Brew 2. Oatmeal Stout (Black Rock)- 5.76% alc/vol

  Day 1 - Sat 27th July Black Rock Oatmeal Stout

After brewing the first batch I was keen to give it another crack.
The first batch went from 1.040 to 1.012, so doing the maths it is about 3.66% alc by vol, which is a bit light, and the stuff from the hydrometer test was a bit watery.
S when I went to the Brew House I said I wanted something with a bit more alcohol and thickness. So I got 2 cans of the Black Rock Oatmeal Stout and one bag of 1kg of Dextrose.
When I did the OG it was 1.060 and it needs to work itself down to 1.014 so hopefully there will be a beer of about 6% alc/vol. That sounds more interesting, also, because its got 2 tins worth it shouldn't be as watery.
It is going to take 10 days to ferment. They suggest 4 weeks for 2ndary fermentation, hopefully I'll still be working my way through the first batch.
Cost, 2 tins of  Black Rock Oatmeal Stout@29.90 and 1kg of Dextrose (3.50) and carbonation tablets (around 60) for $6.10. All up $69.40.
So steralised all the equipment and also collecting lots of bottles. Hopefully I'll have over 60 by the time its brewed.
I've started to get into the habit of rinsing the bottles out after drinking them so easier to steralise on bottling day. 

Day 8 fermenting - Sunday 4th August

Initially it was bubbling away like mad, also the temperature was about 24 deg C to begin with, it then started to settle down a bit to 20 deg C and not so active about day 5. It dropped down to about 17 deg C so I had to raise the temperature a bit more with the oil heater about day 6 as there has been a bit of cold snap. Its back up around 18-20 deg C. Tomorrow or Tuesday I'll check the  FG to see where it is at.

 Day 10/11 fermenting- 6th/7th August

 Checking for density it is 1.016 day 10, just a bit higher than the target of 1.014. Day 11 the same at 1.016, so ready for bottling tomorrow. I'm going to be using glass bottles for this so a slow process, over 60 bottles.
Electricity bill in and it is 11$ higher than normal. This is because I've been running the heater in the hot press so that brew temperature stays within range of 18-24 deg C. A bit of a cold snap at the moment. Also part of it was hot water for Zoe & Karl as invoice is from Thursday to Wednesday so 4 days they were here. It should drop back as there may not be many more brewing days for this batch.
So based on the calculation this one should be about 5.7% alcohol/vol. I'm looking forward to a taste of it.

So alc/vol is 5.76% which  is OK, I was hoping it would be at  6%. 


Bottling- Crisis
This was a bit of disaster. There may be a couple of dud bottles where I forgot to put in the carbonation tablets. Also the bottle cap double lever press did not work very well. I was putting quite a lot of pressure on it and the cap was still on skewed.  I thought I'd tested it, but obviously hadn't. I had 60 odd bottles of beer open and not capped. Oops!
So I did a mad dash down to the brew house and ended up buying a single lever press bottle top press for $69. That worked great and they glass bottles were capped in next to no time.
So the idea of saving on the bottles (about $16.50 for 15 PET bottles, so $33 for 30 required for the 23l) was not the saving that I thought I'd get. Anyway I prefer out of bottles rather than plastic but need to collect lots of bottles. I need about 70 333ml bottles for one batch. So I need to keep my eye out for them.
I'm also getting into the habit of rinsing the bottles straight after use so they are easier to sterilize.

So this one says 4 weeks until ready. I'll do an update when they are ready for tasting.

Tasting.

The directions recommend 4 weeks for 2nd fermentation. I did notice that there was a lot of settlement in the bottles. The front one is the bottom of the barrel so you'd expect a bit.
I tried a bottle after 2 weeks and had a wicked headache the next day. Obviously too much stuff still floating in the beer and not settled out yet. This one I'll definitely leave for the 4 week period.
15th Sept 2019
 A bit of a aching head in middle of night from this one, so only one bottle at a time so far. Maybe it needs to settle more.
Similar to the double can Coopers Stout, I can't taste too much difference, but I get a bit of a headache from this. One normal .33l bottle OK but any more and headache.
Its not as strong as the Coopers Double Stout but maybe too much residue from yeast. I wouldn't spend the extra for it again.
I may leave these to sit for a while and see if they improve with age.

