IN THEORY; Ill Be Rich In No Time

[Bo Diddley]

, one went to the game dealer

We took one in when we dropped off a truck full of Roe does, got £2.50p for it never again!

 

[John Gryphon]

Buy a circa 1995 blow up Kylie doll ha ha.

 

[sh1kar]

I seem to have reached a point where I should be happy, but am left feeling a little bit empty and deflated.
My gun cupboard is full; to the point where the FEO said, at my last variation, "it's one out, one in from now on".
I use 3 calibres for stalking, .243, 308, and .303. I have brass and hunting bullets aplenty for each one, even at my current rate of outings, I have enough bullets to cover my stalking for several years.
I have enough powder for everything, and accurate loads worked out for each cartridge.
I'm happy with my main pair of binos, and I have a smaller pair to keep in the car.
I've finally arrived at the point where the scopes and mounts I have on each rifle seem well suited, and they do everything I want them to do.
The clothing I have is fit for purpose, and I've tried enough "Gucci" stuff to know not to fall for the advertising.
So. What do I do now? I don't seem to have anything left to spend money on.

Start going to Africa…

 

[JTO]

Buy an area of land with deer/boar on it, then you can't be kicked off when a guide offers more to take out clients desperate to pull a trigger.

 

[TringSaint]

I seem to have reached a point where I should be happy, but am left feeling a little bit empty and deflated.
My gun cupboard is full; to the point where the FEO said, at my last variation, "it's one out, one in from now on".
I use 3 calibres for stalking, .243, 308, and .303. I have brass and hunting bullets aplenty for each one, even at my current rate of outings, I have enough bullets to cover my stalking for several years.
I have enough powder for everything, and accurate loads worked out for each cartridge.
I'm happy with my main pair of binos, and I have a smaller pair to keep in the car.
I've finally arrived at the point where the scopes and mounts I have on each rifle seem well suited, and they do everything I want them to do.
The clothing I have is fit for purpose, and I've tried enough "Gucci" stuff to know not to fall for the advertising.
So. What do I do now? I don't seem to have anything left to spend money on.

A new side hobby?

Brewing??

 

[Essexsussex]

A new side hobby?

Brewing??

Heartily recommended

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

A new side hobby?

Brewing??

I've recently got into this. Brewed two meads so far and a couple of ciders. Very enjoyable getting drunk on your own hootch!

 

[TringSaint]

I've recently got into this. Brewed two meads so far and a couple of ciders. Very enjoyable getting drunk on your own hootch!

Absolutely!!!
We have a small orchard so decided to make our own cider with a mix of Bramley, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Spartan and another apple which tastes like crap but has a lot of tannin in the juice and I made c120 pints of cider with the two main batches being 4.8 and 7.3 abv respectively.

Tastes great and comes entirely from your own garden.
I also do the simple beer kits as I don’t have a grainmaster yet, but still getting great results.
Not had a duff one yet and at c50p / pint, it’s inflation busting too!

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Absolutely!!!
We have a small orchard so decided to make our own cider with a mix of Bramley, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Spartan and another apple which tastes like crap but has a lot of tannin in the juice and I made c120 pints of cider with the two main batches being 4.8 and 7.3 abv respectively.

Tastes great and comes entirely from your own garden.
I also do the simple beer kits as I don’t have a grainmaster yet, but still getting great results.
Not had a duff one yet and at c50p / pint, it’s inflation busting too!

Sounds great!

My meads were an Orange Blossom recipe. I actually never drank mead before so bought a shop one to compare. Did a blind taste test with some family and none could tell the difference. I was very pleased with the result. Only came out at about 10.5ABV so its light enough but flavour and texture was rich and sublime.

I've another Blackberry Mead that's just about finished to bottle. Been going 2 and a half months now and sitting at 13.8ABV. I'll stabilized and back sweetened with some more honey and about 300 grams of blackberries.

Might make an apple cinnamon one for christmas...

Then my ciders were a raspberry apple that came out at 5.7 ABV. I used about 23g priming sugar for bottle carbing (very fizzy on opening). Not very sweet but not completely dry. Quite tarty too, perfect for a summer evening over ice in the garden. Although, I'd probably back sweeten with erythritol if I was to do it again. That was drank pretty quick .

