It is a common occurrence in a brew shop to experience the brewer who doesn't recall what ingredients he or she used. Worse still, some ask us what they used. Keeping a shop record of what was purchased isn’t the answer either, as brewers often buy bigger quantities and only use part thereof. At the risk of stating the obvious, keep a good record of your procedure, what you used and how it tasted at different times.
This can be as simple as an exercise book but I prefer a hard cover book. I use two books, one for my basic brews and one for my mashes (all-grain). The mash book is now 5 years old (another reason for hard cover) and is nearly full. Every second page is a recipe with fairly detailed notes on the particular beer. Each recipe represents at least 7 hours work, so you can imagine what value I put on that book. It is a great tool to help make decisions on recipes.
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A name. It always tastes better if the beer has a name.
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The various dates involved. Brew day, bottling day etc.
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Your ingredients.
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Batch size.
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Water treatment.
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Steeping times for grains. Boiling times for hops.
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Yeast used. (amount, type and temperatures)
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Specific gravity readings. (ask us about using a hydrometer correctly)
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Tasting notes including dates.
There will be other items of interest that you will end up including. The main thing is to have fun with your brewing and if you end up with a great beer at least you will have the detail to enable you to reproduce it.
Recently, Coopers have released their wine kits. There is a chardonnay and a shiraz. These kits make up 23 litres.
Some of you internet jocks out there may be interested in the Little Creatures website it is www.littlecreatures.com.au
Hope your brews are going well, keep it cool.
www.homebrewerswarehouse.com.au
Cheers… Younga!