Brews 3 & 4. Coopers Stout x 2 malt extract tins, one with dextrose(5.76% alc/vol) one with Dark Ale Brew Blend (6.55% alc/vol)

Brews  3 . Coopers Stout x 2 malt extract tins, with dextrose 1Kg- alk/Vol =5.76%

I thought that brew 2 Oatmeal stout extract tins were rather expensive.
I noticed that Pak'n'Save sells Coopers Home Brew cans and sanitizer and carbonating pills so I've been keeping an eye out for some Stout cans as the first time I saw the area there was only one can of stout.

Last week they restocked, and the Coopers cans are about $14 compared to $24 for the extract.
So a couple of cans of this and dextrose should do Ok.
 I started the fermentation process on the day I bottled the Oatmeal (4 weeks before I can try), that was Thursday 8th August.
I inspected it on Sunday and the air trap was clear of water and covered in froth at the top, also the top of the fermenter. A bit of spatter on the duvet wrapped around it too. It was a bit too active.
I cleaned the air trap and put it back, hopefully no damage done and the brew will be fine.
The OG was 1.058 and the bits of docs that I can see online suggest it should get down to about FG 1.014. I'll leave it for about 10 days , like the oatmeal stout as its also a double can brew.
So if the Coopers stout is tasty that is what I'll aim to use.

I don't think I'm making headway on the financial side of the brewing yet.
 I've had to get extra kit (the bottle press).
I thought I'd save by using empty beer bottles but the extra money on the press has offset that to date.
Also the heating of the cupboard to keep the temp above 18 Deg C, that's an added cost component I hadn't foreseen.
Hopefully I'll get a brew that I can make and enjoy so that I can maintain the process for budget reasons.
The first brew I'm drinking now, as its not that strong I'm drinking a lot more of it, so that's not working, although alcohol content is low.
I need to collect a lot more bottles, and I do prefer beer from a bottle (rather than a PET bottle). Its a bit like coffee from a wax paper cup, what extra flavours are you getting from the vessel?
I'll re-use whatever I have, bottle or PET and carry on, I need to justify the bottle cap press.
So not as economically viable as I'd thought to begin with, and I've got to get a few brews made and aged in the bottles so that I've got a few different types to try. That is going to be my next objective, to get a few successful brews that I enjoy.

Bottling

I've had issues doing the bottling in the laundry room as the bench is standard height and you are bending down to view the level of the fill in the bottles.  Also there is not that much room in there for the process.
So I moved it to the dining area and used a chair on the table and the process went so much more smoothly. The bottle fill was nearer eye level so easier to judge when to stop, so less waste.
 I also put the carbonation drops in all the bottles first, so I ended up with a more efficient process.
I didn't have that many glass bottles so bought another 15 PET bottles for this batch, I only needed about half of them.
I had 10 glass bottles so used the bottle press, which is nice to use. 

So now they are bottled I'll have to wait for 2nd fermentation before drinking them.
The FG of this was 1.014   so its alcohol content should be about 5.76%.

Brew 4 -Coopers Stout x 2  tins with Dark Ale Brew Blend- 20/8/2019- Alk/Vol =6.55%

This is same as before but putting a bit more body in with Dark Ale brew blend from Brew House.
I picked it up when I went to get extra PET bottles.
I had everything ready for when I did the bottling so could just steralise everything and set up for the next batch.
It was not as frothy a mix as the previous batch, maybe the Brew Blend has less sugars. The OG was 1.060 which was slightly higher than Brew 3 (1.058). Hopefully it will not blow the seal.
I've put the duvet around the tank and as the first days are more active than the later days I wont heat the cupboard but monitor the temperature. Its started at 24 deg C.
I'll leave that to ferment  for about 10 days then check.
I'll most probably need some more bottles as although I've bought some Stella's I'm working my way through the first batch of Brew that I've made, about 8 bottles to go then back onto the lager.
Actually, I should hold a few of the original batch back to do a taste test on some of the other brews.