Did a straight apple one too. Same ABV as above but for some reason it didn't back carb as well in the bottle. Back sweetened with erythritol to a taste similar to Orchards Thieves. Still pretty good.


I've now a mixed berry cider that's about a week out from bottling which I'm very excited to try.

 

[bogtrotter]

I seem to have reached a point where I should be happy, but am left feeling a little bit empty and deflated.
My gun cupboard is full; to the point where the FEO said, at my last variation, "it's one out, one in from now on".
I use 3 calibres for stalking, .243, 308, and .303. I have brass and hunting bullets aplenty for each one, even at my current rate of outings, I have enough bullets to cover my stalking for several years.
I have enough powder for everything, and accurate loads worked out for each cartridge.
I'm happy with my main pair of binos, and I have a smaller pair to keep in the car.
I've finally arrived at the point where the scopes and mounts I have on each rifle seem well suited, and they do everything I want them to do.
The clothing I have is fit for purpose, and I've tried enough "Gucci" stuff to know not to fall for the advertising.
So. What do I do now? I don't seem to have anything left to spend money on.

Send me your surplus I'll sort it for.you.

 

[TringSaint]

Sounds great!

My meads were an Orange Blossom recipe. I actually never drank mead before so bought a shop one to compare. Did a blind taste test with some family and none could tell the difference. I was very pleased with the result. Only came out at about 10.5ABV so its light enough but flavour and texture was rich and sublime.

I've another Blackberry Mead that's just about finished to bottle. Been going 2 and a half months now and sitting at 13.8ABV. I'll stabilized and back sweetened with some more honey and about 300 grams of blackberries.

Might make an apple cinnamon one for christmas...

Then my ciders were a raspberry apple that came out at 5.7 ABV. I used about 23g priming sugar for bottle carbing (very fizzy on opening). Not very sweet but not completely dry. Quite tarty too, perfect for a summer evening over ice in the garden. Although, I'd probably back sweeten with erythritol if I was to do it again. That was drank pretty quick .

Did a straight apple one too. Same ABV as above but for some reason it didn't back carb as well in the bottle. Back sweetened with erythritol to a taste similar to Orchards Thieves. Still pretty good.


I've now a mixed berry cider that's about a week out from bottling which I'm very excited to try.

Wow - putting me to shame there.
Not done mead but would like to try. It’s on my long list at the mo!!

I have also noticed the lack of carbonation in the cider compared with the beer. I normally use 1/2 tsp in a 1 pint bottle for the beer and that is spot on, but for the cider it was a very mild fizz so I upped the amount this time. It should be ready to drink about now.

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Wow - putting me to shame there.
Not done mead but would like to try. It’s on my long list at the mo!!

I have also noticed the lack of carbonation in the cider compared with the beer. I normally use 1/2 tsp in a 1 pint bottle for the beer and that is spot on, but for the cider it was a very mild fizz so I upped the amount this time. It should be ready to drink about now.

I only get about 8 to 10 pints out of a batch. Haven't got the room for any large fermenters. I prefer to mix my priming sugar into the batch before bottling. Lets it mix a bit better. Otherwise you could miss calc and have some bottles fizzy and others turn into bombs.

Meads are pretty easy to make. They can smell a bit weird in the 2nd and 3rd week but trust the process. Need you OG reading around 1.100 for a good 13% wine.

 

[Dunwaters]

Get an old Land Rover, it’ll eat up both your time and your money.

 

[Essexsussex]

Absolutely!!!
We have a small orchard so decided to make our own cider with a mix of Bramley, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Spartan and another apple which tastes like crap but has a lot of tannin in the juice and I made c120 pints of cider with the two main batches being 4.8 and 7.3 abv respectively.

Tastes great and comes entirely from your own garden.
I also do the simple beer kits as I don’t have a grainmaster yet, but still getting great results.
Not had a duff one yet and at c50p / pint, it’s inflation busting too!

