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2nd March 20212nd March 2021

Collaboration Brew with Modest Beer

We have some very talented brewers in Ireland and we want to help give our valued brewery customers some marketing support so we have started to do a collaboration brew series to showcase the brewers and some unique and innovative ingredients.

The first brewery we have worked with on this new series is Modest Beer in Hollywood, County Down. Chris worked with us from the start of his brewing journey progressing from home brewer to commercial brewer and we helped him build his brewery with a Brewiks Microbrewery setup.

We’ve been proud of what Chris has achieved in a short period of time and are very grateful he put his trust in us to supply him with his brewery equipment and that he continues to see value in our relationship with ongoing ingredient supply. This brewery has an exciting potential and we look forward to licensing law changes in Northern Ireland as we can see the full potential exposed.

So what was the focus of this collaboration?

Chris would be a hop forward brewery brewing tasty pale ales with an emphasise on the hops, so we have chosen to showcase a relatively new advanced hop product called Incognito and a brand new Australian hop called Eclipse, not forgetting our first commercial trial of the enzyme Aromazyme from Lallemand which has been used to enhance the hops. We have also used the finest malt from Crisp Maltings in this brew trying out heritage malt Plumage Archer and naked malted oats which has allowed the hops to shine through with a sweet and smooth malt finish

Chris is living very much up to the name of the brewery… Modest and Humble about his ability and what he has achieved. The brewery is producing Modest volumes in terms of output but the work ethic is dedicated and focused, you can see he has a passion for creating the best beer he can.

The Ingredients used in the Collaboration brew

What is Incognito?

Incognito is an advanced hop product used purely in the whirlpool , we used Citra Incognito and the flowable hop oils have certainly produced some extra packaged volumes mitigating losses in the whirlpool usually found with pellets

Tell us about Eclipse Hops?

We had the trip of a lifetime to Australia in March 2019 thanks to our distribution partners Simply Hops & the Barth Haas Group when we visited the Hop Products Australia farms in Victoria and Hobart, this hop was known as HPA-016 then and it got us really excited and it stood out as a future rockstar of the hop world. It is packed full of juicy sweet mandarin flavours with citrus peel and some pine. The hop has a sweet and delicate hop flavour that is genuinely unique in the modern offering of hop supplies. We feel this is an up and coming star in the hop world.

Geterbrewed where lucky to be able to be one of the first to launch this hop and have noticed the very limited supply we received is almost sold out already which again in an indication of just how well its being received by brewers trying it.

Tell us about Plumage Archer?

A heritage malt brought back to commercial release by Crisp Maltings , a malt developed by Dr ES Beaven its the first ever cross breed malt and comes from great stock as its one of the Grandparents to the heirloom variety that is Maris Otter, you will experience sweet malty bready smooth flavours.

Tell us about Aromazyme?

A simple addition of this enzyme in the fermenter will hydrolyse glycosidic bonds present in the hops, this process will in turn increase the complexity of the hop aroma and flavour in beer.

We highly recommend you try this beer, its available via Modest Beers Distributor Nelson Sauvin

Checkout the Youtube Teaser Video of the brew

If your a local Irish Brewery interested in doing a collaboration brew with Geterbrewed we would love you to get in touch

13th February 202113th February 2021

Lupomax Enriched Lupulin Pellets

As we see the demand for hop forward beers continuing to grow we are pleased to present a Lupulin enriched hop pellet called Lupomax. Geterbrewed are proud to be launching the first two varieties available being the highly sought after Mosaic & Citra.

So what is Lupomax?

It is a concentrated lupulin pellet

There is no mistaking Lupomax when you open the hop pack you immediately get hit with an intensely pleasing aroma.

As Geterbrewed have just landed the first shipment into our coldstore and have decided to go live and allow our brewing customers to be the first to trial this innovative new advanced hop pellet, we are excited to hear your feedback. We will be brewing with Lupomax ourselves and will share our experiences.

Initial trials have found Lupomax to be bigger, brighter & bolder. Consistency is a unique selling point as the varieties are true to style and standardised so no need to adjust your recipes from one batch of hops to another.

When you concentrate down a product you can expect to have some harshness but not with Lupomax, the expertise has allowed it to be created by reducing the vegetative matter to produce a cleaner more intense hop flavour without any astringent flavours.