The OG of this was 1010, so that is a 6.55% brew, so quite strong.

 
The new bottling process went well and minimal spillage.

Next batch? 

I feel I've made enough Stout for the time being, so maybe make some lighter beers. There is a Coopers Real Ale and Dark Ale so maybe I need to try doing some of those as well. It would be good to have a variety of beers to try.
So I should prepare to purchase something next time I head to the shops.
I'll stick with the Coopers for the time being.  I'm not sure whether to do a double extract or add an enhancer.
I've bought a couple of  Coopers Real Ale cans and dextrose, but I think I'll try only 500g of dextrose for this.
Brew 4 went mad, like brew 3 and frothed out of the air lock, a couple of times. So I think its a bit too active. Not sure if that's too much yeast or too much sugars. Will try with a reduced sugar level initially(see comment above).

Too Much Yeast

In the last 3 batches I use 2 cans of extract and I used 2 sachets of yeast. I think that sped up the reaction causing it to overflow on all the first fermentations on the first couple of days. I'll have to check up on that next time I do a double can. Maybe test out only one sachet of yeast.

Wine making

This looks interesting too, I watched a couple of videos on that and the process is similar to the Beer kitset process. I'd like to give it a try sometime. The basic kit is about $129-$140 and the concentrate pack is about $120 ish. This will do about 30 bottles. You also need a corker and maybe a sealer too.
Also the bottles, but I could collect those. About 4 weeks from start to bottling.
It works out about $8.50 per bottle (starter Kit & concentrate kit) and 2 bottles a week  would work out about 3 1/2 months worth of wine.
This is one vid that shows a process, seems reasonably straight forward.s:

Tasting

Brew 2, only about a week for the 2nd fermentation, but as I've hidden away the first brew (mild strength) I thought I'd like to try it. I've been wondering about the coopers flavour, and I like it. A bit of sediment in the bottle, I'm drinking this one first so I can have a couple of lagers after, so hopefully the sediment wont be too hard on my head. Nice taste, flavoursome, more body than the first brew, so a thumbs up for this one so far. May not be the same view tomorrow morning.

15th Sept 2019 - Tasting Brew 3. 
This one has a bit of strength to it. You do not notice the alc content but it is a thick and rich flavour. I like it. I've been mainly drinking these over the OatBear Stout as that gives me a bit of a head. Although this one is mainly in 750ml bottles so I tend to drink more of this and get mellow, then i drink some of the Oat one , so its sneaking below the radar and I'm drinking too much at times.
 The 4th brew is ready, so I'll have to try some of that one now and see how that is doing.
I like the flavour of the Coopers Stout. I will have to try to make a milder one  with only one can to have for summer. Its good that I've got some strong ones now, but its time I got a few more milder ones for summer.

Paua slices & Squid tubes

Karl got some Paua and he has a different method of eating them to Sam's Paua fritters. His are sliced.

For prep, he cuts the muscle  off  the middle of the paua, slicing straight, and then divides the rest in half.
He then boils for about 40 seconds, the 3 pieces, so need enough water so that there is not an immediate cool down when the pieces are thrown into boiling water.
After that he heats up frying pan with sweet chili sauce (The Trident brand has a nice bite to it) and olive oil and garlic. Then he puts the 3 pieces of paua in and turns them over regularly until the white side is caramelized, about half way through he takes out the muscle bit and sets aside. Throw in a bit more olive oil (otherwise chili sauce dries and goes black).
When done he takes out the other 2 sides and slices them into about 2mm thick slices.
 Then on a plate and dig in.

I also wanted to have some squid as well, I'd bought some frozen tubes, so looked on Mr YouTube and found this video:

  I did the slicing of the tubes and cut them into pieces and threw them in the boiling water for about 30 seconds (they were very thin tubes) and then plunged them into cold water.
 I cooked them up with the garlic, chili sauce and olive oil with the Paua near the end of the Paua cooking time.
I had a light salad with the seafood and it went very well.

