The Brewing Shed

Brown booze

Home brew

We Thirsty Gardeners are not averse to a bit of nostalgia so that’s why we are giving a good old fashioned beer kit a go. The last time Rich tried this was way back in 1992… the results were interesting, if not entirely drinkable. We’ve gone for a Hambleton Bard Bitter which, after a bit of frantic Googling, seems to be a good reliable kit.

After two weeks, the initial fermentation seems to have stopped. We’ve taken a gravity reading, which is 10.08… a touch higher than the recommended 10.05, but in the interests of experimentation we are going to forge ahead regardless.

The beer is syphoned into our clean(ish) keg, in goes the priming sugar (60g) and on goes the lid. The instructions now tell us to place the keg in a warm place to carbonate, so into the under-stairs cupboard it goes! In four days we will need to place it somewhere cool for a month or so before we can enjoy our delicious brown booze, so check back here for updates.

Kit used: Hambleton Bard Bitter

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