New Zealand Brewers

[wretchedgirl]

hey guys, im from Auckland.

was wondering if anyone here could possibly help me here.

have tried the mead forum, was helpful somewhat but am still a little confused.

i'll post what i posted on the mead forum and see what you guys think.

"hello

mead has always been an interest of mine, however i am an amatuer beer brewer (20 brews under my belt so far) but i have never made mead.
so i decided i would give it a try. however i am a bit stuck on the correct procedures as many people have many different methods it seems (youtube etc).

i plan on making 23L of mead and i have my 23L glass demijohn and a 23L fermenting keg (which i use for my beer, it has been so very thoroughly cleaned and sanitised though) and all the other equipment such as measuring jugs, siphon tube etc.


as for the ingredients, i decided to buy a winemaking kit. the kit includes:
50g potassium metabisulphite (sanitizer)
25g pectolase
5g lavlin 71B winemaking yeast
6g GO-FERM protect nutrient
7g Fermaid A nutrient
25g citric acid
1.25 tspoon of tannin

i also have 6kg of honey straight from the hive (friend is a bee keeper) so im assuming honey hasn't gone through proper "factory" pasteurising or whatever. and 20L of spring water.

how do i go about making this mead exactly? i know how to sanitise my equipment but have never made wine/mead before and am at a bit of a loss sadly. can any of you guys/girls help me at all please? some simple, direct instructions would be greatly appreciated.

having these instructions in metric system would also be great as it leaves little room for error, (my metric-imperial conversions are not that great). however not too much of a biggie.

also, i have a lemon tree at home that is laden with fruit at the moment. i thought of possibly adding some lemons to this brew, but have heard that it may a) taste like lemon honey cough syrup afterwards, B) the fruit may begin to rot after racking the mead and making it taste like lemon-ass. any suggestions about if adding lemons to mead is a good idea?

cheers "

 

[sheblom]

Sup fellas,

New brewer her from the north shore! Does anyone know if there are any home brew clubs in the auckland area? Or anyone up to forming a club so we can brew together and learn for each other?

Churs

 

[wretchedgirl]

Sup fellas,

New brewer her from the north shore! Does anyone know if there are any home brew clubs in the auckland area? Or anyone up to forming a club so we can brew together and learn for each other?

Churs

auckland north shore?

 

[sheblom]

auckland north shore?

Yep, forest hill side

 

[k-trips]

Does anyone know where to get 330ml glass bottles from that can be capped with a crown capper?
I know I could reuse bottles but not sure on how they would handle that after reading about some bottles being notoriously thin in the glass.

 

[sheblom]

Does anyone know where to get 330ml glass bottles from that can be capped with a crown capper?
I know I could reuse bottles but not sure on how they would handle that after reading about some bottles being notoriously thin in the glass.

Do you specifically want to cap them or you open to pop top?

 

[k-trips]

Yeah pretty keen to cap them.

 

[k-trips]

I have a dozen pop top 750ml bottles already. I want to cap 6 dozen of them for a mates wedding present.

 

[sheblom]

Sheesh, looks like your best best might be trademe. All the home brew shots sell,either plastic or pop top.

 

[NZLunchie]

Does anyone know where to get 330ml glass bottles from that can be capped with a crown capper?
I know I could reuse bottles but not sure on how they would handle that after reading about some bottles being notoriously thin in the glass.

I'd say your best bet is reuse...

 

[k-trips]

Ah well. Any advice on what bottles are best to use and what not to use? Last thing I want is the groom clinking a bottle and it explodes in his hand and severs fingers before he consummates the marriage. Haha

 

[NZLunchie]

I've found Steinlager are thicker than most...
500ml bottles out of the question?

 

[k-trips]

Would prefer 330 but 500 if necessary. But I drink steinys for my normal booze so that would be an easy solution.

 

[NZLunchie]

Would prefer 330 but 500 if necessary. But I drink steinys for my normal booze so that would be an easy solution.

