New Brew
I’ve finally collected enough empty bottles to let me do a batch of homebrew. So last weekend I put one on – my first since I moved to Sydney. It’s a Cascade Lager kit, with a Coopers Brew Enhancer Type 2 instead of my usual cane sugar.
I’m aiming to repeat an earlier successful brew (Chilli Draft – ho ho), except that instead of just adding chillis, I’m also adding some Kaffir lime leaves. So with any luck I’ll end up with a drinkable chilli and lime lager. My earlier chilli beer had a vaguely Mexican inspiration, but that’s now been twised by a strange mix of two other ideas: classic Thai tastes and classic English Lager and Lime.
[...] Yesterday I bottled my Chilli and Lime Lager. Bottling is always a laborious and lengthy process of washing, sterilizing, filling, capping, and then cleaning up. But there’s a feeling of satisfaction when it’s over and you’ve created a few cases of beer. In a few months they might be drinkable. [...]
I am thinking of doing a chilli style brew but have not come across alot of info on this,If you have or know where I can get some of these it would be great,newk
I’ve seen a couple of references around the web. A previous comment on this blog said one chilli per bottle was too much, but on another blog they said one per bottle worked great. Chilli varies so much in how hot they are, and people like different levels of heat. For me, next I reckon I’ll chuck one hot chilli in the fermenter, leave it there for a couple of weeks, take it out, and bottle it normally. Beaudy Newk
[...] My supplies of the chilli-and-lime lager are getting lower now, and it’s also about time to lay something down for Spring. I was hoping to do an wheat beer, but my local supermarkets weren’t stocking those. Instead I’ve just put on a “wheat inspired” draught beer – Cascade’s Spicy Ghost. I added Coopers Brew Enhancer Type 2 again – I’m not sure if it really makes things better, but it certainly doesn’t make it worse! There’s no sense messing with something that’s not broken. [...]