So a few years ago my brother and I chipped in for a homebrewing starter kit. Lots of gusto and confidence in what we could achieve.

Turns out we were rotten at it. We persevered and made a few more five gallon batches and then shifted over to small one gallon batches. Eventually gave it up as a bad job. Don’t get me wrong, there were some nice beers, just not great. The best were the simple one gallon batches with one type of hop and one malt extract.

(Edit - To clarify, when I say nice beers I meant drinkable…)

Cut to the last few weeks and I’ve been thinking about it and determined to try and nail it this time. So this afternoon after work, I got the kit out and started from scratch. Plan was a one gallon batch of IPA style using Cascade hops and golden light dried malt extract.

Recipe sorted and ingredients ready, off we went with the boil. Got the wort boiling up.

Then we set the timer to add the hops at various stages of the boil. Added some at the start to provide the bittering base, another load fifteen minutes from the end to enhance the flavour and add a little more bitterness with the last lot at flameout and with the temperature down to 160F. Theory there being that last load will enhance the flavour with little of the bitterness. So sixty minutes after the first signs of boiling we had added all of the hops in.

This was followed up with chilling the wort as quick as I could using an ice bath in the sink and monitoring the temperature to get to a suitable range to add the yeast. Got it down, poured into the carboy, and then shoogled it around for a few minutes to get it ready for the yeast. Gave it a minute or two to settle, added the yeast and sealed up with the stopper and airlock.

So now we wait and see when the fermentation starts and we should be on the way to beer. Should see some activity within the next 24 hours.

So yeah, I was bored of the routine and monotony this week, decided to change it up. 😁