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Adeptus, i think thats a really great idea. i know i would hugely benefit from that, as my uncle and i are planning do start brewing soon, he has before but im new to it, so would appreciate any advice

Cool, that's what we aim to do Graeme, spread the love! <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

noby, yes, it should be written up. I'm happy to do it (unless someone else has a burning desire to do it), and I will be bringing a camera. If other people want to bring cameras please do as I'm terrible for bringing cameras and never using them <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

My wheat beer is in pretty good shape. It has outrageous foam retention from the keg and very mild and malty. I used Wyeast Bavarian strain which, allowing for fermentation temp differences, doesn't appear to produce anything like the banana/phenolic flavours of White Labs wheat yeast . This wheat tastes more like Erdinger but with more malt, whereas my two previous were more in the Franciskaner flavour region. It'll be nice for a mild easy sup.

As for the IPA, well, it's not in too good shape and I'd have to bring half as much of each due to weight considerations so I'm going to leave it at home and bring more wheat beer with me.

I never had any problems with carbonation when I used to shovel a teaspoon of sugar into each bottle but since I got sophisticated and started using software to calculate parts CO2 it has gone wrong more than once. Also part of the problem is that I like my ales cask like so I don't tend to carbonate too much anyway. Unfortuanatley when you are carbonating this little it's easy to end up with flat beer.

Another consideration is how much CO2 is in beer from the fermenter. Most books suggest 0.4 parts CO2 from the primary so if you want, say 1.5 parts, you should add enough priming to make up the 1.1 parts needed. The problem is, I don't know if Promash allows for the dissolved CO2 (I'm starting to think it doesn't) so in the past I only added 1.1 parts and got flat beer. I'll not make the mistake again.

Yep, sometimes the software just doesn't cut it, does it?

I looked into using software to calculate volumes of co2 etc. for priming sugar, but decided that if it ain't broke, don't fix it and continued with my “a bit more for wheat beer, a bit less for stout etc.” method of calculating how much sugar to add to a batch.

I stopped using ProMash to calculate my strike temps too, as they were way off and just went back to my guesstimate method, that has served me well for so long.

On another note, I had a few bottles of my wheat beer last night and I have to revise my previous statement about it. It is most definitely a Weissbier and I look forward to comparing it to Hendrixcat's Weiss, as it actually sounds quite similar.

OK, This [i:2nl8pcx0]should [/i:2nl8pcx0]be the final "organisational" posting on this event. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

We start at 7pm sharp(ish)

We'll have four tables joined together at the street end of the Beer Hall (by the window), big enough to seat us all at one table.

When you come in make your way there and say hi (I'm still thinking name badges as I have a terrible memory for names) <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

It's €15 a head. This covers your commercial beers (three Klein glasses of draught and a bottle of Goose Island IPA) and nibbles.

I have printed tasting note sheets (some of you have seen these) for you to use during the night if you wish. You can keep these, or give them to the brewer of the beer so they find out what people think. Or keep them and maybe as a courtesy mail/PM the brewer so we can all learn!

The running order is roughly like this:

We taste the ICB Wheat (Weiss) beers first.
We taste the commercial example (Erdinger)
We taste the ICB Wit beers.
We taste the commercial example (Watou)
We get some food in around the end of that session and take a break to have a chat etc <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
We then move onto the ICB IPAs
We taste the commercial examples (Hooker and Goose and maybe a surprise)
Then it's freestyle drinking <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Of course there'll be lots of chat between all these stages as we discuss the beers and compare them. Not sure how long the tasting will take, but as long as we have fun that's the main thing!

In terms of quantities for tasting, that will vary depending on how much people bring. This looks like it'll range from 2.5 litres ([i:2nl8pcx0]c.[/i:2nl8pcx0] 100ml per person) to 5 litres, I think ([i:2nl8pcx0]c.[/i:2nl8pcx0] 200ml per person). So it's gonna be tough pouring them all out evenly for 26 glasses <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Can I just ask again that brewers please try to bring some printed copies of your recipes to pass around as it's a great way for people to learn a little more about what they are drinking. If you can't, no harm done.

Am I missing anything? Any queries about it just shout. See you tomorrow so! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> (getting excited now <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->)

Looking forward to meting you all tonight.