew shops selling regular crown caps though).

Any idea where I might be able to source screw caps?

 

[Toxxyc]

Managed to get my hands on 25 SAB quart bottles and I have 11x330ml Devils Peak bottles so that is literally just enough for my batch of Mangrove Jack Belgian Lager that should be ready for bottling on Monday. If you live in a complex, ask on your complex WhatsApp group. People might have a case of empty quart bottles that they bought before lockdown started. All it is costing me is 4 quarts once my beer is ready.

Devil's Peak is one of the brands you can't cap with a twin-lever capper. The ring below the top section where the cap seals isn't deep enough for the twin lever capper to grip and force the cap over. Been there, done that, lost several litres of beer and tossed out all my Devil's Peak bottles.

 

[friedpiggy]

Your other option is to use 1L or 2L cooldrink bottles. They are not ideal but can handle the carbonation pressure and will do in a pinch.