Marriage made in heaven

 

[crusader1612]

+1 for Re-used bottles, makes for a good afternooon i think . Get some mates for a session.

I use The little macs bottles, they can becapped despite the strange capping system they use. I've always been told as well that brown bottles are better than green, for light etc.
I also got some 500mls from harringtons as well they sell brand new round about 50c a bottle.

On a side note, bottled my All Extract Pale ale today. went smoothly.
And i decided to bottle my cider too leave it bottles for a few months before cracking one open.

 

[sheblom]

+1 for Re-used bottles, makes for a good afternooon i think . Get some mates for a session.

I use The little macs bottles, they can becapped despite the strange capping system they use. I've always been told as well that brown bottles are better than green, for light etc.
I also got some 500mls from harringtons as well they sell brand new round about 50c a bottle.

On a side note, bottled my All Extract Pale ale today. went smoothly.
And i decided to bottle my cider too leave it bottles for a few months before cracking one open.

Nice man! Imam waiting form my Czech pilsner to be ready for bottling, been almost 3 weeks and it's still reading 1.020. Plus I added some finings on Wednesday past and the beer is still murky as..

Where do you guys get your brewing equipment/ingredients? I have been getting mine from ebrewcraft up in mt Eden, but going to have a look at a place up in Albany this weekend coming.

Trying to figure out what I want to do brew next! Also planing on making a brew cupboard soon to try keep my brew warm. My place is way to cold! What brews you guys on making next?

 

[crusader1612]

Nice man! Imam waiting form my Czech pilsner to be ready for bottling, been almost 3 weeks and it's still reading 1.020. Plus I added some finings on Wednesday past and the beer is still murky as..

Where do you guys get your brewing equipment/ingredients? I have been getting mine from ebrewcraft up in mt Eden, but going to have a look at a place up in Albany this weekend coming.

Trying to figure out what I want to do brew next! Also planing on making a brew cupboard soon to try keep my brew warm. My place is way to cold! What brews you guys on making next?

I don't have the equipment for lagering. Normally i go to LHBS in chch, but theres a good place online www.brewshop.co.nz, they have a huge selection.
You All Grain or Extract? I decided last minute i would put a Wheat beer in for 10-14 days all extract yesterday afternoon. have a squizz on here, theres alot of recipes for if your struggling.

 

[sheblom]

I don't have the equipment for lagering. Normally i go to LHBS in chch, but theres a good place online www.brewshop.co.nz, they have a huge selection.
You All Grain or Extract? I decided last minute i would put a Wheat beer in for 10-14 days all extract yesterday afternoon. have a squizz on here, theres alot of recipes for if your struggling.

You need special equipment for lagering? I just keep it in my house, it's about 16c All the time, I have to wait for summer to do any other brew.
I am only on my second brew right now, but right now it's just extract. I would like to get into all grain, just need to save up to get the equipment. I have a pilsner going at the moment, by mangrove jacks. Been fermenting for about 3 weeks now, but still has quite a hight gravity reading of 1.020. Was going to try bottle it, but the findings did not seem to work as my brew is still quite murky. So I am going to leave it for another week or so and see how it goes.

 

[emjay]

You need special equipment for lagering? I just keep it in my house, it's about 16c

That's too warm for even FERMENTING lagers, where the typical range is 7-13°C. And that's beer temp, which can be over 5° above room temp, meaning you're fermenting at around 21°, which is on the high end for most *ales*.

And that's just fermentation. The actual LAGERING process is done around freezing temps. So yes, you need "special equipment".

 

[crusader1612]

That's too warm for even FERMENTING lagers, where the typical range is 7-13°C. And that's beer temp, which can be over 5° above room temp, meaning you're fermenting at around 21°, which is on the high end for most *ales*.

And that's just fermentation. The actual LAGERING process is done around freezing temps. So yes, you need "special equipment".

