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Today I put down a “Fruit Salad Ale” derived from a recipie on the Coopers home brew site.

I did things a little differently.

The ingredients were:

• 1x 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale Can
• 1x 1.5kg Morgans Extra Pale Malt Extract Can
• 150gm Simpsons Medium Crystal Malt
• 20gm Amarillo Hops
• 20gm Citra Hops
• 20gm Cascade Hops
• Danstar BRY-97 American West Coast Yeast

I steeped the hops and grain in 2L of hot water for 20 minutes.

Filled the fermenter to 23 L and put in the fermenting fridge set to 20C.

Original Gravity: 1.049

Final Gravity: 1.008

ABV: 5.38%

Two days before bottling I plan to dry hop with 5g Amarillo, 10g Citra and 5g Cascade hops.

Update [22/Oct] – Dry hopped 22/Oct?in the afternoon (bottling 27/Oct in the afternoon) with 6g Amarillo, 12g Citra and 6g Cascade hops.

At the end of this I’m expecting and hoping for a fairly hoppy, very fruity ale to be consumed come December.

This trial stout is to make a rich stout, with less than usual bitterness to see if it suits the wifes palate – still desiring heaps of chocolate/coffee/toffee up front but without the bitter finish (that I love).

Ingredients:
1.7kg tin – Coopers (Thomas Coopers Irish Stout)
1.5kg – Dark Liquid Malt Extract
200gm – Simpsons Chocolate Malt – cold steeped 24H

OG: 1.056

Pitched yeast at 22C on 6 July 2014

Laid this one down on 22/June to keep the laundry company while a heater was used to dry out due to a slow drip from the washing machine.

18.6L of Wort (over shot the filling by 3%) 3KG of ESB “Extra Special Stout” kit + 200gm of simpson chocolate malt (2L water/200g/20min), the starting gravity was 1.055

Not yet in bottle – will see how it goes.

A relatively new winery in the Canberra region. A fantastically presented cellar door. As the new kid on the block these guys have a simply massive range of wines available for testing. They’re massive range must give them scope to play around and determine what works best from a wine making perspective. As a punter they have many of the same varieties that have been grown in different regions, giving an indication what some of the (relatively) local microclimates offer and bring to the table, some of the differences are far from subtle. Their wines are great, so check them out for that, but if nothing else, check them out as a way of seeing the differences in where the vine was grown causes differences in the wine in the bottle.

[ Key ]:
B = Purchased
S = Smelled
T = Tasted
W = Wishlist

Riesling (Canberra) 2013 [S]: Flowery; Scent indicates that the acid in this will be pretty good, chalky lemon notes too.

Riesling (Off Dry – Canberra) 2013 [S]: A wild ferment, More muted nose but similar to the dry, but would expect this to be more food friendly.

Pinot Gris 2013 [S]: Peary nose w/ a slight (clean) musky scent.

Chardonnay “The Long Road ” 2012 [S]: A phenolic nutty nose

Chardonnay (Tumbarumba) 2012 [S]: A more elegant version of the long road. I’d expect this to go for a while, a nutty finish, and hints of green honey dew melon.

Chardonnay “Courabyra” 2012 [S]:?(Slightly cooler?climate to Maragle) – Sharper

Chardonnay “Maragle” 2012 [S]: ?(Slightly warmer climate than Courabyra) – Bigger nose, peary, more interesting at this stage on the nose.

Pinot Noir “The Long Road” 2012 [S]: Different fragrances compared to most PN’s recently smelled. A slightly sweet nose.

Pinot Noir “Tumbarumba” 2011 [S]: Spicy, somewhat more austere than the long road.

Shiraz “The Long Road” 2012 [S]: Cool climate pepper, red fruit – smells juicy.

Shiraz “Hilltops” 2010 [S+B+T+W]: Pepper fading into dark red fruits, good acid.

Shiraz “Gundagai” 2011 [S+T]: Slightly lighter than the Hilltops in palate.

Shiraz “Canberra” 2011 [S+T]: White pepper, softer mouthfeel. Pepper finish.

Cabernet Sauvignon “Gundagai” 2012 [S]: Cooler Cab Sauv, slightly bitter tannins, Good nose with some hints approaching tar but not overt (tar + smoke).

Nebiolo “Gundagi” 2011 [S+T]: Lighter colour, clean finish, almost too clean, ends quickly.

Shiraz “Canberra” 2012 [S+T+W]: Would have been a buy buy buy if it were available for purchase (was not technically available for tasting on this day ;-)). Pepper and fruit come and play together nicely. Pepper finishes the deal, fruit dominates the mid palate. Awesome Wine!! (Available now at time of posting)

Riesling 2009 [S+T+W]: ?Slight kero nose. Fruit is still great, Lemon Pithy finish, nice mid palate. (Available now at time of posting).

Pinot Gris 2014 [S+W]: Tank sample (who’s a lucky taster then). Better than the ’13. More clean fruit which exposes some sweetness.

The Shaw Vineyard Estate cellar door is locate up the back of Murrumbateman near the top of a hill, it’s in a nice location, and the restaurant attached looks appealing. There are a decent range of wines available to taste and buy.

[ Key ]:
B = Purchased
S = Smelled
T = Tasted
W = Wishlist

Riesling 2012 [S]: Pale almost as transparent/tinted as water. A shy nose, chalk stick with a lemon/lime combo.

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2011 [S]: Sauv nose, lots of passionfruit w/ some cut grass.

Shiraz 2012 [SW]: Black pepper, mid to dark fruit, spicy.

Cabernet Shiraz 2009 [SW]: Truffly, wood box, smells awesome.