Pizza Dough Filled Bread Balls and Buns

I worked in Germany a long time ago and there was a small Italian restaurant close to the Pension where I stayed.
As a entree for the table there was usually a small basket of pizza dough buns, freshly baked in the Pizza Oven, and some garlic butter (with salt and sauce so it looked pinkish). It was delicious and I usually ordered more and struggled to eat my mains.

Anyway, I was watching a couple of snack videos and they were showing little pizza dough balls with sauce, mozzarella cheese and salami wrapped inside the dough and then baked. I had to give that a try.
See the video below about 13:40 minutes into the vid.

 

 I also tried just dough balls with olive oil over. Both in the air fryer for about 8-10 minutes on 200 deg C. Both very tasty and simple snacks. I think I'll have to make some garlic butter to spread on the buns. 

 

I tried the straight dough balls, actually forgot some in the air fryer, they were a bit tough the next day. 

The filled ones leaked the mozzarella so I used a tin to put them in so the bubbling cheese did not go all over the air fryer. Good but I'd like to get them so the cheese doesn't leak out. 

Also the Mozzarella cheese is a bit tasteless so needs to be mixed with some cheddar or something to add some flavour. 

A quick and easy snack but the dough didn't puff up as light and fluffy as the ones I recalled at the Italian restaurant, so they must have used a different mix, more like a bun dough, they were far softer and fluffier. 

Would I do them again? I think so, they are easy enough so I can experiment with different fillings.

First attempt at beer brewing, a stout 3.14% alc/vol

I was looking on Mr Tube and saw some vids on brewing. I'd always thought I'd like a crack at doing it. I had a tenant in the flat below and he made his own beer, pretty rugged stuff and he'd got an old fridge with a tap in it. Not a bad tenant, no trouble from him. I think his beer was quite high on the alcohol content.

The purchase

Anyway, I saw that there was a local shop in Newtown that sells starter kits for beer making, so I thought I'd give it a try its a Mangrove Jacks kit for $110. I wanted to start with a stout and the chap in the shop kindly switch it over from the beer type that came with the starter kit. A different brand. On switching over I got a Muntons Irish Style Dublin Stout.

The chap had recommended an Oatmeal stout but I thought I'd try a taste that I know. So went for the Irish Stout. If its not too much of a disaster then I can always try other ones. There was a big bag and a tin. The bag goes in first apparently.
I'd parked at Countdown supermarket opposite so I didn't have far to carry the stuff, and whilst there had a concern about the water, so ended up buying 26 l of still water ($16). The concern seems to be about the chlorine affecting the taste. Also the chap in the shop, when I said I'd most probably cock it up didn't disagree but said there was usually something drinkable at the end.
 So , cost to date is $126. And after preparing it it will take 5-10 days for fermentation. After that it needs 3-4 weeks for the carbonation drops (I think sugar) will need to react with the beer so 3-4 weeks after that. I'll be thirsty by the time they are ready.
I'll leave it until tomorrow to set it all up.

The preparation videos

I thought this  video was useful for setting up from the UK:

There is also this double one, video'd in Petone, not the most thrillingly paced but goes through the process:

The process

Wednesday 17th July, 2019.
I did the sterilization as they suggested. I used a cloth to wipe out the inner side of the fermenter and put that in its own bag so no cross contamination.
Initially I put in 2 teaspoons of the sterilizer then on reading instructions again saw it was 2 tablespoons  so adjusted to suit.
Put some in a sprayer to spray hands and other stuff.
Used bottled water to fill up. Put the sugars in first (as the man in the shop said) to stop clumping , then the tin and used kettle to get the stuff around the tin edges.
With 3 1/2 l of boiling water and bottled water for the rest, the temperature is 22 degrees, so I need to cool it down a bit before I can put in the Yeast, so I'm waiting on that.

It seems to be sitting on 22 deg C so I put it in the bath (I'm worried the sink may fall out of frame in laundry) sitting in cold water up to about the 7l mark. So will watch until it gets to below 20 deg C to put in the yeast.
I will also need to test the specific gravity as well.
This came out at 40 or 140 or 1040 - (still figuring out markings on the hydrometer.

