Anyway, the ginger beer went in the tub on Friday, so it should be bottled this Wednesday or Thrusday (or I might wait till Saturday, seeing as it’s been cool). Then 2-3 weeks in the bottles for carbonation. There was the option to make it alcoholic, or non-alcoholic…actually there wasn’t really any debate over it at all.

Fingers crossed it turns out better than the homemade wort-style one I tried earlier in the year.

The big thing about decking timber is that while one side is flat, the other is grooved (to allow for water drainage). This has made for a visually interesting/appealing toy. Also, because it’s hardwood, it’s surprising heavy, and will sting like a b**ch!

Stained with decking oil (as you do) and finished with beeswax for a smooth, splinter-free finish.

See all at www.alternativeoz.com

OK, so I am enjoying the ales more than the largers at this stage, but I don’t know if that is due to the hops inclusion in the “Crown Larger” batch. There is still a Tooheys batch (Christmas present) to come, then decisions about what to try next.

In the mean time, with the weather cooling down I suspect actual consumption may decrease…bring on the red wine!

Nothing special about any of that, but the difference this time is that I am trying out a fining agent to increase the clarity of the final product (just don’t tell Kath though – apparently fining agents aren’t vegan friendly).

There is one more tin of Tooheys(??) to go, and I don’t know whether to get more bottles, or just wait untill we are settled in a new house before adding more toys. Surely the 60ish bottles of beer we have should last us a little while longer.

The whole recipe has been a bit random, so it will be interesting to see how it comes out…

Stopped bubbling in the fermenter on Thursday/Friday, and finished up with a 1010 SG (this is sposed to be OK for ale beers).

Bottled with ordinary white sugar instead of the carbonation drops. The exact amount of sugar is a bit random – calculators say 5.7 grams (ok, so i’m guessing about the carbonation rate I am looking for) and the instructions that came with the brew kit say 6grams for these bottles – and the scale I have only does full gram amounts, so I can’t do point measurements anyway.

I have done most bottles at 6g, and did 4 bottles at 5g, 4 bottles at 7g just to see what difference it makes. Had to shake up the bottles a little to disolve the sugar (I put it in the empty bottles then added the beer). It will be intersting to see if any blow their lids – have most bottles in a plastic tub just in case.

2 weeks means they’ll be ready about the 28th.

Also last night I started the next brew. This is the “Little Creatures Pale Ale” blend – basically a bottle of beer concentrate and a packet of yeast. Took some time to get the yeast to disolve, and it didn’t start to ferment for a couple of hours (although I didn’t overheat the water on this one) but otherwise it seems fine. First use of the filtered water as well.

Should be ready for bottling on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the SG readings.

So far things look not too bad. The beer in the bottles looks pretty clear, with the sediment settling in the bottom. When they are opened the carbonisation (?) is known to mix the sediment up in the brew, but apparently this can be minimised by getting the beer super-cold and reducing the bubbles. It’s going to be in-glass drinking anyway, so it will just need to be a case of being careful with the pouring to reduce the sediment in the glass.

30 x 750ml bottles (the 2 with the green ‘x’ on the lids are the last 2 that came out of the fermenter – we tipped it a bit to get these last ones, so there might be extra sludge in these ones) at a cost of the brew kit ($90) works out at about $4/litre, or about $1.50 per beer. Once in production the mixes are $30 – $35 a go, so it works out closer to $0.50 – $0.60 per beer!