I Thought that was the case emjay, based on what I have read on HBT.

SheBlom, given its a mangrove jacks, did the yeast packet have any information on i, my first batch was a "munich lager", which turned out when i did some research had ale yeast in it.

I've moved away from those canned kits, all extract is not much more expensive, and based on my first "proper" wort, its gonna taste awesome! after my wheat I'm probably gonna do one more all extract, to get some beer in the fridge, then move onto extract with specialty grains . Don't have AG equipment either...

 

[NZLunchie]

Hmmmmm, so much grain....excuse the ****ty pic
Brewday 11th August.
Brews: BierMuncher's Black Pearl Porter, Stone Arrogant Bastard Clone and BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde. Grains you see are for the Porter and Arrogant Bastard clone. Looks like we maybe hitting a fourth brew on the day. Got some guys at work that want a Tui Dark clone. Figured if they get the ingredients I'll brew it

 

[brewnz]

Nice one...I just brewed a 40l batch of the centennial blonde but used summit instead - been in the fermenter 24hrs and bubbling away nicely! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thanks for the heads up on the other two, definitely on the 'to do' list!

 

[icecaster]

Hey

I'm german born, now living in chch.

Have been brewing beer for about a year now. Am getting some good results on kits.
Keen to get into AG at some point...

cheers

 

[crusader1612]

Hey

I'm german born, now living in chch.

Have been brewing beer for about a year now. Am getting some good results on kits.
Keen to get into AG at some point...

cheers

Nice to see someone still living in this fair city... from Chch Also.

Hey Lunchie, you doing all of that in one sitting? Would be interested to see the ingredients list for Mangatainoka Dark (Tui Dark) I do enjoy one of those from time to time .

What do you use for Mash Tun?

 

[NZLunchie]

Nice to see someone still living in this fair city... from Chch Also.

Hey Lunchie, you doing all of that in one sitting? Would be interested to see the ingredients list for Mangatainoka Dark (Tui Dark) I do enjoy one of those from time to time .

What do you use for Mash Tun?

Yep, three of us getting together for a brew day. Should be a good one I'll hopefully get some pics up on the blog, so if you follow it, stay tuned.
Mash tun is a 30L pot - we're all BIAB brewers. I'm looking to upgrade to a cooler mash tun, much like the ones you see on here, and go for a gravity feed system.

As for the 'toki dark, I don't have a recipe per say I was just gonna wing it. I think maybe a Black Rock Miners Stout with a extra can of dark extract + a bag of dry stout enhancer should get something similar or better

 

[crusader1612]

Nice one, that BIAB Sounds easy...

Be sure to put up your recipe on here for the toki dark, give some of my slightly "cheaper" mates something to drink, lol. As a note, it seems more like a dark ale than anything else(Cascade?)?

Good luck with it, and keep us posted

 

[NZLunchie]

Nice one, that BIAB Sounds easy...

Be sure to put up your recipe on here for the toki dark, give some of my slightly "cheaper" mates something to drink, lol. As a note, it seems more like a dark ale than anything else(Cascade?)?

Good luck with it, and keep us posted

Real easy, I think the move from extract to partial to BIAB was quite easy and pretty quick. I haven't thought of more hops, was just gonna use the recipe above and leave it there. Thinking maybe some NZ Cascade since I've got some spare might go well.

/cough

 

[crusader1612]

Hahaha!!! Wheres my bottle?? lol

I can see I'm gonna have to track some ofthis down. where did u find it?

 

[NZLunchie]

I got mine from LiquorLand here in Palmy Nth. Missed it. Such a GOOD brew!!! $10.99 a bottle and I reckons its worth it :rockin:

 

[crusader1612]

I'll find it!! lol. Someone should do a clone!!
Gonna give my pale ale a try tonight, its only 10 days in the bottle, but it should be pretty carbed up slightly green, but my patience has got the better of me. I'll try post a pic up.