So the start reading is 1040 which is the OG, and 5% alcohol/vol.
I had to do a lookup on this. So it seems you have the start alcohol and you get the end alcohol and you subtract one from the other to get final alcohol content.
So, in a blog I read (here) and it suggests final should be about 1.008 FG,  so that alcohol content there should be 1% so difference of alcohol content should be 4%, which is about right for a normal stout (Guinness 4.2%).
So all made , yeast added, in the cupboard and I'll have to wait 5 to 6 days. So that will stink out the house with guests coming Sunday.
I'll need to take it out to test the alcohol content on Monday 22nd and again on Tuesday 23rd to test FG and see if its stabilized.
Other calc is :
(OG-FG) x 131 = ABV (alcohol content) ,w here OG = 1.040 , so if FG 1.008 then sum will be .032x 131 = 4.192%

Day 1. Wed 17th July

 

I put the fermenter in my "hot press" (Airing cupboard). I 'd put a temperature logger in there before for a few hours and the results were that the temp was just above 15 deg C (note- datalogger battery died and there was only one reading)

When I put the fermenter in the cupboard it was at 20 deg C. As the temp was steady at 15 deg C in the cupboard I decided to wrap the tank in a duvet. I checked the temperature the next day in the AM and it was at 18 deg C.
I'll keep an eye on it and if it drops then I'll have to put a bit more heat in the space somehow.
There is a bit of a brewing smell as the cupboard is in the middle of the house, I may have to get a hose and run it into the attic space. Top of airlock is 25mm internal so I think it might be hose pipe size.

Day 2/3/4 of ferment

I was a bit concerned with temperature. The thermometer had dropped to 18/16 (so 17 deg C) so I thought I'd better raise the temp in the cupboard on day 3. I put in an electric oil heater on to try and even the temperature. I thought I'd had it on low but on checking day 4 the temperature was at 20 deg C. So I wound down the heater to a lower setting. I'll keep an eye on it. I'll also check the temp logger.
It seems to be bubbling away quite merrily so that is good.
My car was stolen Thursday night so will need to plan how to get the hose. As its off gassing into linen cupboard I may need to get the vent running soon or very beer smelling linen.

 Day 5  first measure

Monday 22 July I took the fermenter out and poured some beer out for the hygrometer. The reading was 1.016. It needs to be around 1.008 and when getting it out it was still bubbling through air trap, so I don't think its finished fermenting. Back in the cupboard and let it brew some more.

DAY 6/7 CONSISTENT MEASURE AT 1.012

On day 8 I decided to bottle as it was not going to go down to 1.008 too fast. Zoe & Karl were around so Zoe helped do the bottling, she was definitely better than I was.
So now have 30 bottles with 2 carbonator pellets in each of the pert bottles . I am storing them in their original box and I need to leave them in a warm place for 5 days. We turned the bottles upside down so that the pellets would dissolve.
Next, 5 days in warm place and then put in cool place and can drink after 14 days. 2 weeks to go before the tasting.

 Day 5 of storing

I  tried a bottle on day 5. It did not have much of a head and was quite sweet, but pleasant enough, although not much of a bite to it. I'm glad I've tried but will wait for a while longer so hopefully it will get a bit more oomph.
Am supposed to put in a cool place but as temperature has dropped I'll keep it in the dining area for now.

Pupusa's , Pickled cabbage

My daughter Zoe is coming to stay and she is gluten intolerant. So I thought I'd look up online things to make that she could eat. She definitely will not be having my sausage rolls, that's for sure.
So, I came across pupusa's from El Salvador and thought I'd give them a try, they look really good.

First problem is getting the corn flour. I did try normal cornflour and that was useless. I needed the Masa Harisa. In all the video's they use Maseca brand and I tracked some down in Moore Wilson's.

I first had to make the pickled salad so hunted down some apple cider. The cabbage, carrot and onion is pretty good. You have to refrigerate it overnight and it is pretty crunchy and zingy. I'll need to make some without onions for the Zot.

The pickled cabbage recipe vid

 After this the straight recipe for pupusa's

and the guys simplification process:

The making of them.