Please don’t buy a grain master until you have looked into doing it DIY (apologies if you have already!) ! I have made all grain beers for years, mainly using a large burco boiler. I did the three pot method for a while, but honestly brew in a bag is a great system and all you need is a bag, and a boiler to get to the point of fermentation. The results are definitely as good as a full sparring set up but slightly less efficient
You won’t believe the difference in quality from your kits!
Get your water to temp, dump your bag of grain in and wrap an insulating blanket / duvet round it for an hour to mash.
Lift the bag out, boil for an hour or 1 1/2 and add your hop additions as your recipe requires (typically at boil, then ten mins before for a traditional bitter).
Run into your fermenter and crack on.
I haven’t bought beer for years, I have a home made keg and fridge set up now for all the lager / pale ale and cider I make. All much better than cans and bottles and at least equal to the pub.
Glad to hear you are cidering. My orchard has changed hands don’t know if I’ll get my apples this year.

 

[TringSaint]

Please don’t buy a grain master until you have looked into doing it DIY (apologies if you have already!) ! I have made all grain beers for years, mainly using a large burco boiler. I did the three pot method for a while, but honestly brew in a bag is a great system and all you need is a bag, and a boiler to get to the point of fermentation. The results are definitely as good as a full sparring set up but slightly less efficient
You won’t believe the difference in quality from your kits!
Get your water to temp, dump your bag of grain in and wrap an insulating blanket / duvet round it for an hour to mash.
Lift the bag out, boil for an hour or 1 1/2 and add your hop additions as your recipe requires (typically at boil, then ten mins before for a traditional bitter).
Run into your fermenter and crack on.
I haven’t bought beer for years, I have a home made keg and fridge set up now for all the lager / pale ale and cider I make. All much better than cans and bottles and at least equal to the pub.
Glad to hear you are cidering. My orchard has changed hands don’t know if I’ll get my apples this year.

So something like this or even simpler?
Bulldog Master Brewer - All Grain System

What I really want to be able to make is my own equivalents of Leffe Blonde and Old Peculiar - my two fave beers!!

 

[Essexsussex]

So something like this or even simpler?
Bulldog Master Brewer - All Grain System

What I really want to be able to make is my own equivalents of Leffe Blonde and Old Peculiar - my two fave beers!!

Both quite straightforward!

 

[Essexsussex]

So something like this or even simpler?
Bulldog Master Brewer - All Grain System

What I really want to be able to make is my own equivalents of Leffe Blonde and Old Peculiar - my two fave beers!!

Couldn’t find an action shot but it’s just this (can substitute with a more modern thermometer!)
Was trying to work out how many pints that has brewed must be over 5000

 

[TringSaint]

Couldn’t find an action shot but it’s just this (can substitute with a more modern thermometer!)
Was trying to work out how many pints that has brewed must be over 5000
View attachment 311742

Ok, so very basic.
I’m assuming that the Burco has a heating element in it and you just dump all of the grain and then hops into the bag and let it do its thing?
Then once done and cooled it’s then into a fermenter, pitch the yeast and away you go?

I am a brewing novice when it comes to creating wort from scratch!!

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Ok, so very basic.
I’m assuming that the Burco has a heating element in it and you just dump all of the grain and then hops into the bag and let it do its thing?
Then once done and cooled it’s then into a fermenter, pitch the yeast and away you go?

I am a brewing novice when it comes to creating wort from scratch!!

Also curious about this

 

[Essexsussex]

Ok, so very basic.
I’m assuming that the Burco has a heating element in it and you just dump all of the grain and then hops into the bag and let it do its thing?
Then once done and cooled it’s then into a fermenter, pitch the yeast and away you go?

I am a brewing novice when it comes to creating wort from scratch!!

Yup
Some variables depending upon beer style but:
Heat 27l (full boiler) to mash temp (65 or something depending on recipe) dump grain in bag, into boiler (switched off) for a hour, insulating the boiler to keep at temp.

Take bag with grain out, get the wort now in the boiler to a rolling boil. Hops for old peculiar will go in at start of boil (bittering hops) and ten minutes before the end (aroma hops). I add a protofloc tablet then too, helps clarity. The boil will be an hour for most bitter recipes, from start of rolling boil.

Then get liquid somehow strained (I use the bag, emptied out) into a fermenting bucket. Great if you can reduce temp to 20degrees quickly somehow but rarely goes wrong leaving overnight to cool.

Pitch yeast in at 20 degrees (or follow specific instructions).

Barrel ten-14 days later. More time in fermenter particularly when cold will help it clear.

It really isn’t tricky, sterilise everything at every opportunity and make bitter or stout initially which frankly is easier to get right than lager which can have complicated steps between.

Remember those monks did it just fine with a big pan and a fire!