There are many benefits to the brewer:

Less solids means less waste in the hopping process which means more packaged liquid

Shipping & Storage Cost Reduced

Reliable Brewing performance everytime you brew

True to type hop flavours

How to use Lupomax?

To ensure optimal flavour and aroma utilization , the pellets are designed to be added during dry hopping on the cold side or to the brewhouse whirlpool. Timing of addition can influence the final beer flavour and aroma. The brewer’s discretion will dictate dosage timing and addition rate

As a guide, Lupomax pellets are designed to be used at a replacement rate of 70% relative to standard t90 hop pellets

Purchase from Geterbrewed Now:

https://www.geterbrewed.com/hop-pellets/

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/hop-pellets-en-2/

10th January 202110th January 2021

Geterbrewed manage Brexit for brewers ingredient supply

We have made significant investment in preparing for Brexit, the aim was to put the business in a place that would allow it to continue to supply brewing ingredients and equipment as we did before.

The EU & UK governments leaving the negotiation of the deal to the last minute meant that we had to plan for a dooms day scenario which required huge investment to hold brewing ingredients stock in a UK & a European warehouse ensuring that we had enough stock to last a few months while we worked out what way the new laws and rules would work.

We took the step of setting up an EU registered company and took on a new warehouse space in Dundalk. The finer points of the deal still haven’t fully been worked through but we have both locations operational and we are selling brewing ingredients across the EU.

Geterbrewed being based in Northern Ireland and part of the United Kingdom now in fact puts us in a very unique position because of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Effectively it seems we may have the best of both worlds but the level of bureaucracy and red tape paperwork has placed an addition workload on us. So we have had to recruit more staff and re-divert staff from other roles to ensure we have the correct resources to manage this new way of working. The government did set up a goods movement scheme for Northern Ireland called the Traders Support Service to help businesses but we went a step further and recruited a full time customs officer to ensure we are fulfilling our legal obligations and ensuring most importantly we show our customers we value them and want to keep their business.

There is no changes in how we move goods from NI to GB although when we bring goods from GB into NI they are split into two categories “at risk” and “not at risk”, so if the brewing ingredients are to remain within the UK then no tariffs are paid but if we intend to sell them into the EU then we will have to pay EU tariffs. The key point to note here is we can still trade, yes our company will have to make declarations and pay some tariffs but we can trade as we did prior to Brexit.

We have built a new purpose made goods in area/office facility and every delivery we receive is booked in with full traceability, at this stage all goods are labelled as GB or EU goods to allow us to identify when goods need cleared. We have upgraded all of our computer systems and installed new servers both physical and cloud based to deal with all the extra paperwork, when all details are available we will seek to automate a lot of this with computer programs.

Our key distribution partners are global companies with facilities in multiple countries so we can choose when ordering if its best to bring goods in from UK , EU , Rest of world, this means if we manage the flow of ordering correctly for each region we can minimise the impact of tariffs

Delivery companies have had some difficulties, our small parcel haulier DPD announced they wouldn’t be shipping into Europe but we had been working on a new premium shipping option with DHL so we launched it to allow us to service our European customers, we have set the DHL shipping solution up to be able to do full digital customs clearance. We recently recruited a full time php coder to write code to improve the user experience on our website, he has been able to integrate a new World Wide Shipping solution for Geterbrewed. We can now offer express shipping solutions serving over 220 countries.

Our new DHL delivery service cost is volumetric based on weight and size , they have multiple different service levels but we want to highlight their premium shipping options, if you need a parcel next day we now have World-wide options for that service.

When loading the Dundalk warehouse we noticed it difficult to get full load transport and also have noticed that the pallet network has slowed down, we are able to ship full loads and pallets via our courier but the requirement for all the extra paperwork has slowed that process a little. Currently trade within Ireland hasn’t been affected but going to UK the pallet delivery times is a little slower and pallets moving within the EU being hit with a few days delays.

We have experienced some companies refusing to ship personal items we have bought online and found that frustrating so we wanted to provide a service to our customers that would see things managed in these times with the aim of actually improving speed and service level. Never before have we registered with so many government bodies nor have we attended so many zoom meetings, presentations , not to mention the reading of books on Ecoterms, rules of origin & how to classify goods via commodity codes.

