Stonehelm is our nearest homebrew supplier (apart from a couple of hardware stores that stock a few things). Although you can get things cheaper elsewhere on the internet, I thought I would support them by making an order. Plus, since they are just five minutes down the road from my house, I can go an collect it myself and save on delivery costs. Bonus.

They just operate out of a house in Toot Baldon. The downstairs of the house is pretty much like mine would be if it wasn’t for the Queen– boxes of homebrew supplies piled up everywhere, 5 gallon carboys bubbling away everywhere, and the dubious smell of fermenting beer filling the entire building.

Anyway, keen to take the next step in beer brewing, I ordered my first packs of speciality grain. So far we have just used malt and hop extracts but far superior results can be achieved by using a quantity of grain. This requires a more complex methof including boiling the wort, but its about time we took the step up. So I ordered some flaked barley, roasted barley, and crystal malt as well as four different varieties of hops – East Kent Goldings, Target, Willamette and Amarillo. The intention is to make an IPA and a stout. I can’t wait to get started.

I know it sounds minging, and it probably is. But I thought I would give it a go. This recipe is adapted from one found on Jack Keller’s website. Jack is an elder statesman of winemaking and although his site is in desperate need of a makeover, it is an absolute treasure trove of valuable information and recipes (if you can find what you want).

Ingredients:

• 225g ground coffee
• 1.1kg soft dark brown sugar
• 4.5l water
• 1.5tsp citric acid
• 0.5tsp wine tannin
• 1tsp yeast nutrient
• 1tsp wine yeast

Method

• Bring water to the boil and dissolve in sugar
• Add coffee, bring to the boil again. Then remove from heat and leave to cool
• Strain in to a sterilised demijohn and add other ingredients
• Fit airlock and leave to ferment

Not sure what I will do in terms of racking, etc. Jack suggests racking 3 times, 60 days apart. I think I will see how it goes.

Following the dismal failure that was brew2, Trenchfoot’s and my confidence in brewing has been knocked for six.  We’ve tended to stick to our big guns, i.e. various country wines.  In fact, my experience with brew3 at the stag do a few weeks ago did nothing to lift my spirits, as you’ll see below – it tasted weak and floral – not cool.  I was therefore more than apprehensive about introducing brew4 to the gentlemen of Magdalen Road Church, particularly after Trenchfoot and I had done a safety test on the brew, which I was unable to finish due to the memories it triggered of the vileness that was brew2.

However, it went down a treat with the gents, and they were pleased to be able to leave with their eyesight still in tact.  Then tonight, confidence restored, I tried to give brew3 a second shot with the bell.  Good but flatter than a witch’s tit.

A good brew day today! We decided to go back to what we know and set up batch of Olde Badger’s Crack. It knocks the socks off any of the other brews we’ve attempted so far (which is not saying much). However, after the dissapointemt of Brew2 we were careful to follow the Mentor’s instructions to the letter.

We also cleaned out Fendog’s 5 gallon wine fermentor and used it to set up a batch of Hambleton Bard lager. However, I will make sure that Fendog doesn’t cock up the priming this time so we get a decent carbonation to it! My only worry is that we have expressly gone against the Mentor’s advice: “the hop and the vine should never mix”. The Mentor is adamant that a vessel which has been used for winemaking should never be used to make beer in. I can’t see the problem if we’ve sterilised it properly. But we could regret this. Big time.

That pretty much cleaned out our beer-making supplies so I am keen to replenish our stocks. Its a good opportunity to take the step into partial grain brewing….. watch this space!

I am pleased to announce that the What Would Jesus Brew? shop is now open for business selling a range of cool products for our fans (both of them). Just click on the “Shop” tab to check them out.

We’ll be adding new products regularly so keep coming back to see the lastest additions to the range!

Two summers ago, I happened to discover a couple of plum trees in the wild, not far from the lane by a village just south of Oxford. They were absolutely laden with fruit and the ground around them was ankle deep in plums. In half an hour I collected several carrier bags full which was ample supply for a spot of wine making, jam making, and a batch of plum brandy.

I went back to them yesterday and found them completely fruitless. They seemed to have some sort of problem as all the shoots were withered and there was no sign that any of the fruit had set. Maybe they hadn’t even flowered.

Anyway, I need to find an alternative plum supply. If you know of any other trees in the area, let me know.

Right… needed to clear out the fridge today – otherwise, some of the stuff in there was going to be able walk out on its own soon. Amongst the stuff that had to go was a bowl of strawberries and a bowl of raspberries (both homegrown, and both beginning to go off), half a jar of marmalade, a nearly full jar of cranberry sauce (left over from last Christmas – or was it the the one before?), and a partial jar of apple and blackcurrent jam that I made in 2005. We also had loads of bags of different sugars that had been open for years (demerara, muscavado, dark brown, icing…)

Not being being one to waste food, I wanged it all in a bucket and got it fermenting. This one could go either way…

We have a problem. My house still stinks of cheese and the Boss is due back today.
I am beginning to suspect that Fendog has hidden a piece of that french stuff somewhere. Why I oughta…

The Queen is out of town for a few days, so I took the opportunity to host a cheese and wine evening in honour of Fendog’s birthday. Despite the particularly unhelpful staff, he and Gogs managed to get an amazing range of fromage from the Oxford Cheese Company. Then we picked up a selection of wine from Majestic. Didn’t realise they had a tasting counter! Nice. I suspect there may be a few lunch time visits in the future…

Anyway, I leave it to the Fendog to fill you in on the details of the party. Suffice to say, it was truly cheesemungous.

We also polished off the final bottle of my sparkling Parsnip Wine which went down well. Shame its all gone now – since it was the result of a malolactic fermentation, it’s completely un-reproducible. But it has inspired me to make some proper sparkling wines in the future.