My goal is to keep it simple and fun.Golden ale

Mashing
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Brewed 10/4/2014. Bottled 11/2/2014.
og 1052-1010 Alcohol By Volume: 5.51%
When I brew outside I use the Edelmetal with the mega pot which has a tap, both great to use.
When I brew inside I still use the megapot but cut down on the volume.
I mash for around 1-1/2 hour and boil for about the same. :cheers: My goal is to keep it simple and fun.
Used plastic food grade 5 gallon bucket for fermentation. The bucket has a tap inserted as I go from the fermentation bucket straight into the bottles, priming directly into the bucket. I have always had success with this. I try to leave the brew in the bucket for about 6 weeks. I buy the least expensive grain ,hops and yeast available at the time which enables me to experiment.
I do not like aggressive hopping and have tried cutting the hops down with good results. The beer has a more malty flavour which I enjoy. One of the best hops for this was the Apollo, it is so powerful at 18% alpha that I could cut right down on the amount and save money per brew. Though I see that it has gone up in price.
I have had great success with Danstar,safale s-33 ale yeast and safbrew t-58 ale yeast.
The base grain being either Rhar 2 row or Briess 2 row.
Grain used. 6 lbs of Briess 2 row
1/2 Briess Vienna .
5 1/2 oz of Tate and Lyle golden syrup in boil.
1/2 oz home grown hops , Hallertau at start
1/2 oz home grown hops , Hallertau at finish.
Nottingham ale yeast.

So here goes with my recent brew. Chucked in the grain at 75c
Started with 5 gallons of water ended up with 4 gallons .
Mashed for two hours as I had to go shopping and just left it, the mash kept it’s temperature in the megapot.
Boiled for 1 hour or so,I must keep better records.
Primed straight into bucket with 2 oz of white sugar (after mixing with boiled water then cooled a bit.) Start of fermentation 10/4/2014- Bottled 11/2/2014. tasted after 4 days ,very nice. Taste note to date 11/15/2014. Golden colour,soft carbonation, A very drinkable beer which I shall brew again. Although there are several home brew stores in the Albany area, the professional service and online purchasing experience of Northern Brewer is far superior.

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[quote=“emil”] My goal is to keep it simple and fun.
I buy the cheapest grain ,hops and yeast available at that time.
I do not like aggressive hopping and have experimented on cutting the hops down with good results. The beer has a more malty flavour which I enjoy. One of the best hops for this was the Apollo, it is so powerful at 18% alpha that I could cut right down on the amount and save money per brew. Though I see that it has gone up in price.
I have had great succsess with Danstar,safale s-33 ale yeast and safbrew t-58 ale yeast.
The base grain being either Rhar 2 row or Briess 2 row.
Grain used. 6 lbs of Briess 2 row
1/2 Briess Vienna .
5 1/2 oz of Tate and Lyle golden syrup in boil.
1/2 oz home grown hops , Hallertau at start
1/2 oz home grown hops , Hallertau at finish.
Nottingham ale yeast.
A very drinkable beer which I shall brew again.[/quote]

Check out the Last Call column about simple recipes winning gold in the Sept issue of BYO. And being fun goes without saying; if it ain’t fun, find a new hobby.
I’ve never used the T-58, but just bottled a pale ale that fermented with S-33 and Munton’s (both were well past best by date). I am very happy with it so far. Nottingham is a good one.
Magnum, Bravo, and Warrior are also good hops you can use if any of them are cheaper. Although some times things are the cheapest because they aren’t the best. Finding a local (or online) home brew shop that you can trust is a really good idea.