So after finding the right flour, I set to work. Browned the pork which I'd cut into small pieces and blitzed with a tomato and half a brown onion. That was alright, I'd forgot the garlic so added a teaspoon full and blitzed again.
The filling was more like a paste, which is what it is supposed to be, but a bit wet, so when I was making the balls, drips of fluid would come out, so I had to dry the mix out a bit. I think it was supposed to ball up in your hand but mine was a bit more creamy. I'd been light on the pork as I wanted to save some for when Zoe comes.
The easy guy method didn't quite work for me either. He had a dryer mix (1.5 cups of water to 3 of flour, whereas proper one was 3.5 to 4 cups of water to 4 cups flour, but the guys one also had a bit more oil in his dough). Both aimed for "playdough" consistency. I thought I had that but mine was too dry. In the end I added more water and oil.
I used Mozzarella cheese as well, separate to the pork mix. I thought the cheesy strands look better.

Result

My dough was either too thick, too thin in places and would crack, and sticky, so putting in down on the chopping board it peeled away the dough on one side.
After making one I don't think I had enough filling in as it was pretty dry, hence the pickled cabbage and salsa to give it a lift.
The more I did the thicker they got.

Overall

I thought this   would be a cool recipe and something interesting that is gluten free but i was a bit disappointed with it.
After all the effort I was not that impressed with the result of the pupusa's themselves. I liked the pickled cabbage though. I'd do that again.
I think for a gluten free type meal I'd go for the quesadilla's instead. Easier to make and prepare and a bit more flexible.
I might try using the maseca flour to make tortilla's instead.

Bread pudding in Air Fryer, No, oven yes.

This is something that sticks to your ribs. Not too sweet but filling.

I like this chaps process, although I didn't add the butter to the bread, just to the bowl for prepping.
160 deg C for 20 minutes (half of the 40 minutes for normal oven).

I wanted to use some molenburg bread as it was taking up room in the freezer. I threw everything in and cooked it for quite a while but it did not set. I threw out half of it. It didn't quite work with the flavours. I will go back to a simple white bread and minimalist recipe.

Overall, not blown away with the results, in fact I didn't make it for a long while because I was disappointed with it. I think I tossed a lot of it.
I threw in too many spices. I had a feeling I was doing so at the time. 

 Oven Recipe

I then decided to go back to a simple oven recipe and used this gentleman's recipe:

I found it was a lot more simple, a bigger batch, but I froze a lot of it and have been eating it regularly.
I have been saving the leftover ciabatta bread when I don't eat it all and make a new batch. I put those bits in a freezer bag and collect the ends in the freezer. I have to thaw and when mixed with the wet ingredients leave them to soak a lot longer as the bread is pretty crusty. I also have to use the bread knife to cut it into smaller pieces, too hard to tear with hands.
This was the taste I was after, so I'll be making it again for sure.
ingredients - 

• 500g bread -any bread 
• 500g dried fruit 
• 140g light muscavado 
• 600 ml milk
• 2 eggs
•  demerara sugar for sprinkle topping 
• 1.5 teaspoon of ground mixed spice, (cinnamon nutmeg) 
• 100g melted butter

16th May 2020. A different recipe- verdict- Delicious, and not too sweet

I hadsome nubs of ciabatta left over so decided, as the weather was cooling, to use them up in  bread pudding.

I found this one online and decided to give it a try, the photos show its the right colour, dark brown rather than pale.

Recipe webpage  here:

Ingredients:

• 1kg Bread (day old/stale white bread), chopped.
• 1,200ml Whole milk.
• 400g Raisins
• 300g Currants.
• 300g Sultanas
• 100g Mixed peel.
• 100g Glace cherries.
• 2 tbsp Ground mixed spice.
• 4 Egg.
• 280g Light brown sugar (plus additional for sprinkling on top before baking).

I was a little lighter on raisins etc but added grated orange zest and used 4 eggs. I think milkwise I used about 600ml, also nutmeg and cinnamon and some mixed spice.

I was a little light on the sugar but its absolutely delicious. Not too sweet but a nice crunchy top with the sugar on top which I'd layed quite thick.

Looking forward to having this over the next few day and hopefully weeks if I don't scoff it all too quickly.

Definitely a great use of unused bread.

For the baguettes I just cut them up and toast them, that is good too.