Boog's Brews

Here is the Excel spreadsheet of my brews so far, which will include tasting notes on each batch after the first week or two, then at 3, 6 and 9 months. It's very difficult to keep a lot for more than a few weeks. Due to it's size you will need to scroll in all directions to see everything.
Beer Batch Beer Pack Additive Hop and Method Start Date Finish Date Fermentation time (days) Days Since Bottling Starting Gravity Final Gravity Approx Alcohol (%) Approx. yield (L) Approx. amount of bottles Notes Initial Tasting Date to taste (3 months) 3 month Tasting
A GoldRush Pale Ale Brewiser Dextrose N/A 24-Feb-01 01-Mar-01 5 107 1040 1008 4.8 22.0 34 Forgot to add finishing hops (very quick to brew - 32 degrees C most of the time) Good after a week (with airy homebrew head). On the way to being a Coopers Sparkling. 31-May-01 Tasted on 12th June. Very tasty. Tight creamy head, very light in colour with no sediment making it into the glass. I wish I could keep whole batches to this age.
B Coopers Bitter Coopers Brewing Sugar (CSR) 12 g Brewiser (CL80) - standard 04-Mar-01 09-Mar-01 5 99 1052 1010 6.2 22.5 35 Cooler primary fermentation (22-26 degrees) than Batch A. Adding sugar for bottling caused most of the heads to spill out of bottle. Very very bitter and dark but not bad at all (after a week). 08-Jun-01 Tasted on 13th and 14th June. The first bottle on 13th was fairly flat and bitter. The 2nd bottle on 14th was very nice and smooth. Bitter but not too bad.
C Brigalow Ginger Beer Coopers Brewing Sugar (CSR) N/A 10-Mar-01 17-Mar-01 7 91 1022 1003 3.1 23.0 36 Only low starting gravity (didn't use raw sugar as suggested) Same fizzing sugar problem as previous batch. Ok after 5 days. Good flavour and alcohol content but flat as a tack. Could have just been the bottle I picked. Have had about 10 more bottles, all flat. Bad sugar adding for secondary fermentation. 16-Jun-01  
D Morgan's Blue Mountain Lager (same kit as the one I tried in The Country Brewer on tap - very nice) Country Brewer's Ultra Brew (500g Light Malt, 250g Maltodextron, 250g Dextrose) 12 g Brewiser (Pride of Ringwood) - standard 18-Mar-01 22-Mar-01 4 86 1040 1012 4.3 23.0 36 Started at 30 degrees and quickly dropped to 24 by the following morning. Extremely vigorous airlock bubbling from 3am Monday (19/3) morning.  Stayed at 1012 constantly Tues, Wed and Thurs. Bottled Thurs night. Spectacular on Friday night 30th March (only 8 days). Fruity as hell (getting very close to the Cooper's Sparkling Ale apple flavours). Very light and easy drinking. Perhaps fruitiness could be toned down by starting fermentation at 25 degrees or lower. 21-Jun-01  
E Coopers Brewmaster Series - Nut Brown Ale Country Brewer's Ultra Brew (500g Light Malt, 250g Maltodextron, 250g Dextrose) 12 g Brewiser (Super Alpha) - standard 24-Mar-01 29-Mar-01 5 79 1050 1012 5.7 23.0 36 Started it at 26 degrees at 8am Sat 24th. Down to 1012-1014 on Tues 27th morning. Still bubbling Tuesday night sporadically. All bubbling stopped Wed morning and temp had dropped to 18-20 degrees. Weather had turned cold. Bottled Thursday night after adding sugar into bottles first. Tried a few bottles on 15/4/01. Not too bad. A bit watery and too bitter. Should improve with a few more weeks wait. 28-Jun-01  
F ESB - Extra Special Stout (3kg pack - Ale yeast form UK included in kit). N/A Included in kit (don't know what type) 31-Mar-01 05-Apr-01 5 72 1056 1012 6.5 18.0 28 Started at 26 degrees (1 above recommended) at 10am Sat 31st. Did roughly 19 L which was 1 more than recommended. Dropped to 24 degrees and bubbled hard until Monday night. Bubbling dropped to once every few minutes and temp slowly dropped to 22 degrees by Tuesday morning. Dropped to 18 degrees, Tuesday night but still occasionally bubbling through airlock. 1012 steady on Wed and Thursday morning. Bottling Thursday night. Tried one bottle on 15/4/01. It was a half filled bottle from the very last of the wort so it has a few floating hops that didn't quite settle out during primary fermentation. Very smooth after only 10 days and will be excellent with a few weeks aging. 05-Jul-01  
G Black Rock - Mild (from NZ) Country Brewer's Bodybrew (600g Dextrose, 400g Maltodextron) 12 g Brewiser (Super Alpha) - standard 05-Apr-01 12-Apr-01 7 65 1060 1010 7.3 22.5 35 Pitched yeast at 22 degrees (a nice dark red hue) at 9pm on Thurs 5th. Extremely high SG must be due to Bodybrew. Bubbling through airlock commenced by Friday afternoon and has remained constant since. 1018 reading was taken Sunday afternoon. 1016 on Tuesday morning and bubbling has slowed right down (once every 5-10 mins). Don't know if I like the smell of this one. Seems a bit too fruity, but I'll wait until bottling day. 1011-1012 on Wednesday morning. 1011 on Thursday morning. I know what I'll be doing Thursday night. All bottled OK. Tasted a bit, I don't think my 7.3% alcohol is quite there but time and drinking a few bottles will tell. Opened the last bottle that was filled on 22/4/01 (St Brewers Day ;-)). Very fruity mild ale with a deep red hue. A tad too cidery for my liking. Opened another on 16th June after chilling quickly. 12-Jul-01  