It’s been a really challenging time but we want to reiterate we are prepared and we can supply you. We value our customers and love what we do so we will navigate through this. If you need any assistance or further explaination on how we are set up for Brexit don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Geterbrewed see this an opportunity for growth and we look forward to welcoming all our new customers and not letting this affect how we deal with our valued existing customers no matter where you live or indeed if you supported Brexit or not.

We’re just happy to have managed to keep trading thought it all and look forward to the opportunities this brings us.

Homebrewers

https://www.geterbrewed.com/

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/

Commercial Breweries

https://www.geterbrewed.com/micro-brewery/

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/micro-breweries/

11th October 202011th October 2020

Belfast Brewpub

Belfast Brewpub – The Deer’s Head

The first Brewpub in Belfast is the Deer’s Head conveniently located 1-3 Garfield Street, Belfast, this area is steeped in brewing history and it has got the potential to make more history. We are excited to see this project evolve and we’re very grateful to the Owner for allowing us to help with this project and install the beautiful Brewiks brewing equipment.

What is a Brewpub?

Simply put it’s an establishment that sells beer that’s been brewed on the premises

What about the brewing History in this area?

There where 12 pubs and 4 spirit dealers on North Street in 1819, now only one pub remains, the Deer’s Head, established in 1885 as a traditional Saloon bar and brewery its being reinvigorated and going back to its roots of brewing beer on site and becomes the first modern brewpub in Belfast.

Bells Brewery is the name of the Brewery within the premises at the Deers Head. In 1819 Lower Garfield Street was formally known as Bell’s Lane which we like to think is in honour of the founder and brewer John Bell . Formerly a wine and spirit merchant, John Bell lived worked and brewed here since 1778, directly adjacent to the Deer’s Head.

During the 18^th century, the Irish government encouraged brewing at the expense of distilling, reasoning that beer was less harmful than whiskey and from 1790, it is argued that the decline of manufacturing industries was due to the expansion of other industries including milling, brewing and distilling.

At the time when John Bell was in operation there was several breweries on neighbouring streets including North Street, Royal Avenue and Smithfield. Today the Deer’s Head are passionate about reviving what was once considered the brewery quarter of Belfast.

Why is it important to have a Brewpub in Belfast?

To many they won’t initially see the potential impact of this project. At Geterbrewed we see this as being a huge step forward as this will change the landscape in the local brewing scene. Craft beer is still a very juvenile market in Northern Ireland and the launch of the first Brewpub in Belfast will help escalate the growth.

The experience of enjoying a quality beer packed with flavour onsite whilst overlooking the brewery equipment isn’t just authentic, it’s putting the consumer back in touch with the brewer. An intimacy with the process of making beer. We want consumers to regain the connection and support their local brewers. We want you to support the Deers Head!

The Brewpub experience is about using your senses, you should be seeing, smelling and tasting. At the Deer’s Head your senses are in for a treat . You will see the visually striking Copper Brewiks Microbrewery behind glass allowing you to observe the full brewing process. Thoughtful design by Oscar and Oscar allows your senses to be stimulated and the owners have been researching, experimenting and designing beer recipes to excite your palate.

If your in the brewpub during a brewday you will get to smell the malt being mashed and the hops being added to the boil. Often the unsung hero of taste is that of aroma, so try this new experience and immerse yourself in a sensory experience at The Deers Head. A good brewer will layer aromas and flavours and from what we have tasted so far you are sure to impressed with the flavours and aromas in the Bells Brewery Beers.

This is pioneering by the owner of the Deer’s Head, its going to be a great tourist attraction for Belfast City Centre and its going to help develop the local craft beer scene.

When is the Brewpub Opening?

With all that is going on at the minute with government restrictions its going to be a short wait until the time is right and safe, but soon, real soon….

We look forward to joining our customers there for a beer and urge you to follow them on their journey and show them some love on their social channels which will keep you up to date with opening times

https://www.facebook.com/thedeersheadbelfast

www.twitter.com/thedeershead1

10th October 20209th October 2020

Hop Flavour compounds

What important information should you know about your hops and hop flavour compounds?

