What started out as a bit of a joke when I first said I would start it has now been turned into a well oiled machine. I brew constantly in the warmer months and it lasts me all year.
When I brewed my first barrel and it was ready to bottle, my wife, Jen, kindly offered to help, as we still had no kids at that stage.
For those who aren't attuned to the science of home brewing (which is pretty basic), you have to put a teaspoon of sugar into each stubby, fill it with beer and then let it ferment for about 6 weeks and then it is ready to drink. The longer you leave it though, the better. Not enough sugar and it is foul, too much sugar and funny things can happen!
Anyway, Jen said that she'd put the sugar in the stubbies while I filled them. Great, this would speed things up a bit!
We duly finished the bottling process and patted each other on the back on a job well done, now all I had to do was wait a few weeks...
Well, after a few weeks I would go down to the shed and check on my 'babies', only to find that quite a few were exploding at different times. I scratched my head about this and checked with Bob from the Home Brew shop what could be causing this.
His suggestion was "too much sugar". When I got home I told this to Jen and asked if she put the standard 1 teaspoon into each stubby, only to hear back, "Yes, but it didn't look like enough so I added extra".
Bingo !! Problem solved.
Solution - since that day I do everything on my own!! (apart from when the boys were young they'd help by putting the lids on the bottles).
I still get the occasional explosion due to heat or whatever, and it is amazing to see what is left of the bottle. Without fail, I always find the cap still attached, it is the rest of the bottle that is destroyed.
I haven't been very adventurous with my brewing, sticking to what works and what I like.
Why do I do it?
First of all, I find it the most refreshing beer as it does not contain the level of preservatives of commercial brands. This does not suggest for one second that I dislike commercial beer!!!!!
Also, the cost is amazing. For example, today I bottled 120 stubbies for an outlay of around $32.
At 26 cents a stubby, the cost is well worth it.
I've heard of people putting jelly beans in each stubby rather than the teaspoon of sugar, but for me, I just keep it safe.
I also experimented with cider making last year as I love cider, but the stuff I made is downright putrid and have to be careful where I tip it out as I don't want to kill the plants!
I absolutely dislike wine, and these taste like wine, which might explain why I dislike them so much. Others have drunk them and say they're good, but as for me... Roundup tastes better!
One of my boys is going to tip them out this week so I'll have more bottles for the 2 barrels I have fermenting at the moment.
I love the science behind making the beer, and I enjoy just knowing there is a stash in the shed whenever I feel like having one.
In the middle of the bottling process. To do 120 stubbies takes me about 90 mins on a good day.
Ready for storage, and good to drink in about 6 weeks.
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