H ESB - Australian Draught (3kg pack - Ale yeast form UK included in kit). N/A Included in kit (don't know what type) 13-Apr-01 20-Apr-01 7 57 1048 1010 5.7 23.0 36 Pitched yeast at 23 degrees at 11am on Friday 13th April. Dropped down to a low of 18 degrees on Saturday morning but then rose constantly up to 22 degrees by Sunday night (1018), all the while bubbling away rapidly. Bubbling slowed right down on Monday morning and down to 20 degrees (1014). 22 degrees  and 1010 on Wednesday morning. 1010 Thursday morning. 1010 Friday morning. Bottling Friday night. Tried a bottle after only a week (I know, I know, I should let it age). Very flat (hopefully a one off) and a hint of cider. I'll leave this batch some more weeks. 20-Jul-01  
I Morgan's Golden Saaz Pilsener Country Brewer's Dextrose (1kg) 12 g Brewiser (Saaz) - standard 21-Apr-01 28-Apr-01 7 49 1062 1006 8.1 23.0 36 Pitched yeast at 23 degrees at 9am on Saturday 21st April. The hops bag split when the boiling water hit it, so it's going to be a fairly sludgy brew. 18 degrees and 1006 on Friday, very cloudy but should settle out in the bottles. 19 degrees and still 1006 on Saturday. Bottling time. Tried some after 3 weeks and have been sampling it ever since. Very light and fresh.  28-Jul-01  
J (L) Double batch of - Morgan's Brewer's Bitter (1.7kg) and Beermaker's Premium Australian Lager (1.7kg) 2 x Country Brewer's Bodybrew (600g Dextrose, 400g Maltodextron) = 2kg total 30g Pride of Ringwood pellets - standard method 22-Apr-01 29-Apr-01 7 48 1038 1012 4.0 42.5 66 This is the first batch in my new 60L fermenter so fingers crossed. Pitched yeast at 22 degrees at 4pm Sunday 22nd April. Without modification I couldn’t use the sediment reducer so will let this batch settle right out before bottling. Finally got the lid on with the help of a bit of KY on the thread of the lid (with thanks to the Country Brewer) on Monday afternoon. Tuesday night the gas bubbling through the airlock is very sour and vinegary. Time will tell if the batch is infected. Tasted during a reading on Thursday afternoon, not too bad (1015). 18 degrees and 1012 on Sunday 29th April. Time for bottling. Quite bitter after a couple of weeks but great after a month.  No hint of sourness.  29-Jul-01  
K (S) Black Rock - Bock (NZ) Country Brewer's Stout Mix (650g Dark Malt, 350g Maltodextrin) 15g Cascade pellets - standard method 28-Apr-01 12-May-01 14 35 1054 1016 5.7 21.5 34 Pitched yeast at 22 degrees Celsius at 3.45pm on Saturday 28th April. Down to 1020 on Wednesday night and the bubbling has dropped right off. I think I'll let this one ferment up to a full 2 weeks. 1016 at 14 degrees on Sat 12th May. This is as low as it's going to go. Bottling time.   11-Aug-01  
L (S) Normal (24L) batch using two kits - Morgan's Stockman's Draught (1.7kg) and Beer Maker's Pilsener (1.7kg) Not required 15g Pride of Ringwood pellets - standard method 12-May-01 27-May-01 15 20 1044 1014 4.6 22.7 35 Pitched Morgan's Lager yeast (supplied with Morgan's kit and didn't use yeast from Beermaker's kit) at 18 degrees Celsius at 1pm on Saturday 12th May. 14 degrees and 1018 on Saturday 19th May. Another week will do this one I think. 1016 and 18 degrees (after heating up from 12 degrees) on Tuesday 22nd May. Fined with Wander finings on Wednesday 23rd. I picked one of these bottles when it was only 5 days old because I couldn't tell the difference between this batch (L) and the J batch I was after. It was too green and had to be tipped out. Such a shame. 26-Aug-01  
M (S) Beermakers Wheat Beer (1.7 kg) Country Brewer's Stout Mix (650g Dark Malt, 350g Maltodextrin) 10g Cascade pellets - standard method 27-May-01 10-Jun-01 14 6 1036 1014 3.5 23.3 36 Pitched yeast at 21 degrees at 4pm on Sunday 27th May. 1015 and 22 degrees on Sunday 3th June. 1014 at 17 degrees on Sunday 10th June. I think the SG may have been lower than it should be due to incomplete mixing and dissolving of ingredients when mixed initially. Smells very nice (almost ready to drink at bottling).   09-Sep-01  
N (S) Coopers Old Dark Ale (1.7 kg) 1 kg Brigalow Dextrose 10g Pride of Ringwood pellets - dry method 11-Jun-01 16-Jun-01 5 0 1054 1006 7.0 22.6 35 Pitched yeast at 19 degrees (using heater band straight away also) at 9.30pm on Monday 11th June. Fluctuated form as low as 18 degrees up to 26 depending on the time of day.  1006 on Saturday 16th June. Probably going to bottle on Sunday 17th. Nah, Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm.   15-Sep-01  

Last updated on Saturday 16th June 2001.