Each batch of hops has an analysis carried out identifying the many hop flavour compounds. Hop oils only make up a small proportion of the actual hop but they do play a pivotal role in achieved those hop aromas and flavours that craft beer lovers desire. Different compounds can impart different flavours namely Citrus, Green fruits, menthol, vegetal, cream caramel, woody aromatic, berries & currant, grassy-hay, sweet fruits, herbal, floral and spicy

Lets look at the flavour compounds:

Mycrene
Is a terpene and the main hop oil component in most hop varieties. It is responsible for a green, hoppy aroma. However its low solubility and high volatility mean that only small amounts are transferred into and retained in beer, primarily when dry hopping.

Humulene, Caryophyllene and Farnesene are the main sesquiterpenes in hop oil. They impart herbal, woody, spicy and sometimes citrus or floral aromas. Like myrcene, they are present in beer in low concentrations due to their low solubility and high volatility. The ratio of caryophyllene to humulene and the presence or absence of farnesene are considered characteristic makers for different hop varieties.

Linalool and Geranoil are the two most abundant Terrene Alcohols in hops. Terpene alcohols are more soluble than terpenes or sesquiterpenes and thus play a major role in both late hop and dry hop aroma. Linalool is generally described as floral and citrus reminisentent of lavender or bergamot, and geraniol as floral with a hint of citrus, rose or geranium. Other Terpene alcohols and terpene esters can impart floral, woody or spicy notes.

Thiols, specifically 4-mercapto-4-methylpentant-2-one (4MMP) , 3-metcaptohexan-1-ol (3MH), and 3-metacaptohexyl acetate (3MHA), are present only in very small concentrations in hops but due to their extremely low sensory detection thresholds, they can have a major impact on hop aroma perception. 4MMP is usually described as tasting of blackcurrant or robes or, to some people, “catty”, while 3MH and 3MHA imparts notes of passionfruit or guava.

Hop Ketones and Isobutyrates also show good solubility and impart fruity, sometimes waxy notes, contributing to banana or pineapple flavours.

Geterbrewed can provide full traceability with all our hops, each hop packet will have the name, batch number, alpha acid and year of hop harvest. We proudly work as Irish distributor for the Barth Haas Group, Simply Hops & Hop Products Australia, if you require a detailed certificate of analysis we can provide this for you.

The Barth Haas group can provide everything you need under the one umbrella to maximise hops in your brewing process, the sheer size and diversity of hops on offer allows you to create unique hop forward beers, always professionally cold stored at our warehouse and express shipped to provide the best service in the industry.

Want to know more about the hops varieties we stock, check them out here:

https://www.geterbrewed.com/microbrewery-hops/

9th October 20209th October 2020

Online HomeBrew Orders

We are seeing online homebrew orders rocket. Geterbrewed Covid 19 Operational Activity Report 09/10/20

Homebrewing is seeing somewhat of a renaissance and clearly the joy of doing a brewday is helping people navigate through these strange times, we are also seeing a lot more people building their own home bars and adding kegerators and all in one brewing systems to their catalogue of home luxuries.

To give an update on our operational activity its first and foremost that we ask you to understand we need to take steps to keep our staff safe and provide a service to our valued customers that is reflective of our company values, that’s a balancing act at the moment .

We usually aim to have express shipping and dispatch times to match our incredible value and premium quality. Geterbrewed strive to provide the best customer service, we want to be a true one stop shop for your brewing needs and we communicate with you in a prompt and responsible way, so we ask for a little understanding at this time due to the demand being placed on us.

We genuinely thank you all for your support as without our customers we wouldn’t get to do what we love. We are only a small team of 20 but we are passionately independent and driven to grow our business. We supply breweries and home brewers with the finest ingredients available sourced from all across the world so we have seriously good stock levels of the core component ingredients to create your beers. https://www.geterbrewed.com/

Recent demand has been huge…

Over the past week or so we have experienced a spike in demand for home-brew orders that has put some extra strain onto the team at the warehouse. We are now advertising that it can take up to 2 days to process your order. When this pandemic hit we experienced demand like never before and through it all we never closed, we did get to a stage where we where actually hovering between 5-7 days behind on orders and we fought through the orders and got ourselves back up to a super efficient service, this time around we don’t intend to allow that to happen again and may have to restrict the amount of orders we can process.

