I recently inherited this little trinket…
Its designed to heat inside the fermenter, and can clearly be used to keep a brew between 15-35°C. Obviously for brewing ales in winter.
Don’t know if I’ll ever use it, as I prefer to brew according to the seasons – but there is a chance I may be able to incorporate this into the 50Lt boiler (see this post).
I have also bought some muslin to make a grain bag/liner for the boiler, and trying to work out how to sew it all together….
The freakishly, stupid hot weather is definitely gone now!
Not that we could say Summer here was hot – for the most part it was cool, but then we had those crazy 40°+ days which scorched the vegies and almost wiped out the Cascade Hops bine growing up the north side of the house.
But now is the ideal time for starting up those ales again. And seeing that apples and pear (and other fruits) are also now in season, ciders, perrys, and other drinks can also be started.
I have recently acquired this little beauty:
This is an electric urn which holds about 50Lt. The elements are hidden underneath a copper plate, and I believe this could be utilised for mashing large amounts grain. Admittedly, I think the grains would need to remain in some kind of bag or liner, but one that has the dimensions of the urn.
I actually played around with heating water, and once it brings water up to the desired temperature (63-65° for dryness, 65-67° for sweetness), turning it down successfully holds the water at temperature. I’m not the biggest fan of electric heating elements, but in this instance the on-again/off-again nature of electric heating elements works a lot easier for such things. Trying to keep a constant temperature on the gas stove in the past has been somewhat of a nightmare, and in a previous brew I used an esky for the grains.
This urn however, will start to allow me to play around with much greater volumes of water and grain. However, if that is the case then I need a bigger pot to boil up in.
And so, it looks like this is the first step into the world of all-grain brewing. The amounts of grain I can play with now eliminate the need for malt extract.
So now I am getting together all the bits and pieces for the next brew, and that looks like a re-hash of the Witches Promise ale. Having reformatted my hard-drive a few weeks, I just need to reload my copy of Promash and find the recipe details. I had purchased all my ingredients late last year, so they are sitting there and waiting for me to use.
The other exciting thing I will be doing is bottling in champagne bottles, thanks to Mrs Ravenwolfe buying me that Bench Capper for Christmas with the larger size bell for capping the larger sized bottles. I have enough of those size bottles for two batches. I think beer in these bottles is classy – hence my penchant for Beechworth Brewery’s Chevalier series and the farmhouse ales from Prickly Moses.
Here’s to another productive brewing season!
Well……
Mixed results with this lot. Firstly, the Gluten-Free batch has turned out wonderful and crisp. It is certainly sweet, but not overly so like a standard Mead would be. The hops qualities are subtle, and I think counter-act the sweetness of the honey. This is wonderful when it is super cold.
Not my particular cup of tea, but I don’t mind drinking it. Those who don’t like beer and most females love it! To me, its more like a glass of bubbly than an ale – remembering of course that there is no malt in this whatsoever.
The malted version on the other hand turned out terribly!! I believe that I have here my first infection. In the dim dark days of being a beginner-brewer, I was always warned about infections and the need for good sanitation practices. The crusty old experts would always say, “you’ll know when you have an infection”.
And yes, for all you who ask how you know when you have an infected batch… you’ll know it! Like I do with this batch. So 10 Lt of Snail-Ale now awaits the slugs and snails that have shown up with the rain….
I can also add here that Cascade hops IMHO are definitely not the hops of choice for a mead/braggot! The original recipe had hops with gentler, subtler flavours and bitterness – Cascade, whilst wonderful in an American-style Amber (such as Mountain Goat’s Hightail Ale), is certainly not suited to this kind of taste.
Remembering that a Braggot is essentially a mead made with malt! It lies somewhere between a beer with honey and honey with beer…
Ultimately, I have been disappointed with these brews. The original Midsummer Night’s Mead was a gem. Perhaps in making a larger batch, we don’t just multiply the numbers by a particular factor. Perhaps also this is to do with the quality and type of honmey used. I had no control over the honey this time around, and I don’t know what type it was, as a friend bought it for us. The original used ‘Brewer’s Honey’ which is available from my local HBS – perhaps this stuff isn’t as strong in flavour. Clover honey is what is usually used in traditional mead recipes, as it is sweet and not too overpowering. Whilst I don’t mind the strong Eucalypt honeys that we can get here in Australia on toast, that strong aroma could interfere with the complex flavours we play around with in beers and braggots.
After a cool summer, sporadically broken by stints of >40°C, we have hit a period of coolness and…. yes, believe it or not… rain!
Just as all our reservoirs of water were reaching the bottom, we have had some nice amounts of precipitation that have almost filled the 4000Lt tank and all our 190Lt olive barrels.
The pumpkins are only now starting to really produce fruit, as are the eggplants.
Lebanese Eggplants
The various pepper/chilli bushes are also fruiting, whilst the only tomatoes that are still producing are the Yellow Fig Dwarfs, and the self-seeded Cherry.
Various varieties of Peppers, including Jalapeno & Cayenne, an eggplant bush and the Watermelon vine
Now that the tomatoes on the north side of the chook pen have gone, the chilli bushes and the Boysenberry vines are really coming into their own.
Boysenberry and chillies next to the chook pen
With all the rain, we have also noticed some other self-seeded stuff:
Parsley that has self seeded
Self-seeded Borage
Golden Cluster hops hanging from the front porch
The Hops are coming along nicely, and should be ready to harvest in a month or so.This lot are growing on a trellis on the front porch and is basically in almost full shade. This bine definitely faired better over the summer, and certainly has produced more flowers.
