New (again)

[Jimmy]

Yup, you've got it Don. The U-Brew/U-Vints are great for apartment dwellers, elderly (which is how I inherited a lot of my initial equipment, an elderly friend of the family was no longer able to brew due to physical limitations), and encourage people to get into the hobby.
Thankfully, stores like Wine Kitz in Halifax have been doing this for years to serve this population.

I wonder if Noble Grape will make any attempts at U-Brew kits (ie, brew on in-house gear)? People are willing to pay a $50 premium on their boxes of wine to store them there, I imagine something similar could be worked out for beer.

NG is running brew on premise in various locations.

I think he's talking beer, not wine.

[Tony L]

And I do believe Tony is correct - it appears that our esteemed island neighbour in fact, does not allow U Brew/Vints either.It is a shame because it does draw in less intrepid customers and allows people who are ergonomically challenged to participate. It is also a great venue for meeting and discussing techniques, and sharing equipment, recipes, events etc. I greatly enjoy working at home, but really appreciated those facilities when I lived in apartments and condos while working in the GTA area in Ontario. That's where I did my first all grape wines and all grain beers

Right on both accounts, Don. I did mean as far as I know, and as for the u-brew, Brewery Lane applied for one here in Mt Pearl and was turned down
as it was deemed illegal.
I think that a u-brew here would open a lot more eyes to the beauty and flavour of home brewed craft beer and draw more brewers into making it.

[elreplica]

Tony, love the avatar - for some reason mine won't load...I thought I rescaled it to conform to the 100 pix x 100 pix...anyway, I do remember petting a tame moose named Charlie in Terra Nova Park when I was a kid...frigging thing was as friendly and curious as a cow! BTWfolks, the slow carbing method worked extremely well and my brew is pouring at perfect temperature ad carbonation after five days...can't wait to carb up my Oktoberfest and fire another in the bucket!

[elreplica]

Also wondering as a relative - or returning after many years - noob - to the area, physically and gegraphically - where I might find a supplier of liquid yeasts or alternate yeasts without having to mail from Deep River (Beer Grains Supply) back in Ontario. Any help is appreciated and it's probably time I got out of the hand holding forum into a specialized one.

[Graham.C]

Nobel Grape is the only place I know around that stocks liquid yeasts.

[elreplica]

Thanks Graham. Have you any experience with using them? My research tells me they're better but I like hearing from people who have used it...not that the online community is wrong, but you know what I mean...

[Graham.C]

I like liquid because you have a bigger selection of varieties. I tend to reuse my yeast (so its not a huge investment for the extra cost) and when that fails I have a pack of US05 on hand for emergencies. If you just want a basic yeast strain dry is probably as good, unless you really nail down your pitching rates, then maybe liquid has an advantage with more viable cells. I think over/under pitching would cause more of an impact on flavor then dry vs liquid of the same strain. That's just my opinion, never done a test since I can't count yeast cells (yet) for my pitching rate. That being said, a good quality dry is much better then that gold foil crap.

[elreplica]

Thanks Graham, I just picked up some Danstar Nottingham Dry yeast which is supposed to be a much better product than the Coopers Dry yeast I have been using. Anyway, we shall see...

[Barr]

Welcome to the group.

[Graham.C]

Thanks Graham, I just picked up some Danstar Nottingham Dry yeast which is supposed to be a much better product than the Coopers Dry yeast I have been using. Anyway, we shall see...

That is a good start. Next you will want to keep an eye on what temperatures you are fermenting at. I'm not saying you need to control it at this point, but even know what temp it is at will really improve what beers you make (by timing them to the season they ferment best at). Think spicy characters of a Wit (hoegaarden) vs. fruitiness of a British ale (boddingtons) vs. a clean crisp american ale. Although yeast strain does play a big roll, one of the major differences is the phenol's released by various yeast at different temperatures. Hitting the right temperature window with the right yeast can do wonders in your brew. I've never used Nottingham, but if its like US05 (and it sounds like it is) it will produce a very clean taste around 18C and a mild fruity kick around 21C.

I hope that wasn't too much info

[elreplica]

No, I managed to digest it...I have been reading up on these principles for awhile now and just need some different varieties and opportunities to play. And I now have the time Thanks for the tips...