The GEB team

We have everyone socially distanced and protective measures in place throughout the warehouse. Our team are now working staggered shifts 7 days per week. Primarily this is for their safety https://www.geterbrewed.com/our-team/

Stock Levels

Online Homebrew order stocks are generally very good, we have been increasing our stock holding in planning and have been providing forecasts to our suppliers to ensure constant supply, we have significant volumes on the way from all suppliers but some wholesalers simply state they can’t meet demand and they are shipping short , this is mainly on homebrew kits

Amending Online Homebrew Orders

Please try and get your order right first time as amending orders at the moment isn’t possible, if you need to combine two orders email us and we will try our best to merge them and refund one shipping label

Shipping

We have been communicating with our couriers and they too are seeing a continued spike in demand, we are in the process of adding extra services and we hope to have these new express premium shipping options added in the coming week, that will also allow us to ship worldwide. When your order is dispatched you will receive an email in the customer notes we add the dpd tracking ref and you can monitor the progress via dpd.ie

Communication

We are trying to answer emails, social media messages as quickly as possible, we would ask that you only telephone if 100% necessary as its taking away from our ability to process orders quicker if we are answering calls. We appreciate your calls and sometimes you just need to run through a few questions to make yourself comfortable but until we get on top of this spike can we keep them to a minimum please. We are still providing technical help and trying to provide responses to your queries as quickly as we possibly can, you may get a reply at 10pm instead of during working hours that’s how hard we are working to keep you updated

Collection at site

This is currently not available and we can only fulfil online homebrew orders, we are trying to protect our staff and keep them safe so we can’t have anyone calling to collect orders.

Your local Breweries

We supply a lot of commercial breweries and they have really had a tough time of it lately with the on trade business being hit so hard so when you can please support your local breweries and buy their beers! Never has supporting local been so important

4th June 20204th June 2020

Home Professional Wine Making Kits

Wine Making Kits – If you love your wine you need to try one of these new revolutionary craft wine kits

The history of wine making for you will reveal many stories, often emotional memories of helping a loved one forage for hedgerow wines and wait long periods for rewards of your efforts. The new revolutionary wine making kits produce serious results and consistently without a hotpress in sight.

Wine has been made and enjoyed for thousands of years. Wine is a well loved alcoholic beverage made from grapes and has been big business since the 1950-60’s when strains of commercial wine making yeast started to really produce consistent results without spoilage. Modern day vintners strains of craft wine making yeasts are producing exciting results consistently.

So if you want to brew a wine and bottle it in a corked bottle, screw cap or indeed bag in box you can now produce really exciting results at home whilst being frugal. Lets be honest here though home wine making isn’t all about being frugal, you can produce consistently impressive results with total control of the contents and additives to create the wine you want to drink.

It’s a science called enology, some refer to wine making as an art form we simply see home wine producing as a very rewarding hobby and want you to experience the improvements and what’s available

The homebrew industry is about to receive a brand new range of wine making kits launching in the UK & Ireland. Geterbrewed are proud to be launching a vast new range of wine making kits for the home professional. So to become a craft wine maker you need the best ingredients are we are proud to be able to offer premium craft wine making kits to allow you to create your own high quality wines. You won’t need to take your socks off and start trampling the grapes it’s much easier than that with modern professional home kits.

Winexpert wine kits work closely with the very best grape growers from the World’s most prominent wine regions to carefully select and grade the best possible quality in terms of grape juice. These superior quality wine making ingredients paired with professional industry leading processing leads to beautiful flavours and impressive aromas and character replicating the any wine varietal.

Introducing the new ranges:

https://www.geterbrewed.com/wine-kits/

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/wine-kits/

Wine Expert Private Reserve – Ultra Premium with region specific juice and made in 6-8 weeks

Most of these Ultra Premium wine kit contain crushed grape skins which adds great depth of character and during fermentation you can expect the grape skins to enhance the tannins, body, colour, mouthfeel and aroma. These craft wine making kits will take you up a level for sure

Amarone Style Veneto Italian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Cabernet Sauvignon Lodi Californian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Chardonnay Dry Creek Californian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Pinot Gris Yakima Washington 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Pinot Noir New Zealand 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Merlot Stags Leap Californian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Nebbiolo Piedmont Italian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Zinfandel Old Vine Lodi Californian 14l Private Reserve Wine Kit

Wine Expert Reserve – Premium with country specific juice and made in 6 weeks.

