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LAST WEEK, WE introduced the Smithwick’s Homebrew Challenge.
In case you missed it, here’s the gist: apply on the Smithwick’s Homebrew website to register as an entrant in the competition, they’ll send you some hops, and you can then get brewing a Christmas ale.
Winners will be whittled down and selected by Master Brewers and members of the National Homebrew Club, with two lucky entrants getting to brew in historic St James’s Gate and have their brews tasted and voted on by the public.
So we thought we’d give a leg-up to all the would-be and amateur homebrewers out there reading TheJournal.ie, with some solid tips recommended to us by the folk in the National Homebrew Club.
Take notes…
Resist the urge to dive straight into brewing a high alcohol or highly hopped beer. Brewing a simple pale ale, porter or stout will make it easier for you to find your footing and figure out what went right (and what didn’t) once the beers are finished. There’ll be plenty of time to experiment in the future. Grab your own homebrew kit over at homebrew.ie.
Sanitation is the most important part of making good beer. Bad sanitisation can ruin your whole batch – make sure your equipment is cleaned, then sanitised.
Brewing is an ancient skill and has been around for over 7000 years – it follows that there’s a lot of wisdom out there on the subject. Spend some time online, pick up a home-brewing book, and get in touch with other brewers to exchange knowledge. It can only mean your beer gets better. Check out the National Homebrew Club website for guides on your first brew.
It goes without saying that the right and properly-stored ingredients are key to a successful brew. Fresh is best. Yeast should be kept in the fridge, grains in a cool dry place, and hops in the freezer. Hops, malt extract, yeast and crushed grains should be used quickly, as they have a limited shelf life.
Temperature control is very important. Making beer is art – but it’s also chemistry. Each yeast strain has a narrower optimal temperature range. You can find the recommend fermentation temperature for each strain on the manufacturer website – plus lots of ways to control temperature.
Yeast takes time to work. Once your beer is bottled or kegged, it generally needs at least two weeks to carbonate and condition before it’s ready to consume. A lot of times, your brew will taste better after further cold conditioning in the fridge too.
Join your local homebrew club – there are lots of meetups all over Ireland. They’re a great place to meet other brewers, share beers, get feedback and figure out how to improve your process. Check out the National Homebrew Club forum to find out where you nearest meetup is.
To enter the Smithwick’s Homebrew Challenge, people must be over 18 and they can apply online at www.SmithwicksHomebrewChallenge.ie. Each applicant will be sent 100g of Admiral Hops to get them started, subject to availability. Magnum, Challenger, UK Goldings, Willamette or Saaz Hops can also be used for this competition.
The judging panel will include Smithwick’s Brewers and members of the National Homebrew Club. If you would like further information about homebrewing and to pick up some tips visit www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie.
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For anyone trying to link the killing to SF, Walmer st and the neighbouring Kimberly St have a strong UDA presence centred in the Apprentice Boys drinking club at the top of Walmer. They used to drink in the Kimberly bar but it was demolished after they murdered a few too many of their own there. Having lived there, I can tell you any murders in Walmer St are highly unlikely to be carried out by republicans
The Journal are certainly nailing their colours to their mast on election day. Two stories so far today on Slab Murphy.. Their nearly having a running blog on his trial..
The journal thinks it’s ok to this news in its live election page?? Biased much.. Check out our live election broadcast.. Oh wait man shot dead in Belfast hmm
Did they remove it so, I just see it on the normal news page
No it’s still on there live election broadcast.. It’s annoying I’m in Australia and trying to get election news not biased unwarranted media reports that could be seen by some as a way of tarnishing a party with unwarranted news reports
That’s tough man. You have it hard
Hi Andy,
What do you mean? This story isn’t in our election vertical or politics section.
It’s only in the main news river.
Paul
@Paul Hosford Hugh has shamelessly included it in the live election news feed.
That’s some achievement considering Hugh isn’t in work today.
No it’s on your live election broadcast at 7.42 am.. Why would put this story on election thread??
I apologise 7.39 am
What a stupid thing to lie about. It is clearly visible for anyone that checks on the election reel at 07:39. Well done Paul Hosford
awful stuff….can’t begin to imagine thugs barging into your home and shooting someone R.I.P
Take a day off
Happening way to often on our tiny island
Beano you have demonstrated the reason sinn fein are going to get a huge protest vote – the people are finally awake to the manipulation by the likes of the Indo yesterday putting a story held back for two days about a former SF ira guy in spain for years, that they put on the front page.
Do us all a favour and shut your trap.
Mike, the timing of that story may be dubious, but the content still remains valid.
The fact is, if SF weren’t associated with child rapists, the timing of the story wouldn’t matter. But they are.
Do you think today’s murder was timed to have an electoral impact too Mike??
Beano has the intelligence of a 4 year old donkey, leave him alone.
Don’t insult donkeys like that
Incredibly insulting to 4 year old donkeys…
It’s a pity the journal won’t write about the award winning journalist Gemma o Doherty sacking from the endo for having the cheek to bring up the deaths of Maria Boyle and fr Molly and another murder who name I can’t remember. Also why she was sacked because she wanted to interview the Garda commissioner about points for driving offences been cancelled. It has been worte about as far away as Canada and not a word about it here
@Paul Hugh has shamelessly included it in the live election news feed section.
More anti-SF propaganda. There are no statistics available on the number of people that shoot themselves or blow themselves up in order to blacken the good name of the IRA.
Slab he do it on his back hahahahahahahhahahahahaha 18 months hahahahahhahahahaaaaaa
have your say