Cascade hops growing up a trellis on the northern side of house
The cascade variety didn’t do very well, but then this poor plant got moved twice before the bines really had the chance to get nicely established. Just as it was getting used to growing up the trellis, along came the scorching summer sun, which really took out a lot of foliage and early flowers. But it has bounced back, albeit rather bare.
The lebanese zucchini are now providing us with plenty of fruit. Once these have done their thing, we figure we might start to plant herbs along here, so that their root systems don’t interfere with the roots of the citrus trees.
The Lebanese Zucchini amongst the citrus trees
Vlitta: Leafy Amaranth growing amongst the Pumpkins
The Leafy Amaranth (Vlitta) is really happy, as are the Bush Beans. We have been happily picking and eating this wonderful substitute for spinach. Seed heads have started to appear, which means its time is running out. This plant definitely prefers warmer temperatures.
Our first crop of corn has not been so successful. Some of the cobs lacked kernels (shows poor pollenation), whilst others were either dry or tough and starchy. We haven’t had any luck with the beans we grew with the corns, but the Jap Pumpkin is now starting to do its thing. You can also see the Haas Avacado in the foreground, as well as a smattering of eggplants, beans, tomatoes, and peppers
Seedlings: Genovese Zucchini, Beetroot, Parsely, Dill, Broccoli, Feverfew, and Qing Ma (TCM herb)
There are also the first batch of seeds that have been sowed, getting ready to transfer these seedlings into the beds that are being prepared now for the next couple of seasons: beetroot, carrot, broccoli, the last batch of zucchini (Genovese), and leeks; as well as some herbs such as Dill, Feverfew, and a Chinese Medicine herb known as Qing Ma.
The Fruiting Goji Berries
The Goji berries are really starting to come along. I’m not sure how big these are meant to get, but I am hoping they get bigger, and I can’t wait to try them. Apparently, when they lose their leaves, this is the best time to prune them back, and this is the way to develop these plants into a hedge.
Marble & Bubbles alongside the Bush Beans and Pumpkins
The ducks have grown considerably, and now that they have a lockable house for night-time, they are left to wander the garden freely to purge the place of the dreaded snail and slug population.
Eggplants, Rosemary, and Perennial Rocket, just in front of the Apricot tree
The lovely variety of Rocket that we stumbled along continues to grow, and we have collected plenty of seed from it. These eggplants tucked in amongst them and the Rosemary are only now starting to take off and fruit. The Avacado tree in the pot is of the Bacon variety, and is waiting to be planted into the ground near its Haas cousin. Its necessary to have two trees of different types (A and B groups) to encourage cross-pollenation, and double the yield of fruit.
With the cooler weather definitely coming on, we are getting ready to do some tree transplanting. Once the trees have lost their leaves, they will be pruned back to encourage good growth come spring.
Now is also the time for plants that prefer the cooler temps: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onion, leek, garlic, carrots, brussel sprouts, snow peas, broad beans, chard, kale, etc.
When I go back through old photos of our place I am always amazed at what we have achieved in such a short time.
I also feel reassured that we could reproduce a functional garden anywhere and in a much shorter time frame.
Just remind us (and you) of where we started.
March 2007
March 2009
hidden behind the fence
The Good Bug Garden 2009
March 2007 there was no food, herbs in our front garden, in fact there was no life, even the ants had vacated.
What can you find in our garden now?
This isn’t a complete list but it is the best I can do on a Monday afternoon when I should be studying 
As of March 2009 we have;
Fruit Trees/Vines 26
A Tangelo Tree
A Drawf Peach
A Tahitian Lime
An Australian Lemon
Eureka Lemon
Kaffi Lime
2 Mandarin trees
A lemonade tree
2 standard Peach Trees
A Nectarine Tree
An Apricot Tree
A plum tree
A Tree Tomoto
A White Sapote
A Pineapple Guava
A Avacado – Hass
A Avocado – Bacon
A Navel orange
A Blood Orange
A Valentino orange
A red Passionfruit
A Banana Passionfriut
Goji Berries
Boysonberries
Grape
Pomegranate
Veggies/Annuals 23 this season
Zuccini, a number of varities
Okra
Pumpkin, a number of varities
Vlita (Leafy Amaranth )
Silverbeat
Beetroot
Carrots
Corn
Sunflowers
Onions
Garlic
Lettuce
Rocket
Eggplant
Rainbow Chard
Warrigal Greens (Native Spinach)
Taro
Rhubarb
Beans – too many types to mention.
Chickpeas
Potatoes
Hops – two types
Tomatoes
Herbs and others 20+
Chives – Onion and Garlic
Oregano
Sage
Basil
Thyme
Parsley – Italian and triple
Celeric
Mint – many different types
Chamomile
Rosemary
Feverfew
Scented germanium
Corn Flower
Comfrey
Brahmi
Dill
Fennel
Self Heal
Tansey
Lucerne
Livestock
4 High Line Brown Hens
2 Indian Runner Ducks
millions of composting worms
It has been a very busy year and I haven’t the time to do a word blog but we would love to share some photos our newest arrivals to our urban farms.
Our newest arrivals
Day old babies
Saving Water
Nona's bath
Two month old indian runner ducks