Cabernet 2009 [S]: Minty start, juicy smells, screams for a steak.

Botrytised Semillion 2008 [S]: Nice nose. Obviously a stickey, hard to pin down the unique scents.

Clonakilla:

The cellar door was manned by the winemaker Tim Kirk on our visit. He’s a man who’s got a good product and he knows it. One of the best things at the cellar door was that all wines available for purchase were available for tasting, including their wonderful Shiraz Viognier. As per the history for any who have read the slowly trickling through notes from this 23/April visit to various Canberra region cellar doors, I took my mum around who was over for a visit, and as driver, did primarily smelling.

[ Key ]:
B = Purchased
S = Smelled
T = Tasted
W = Wishlist for another day (most of the wines are want?s at some point but given limited budgets, the ones I really want to come back and grab a couple of). At this winery – all wines are on my wishlist, including the as yet not released Riesling for ’14.

Viognier 2013 [S]: Apricot in and out nice smells. Mum commented that it had a high acid backbone. I expect this would be very much to my tastes.

Shiraz Hilltops 2012 [S]: Pepper; Hints of almost blueberry. Mum rates as moorish, mild tannins.

Shiraz O’Riada 2012 [S]: Pepper up the wing wang, fruit layered underneath.

Shiraz Viognier 2012 [S]: White pepper; Mild apricot undertones. Told great balance, with a pepper finish.

Shiraz-Cab Franc-Merlot Ballindary 2011 [S]: Floral nose; Tiny bit of what indicates tannins would be present.

Capital Wines:

The cellar door while pretty is quite a dark affair. The food is good and eating out under the marquee is pleasant. Any comments regarding tastes reflect the thoughts of the person I was driving around, if not indicated that I tasted.

[ Key ]:
B = Purchased
S = Smelled
T = Tasted
W = Wishlist for another day (most of the wines are want?s at some point but given limited budgets, the ones I really want to come back and grab a couple of).

?Riesling “The Whip” 2013 [S]: Chalky pithy lemon dominated nose with white flowers. V. Sharp Acid (Sounds appealing if you ask me ;)).

Riesling “Gundaroo” 2013 [S]: Lemon with white flower, less chalk; More delicate and refined. Slightly less acid than “The Whip”

Sauvignon Blanc 2013 [S]: Fruity nose, smells like it would have more acid than NZ Sauv Blanc; Some passionfruit.

Sangiovese 2013 [S]: A more fragrant Sangiovese than most. Does not have the dustiness that some Sangiovese often develops. Florally/Herby notes and even some rose/violet at the end.

Merlot 2012 [S]: Edge of tar, Fruit seems to be hiding. Told that it’s quite tannic in the mouth, which would indicate wanting more time, however it was mentioned that there is a tail end of bitterness going on.

Shiraz 2011 [S]: Starts of pepper (which shows in the taste) then goes herby, then fruit (plums and cherry). Some greenness.

Tempranillo 2013 [S]: Jubey initial, nice raspberry/cherry. Sour finish on palate – nice.

Riesling “Treasury” (Late Picked) 2011 [S]: Nice phenolics, slight hint of petrol.

Affleck Wines Cellar Door

[ Key ]:
B = Purchased
S = Smelled
T = Tasted
W = Wishlist for another day (most of the wines are want?s at some point but given limited budgets, the ones I really want to come back and grab a couple of).

Riesling 2013 [S+W]: ?Chalky shite flowers, Pear Apple combo on the nose.

Semillon 2013 [S]: Fruity almost cider lime twist on the nose.

Rose 2013 [S]: Strawberry nose, delicate.

Pinot Noir 2013 [S+W]: Makes the saliva flow, red fruity nose with slightly smoky background notes.

Shiraz 2010 [S]: White pepper dominates the nose, cherry fruits also.

Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc [S]: A familiar scent that I could not put my finger on, Almost citrus flower, dusty, good nose (dash of Viogier in it).

Sweet White [S]: Christmas cake, rum + molasses on nose. (told it tastes smooth by mum who I was being chauffeur for)

Muscat [S+T]: Nose spirit edge to it; ?spicy, light in ?mouth good length.

Port [S]: Spirit edge here, coffee, toffee and co come through.

Overall the Pinot?and Riesling were the standout here. The fortifieds seemed to be showing signs of their fortification spirits which as off putting. The Shiraz was enjoyable, but not standout and would have no qualms about drinking a bottle.

Mangrove Jacks Dutch Lager kit

CBW Pilsen Light pure malt extract

W34/70 Lager Yeast

SG 1.042

Currently the wort is at 24C, will rehydrate and pitch the yeast tomorrow morning, hopefully it will have cooled to the ~12C range.

This morning I bottled my stout, made from an ESB 3kg “extra special stout” kit and 200gm of chocolate malt grain.

It’s been in the fermenter for 16 days and spent the last 5 days at a specific gravity of 1.018 I am a little concerned by the last as I was expecting ~1.012-1.014 range, so I reduced the amount of sugar at bottling time hoping that all will be well. Tasting the beer that was used to measure the SG, indicated that all was reasonably well with things. There is no initial SG reading as I have previously not bothered with such things, but as I was concerned that the ferment may be on the stuck side, I decided I better start recording these things.

I have included a photo of the stout in a clear bottle (the bulk of it is in green 680mL glass bottles or brown 750mL glass bottles), but I like to have a little to snoop on as things progress. I like the colour and look forward to tasting this in a few weeks. Out of this bottling I ended up with 12x 680mL bottles, 12x 750mL bottles and 1x 330mL bottle.