This craft wine making range of kits will produce wine of exceptional quality, full of body, flavoursome and aromatic .

Chardonnay Australian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Pinot Grigio Italian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Riesling Californian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Sauvignon Blanc Californian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Grenache Rose Australian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Cabernet Sauvignon Australian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Cabernet Shiraz Australian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Luna Rossa Italian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Malbec Argentine 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Merlot Californian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Pinot Noir Chilean 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Shiraz Australian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

VCDR French 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Amarone Italian 10l Wine Expert Reserve Kit

Wine Expert Classic Wine Kits – Easy drinking with country specific juice and made in 4 weeks

Maintaining the high quality you expect from the winexpert craft winemaking kits these produce high quality results. Approachable and easy drinking replicating wines from the world’s best known wine making countries

Chardonnay Californian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Pinot Grigio Italian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Sauvihnon Blanc 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Viognier 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Riesling Washington 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Liebfraumilch Californian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

White Zinfandel Californian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Cabernet Sauvignon Chilean 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Diablo Rojo Chilean 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Grenache Shiraz Merlot Australian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Malbec Chilean 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Merlot Chilean 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Pinot Noir Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Sangliovese Italian 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Shiraz Californian Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

Tempranillo Spanish 8l Wine Expert Classic Wine Kit

On The House Wine Kits – If your after a simply and straight forward wine making kit this is a great place to start your wine crafting journey. They deliver results in just 4 weeks and produce everyday easy drinking wine to impress your friends and family

Geterbrewed On The House wine making kits

Sauvignon Blanc On The House Wine Kit

Chardonnay On The House Wine Kit

Pinot Grigio On The House Wine Kit

Riesling On The House Wine Kit

Californian White On The House Wine Kit

Blush On The House Wine Kit

Cabernet Sauvignon On The House Wine Kit

Merlot On The House Wine Kit

Shiraz On The House Wine Kit

Californian Red On The House Wine Kit

Pinot Noir On The House Wine Kit

7th March 20207th March 2020

Grainfather g70 Review by Lacada Brewery

Guest blog & Review from Lacada Co Operative brewery based in the North Coast of Ireland in Portrush

We’ve been very excited about the Grainfather G70 here at Lacada. We’re upgrading our nano-system and need a solution to brew about 50-55l of beer to trial new recipes. A few of us use the G30 for home brewing so the G70 could be the perfect solution. Its pricy but quality costs:-)

Recently GETERBREWED offered us the chance to trial the G70 so we lept at the opportunity.
With recipe ready we ordered a Fermzilla 55l for fermentation and bought a second hand fridge for temperature control, a snip at £50 from North Coast Auction Rooms.

Saturday would be brew day so we got down the brewery Friday evening to open the box, give the system a good clean and set a timer delay so the mash water would be ready Saturday morning.

On first inspection, it looks a quality machine, many of the G30 weaknesses have been resolved. A clear colourful PID, a bottom plate filter and extra powerful pump. Connecting the device to the internet was simple and within seconds the G70 was downloading the latest firmware updates.

With a recipe already recorded in the online Grainfather app, it was a simple process to kick off the brew day and delay temperature heating until the next morning.

Interestingly the mash/sparge volumes and estimated gravity were different to the Brewfather app but given this is a brand new product we made the assumption that GF would be more accurate.

Saturday morning, as planned, the mash water was up to temperature and we started to mash in. The recipe is a low abv NEIPA so the grain volume is at the low end of the G70 spec 8kg. With grain added we popped on the top plate (much easier than on the G30) connected the recirculation pipe and kicked off the mash timer. We could hear the pump but see no liquid? Strange, it definitely worked last night….

Checking everything was connected and switched correctly. Maybe the filter was blocked? Removing the grain basket and lifting the very heavy G70 high enough so we could drain the liquid, we tried the pump once more and it started to work. Not sure why, but it had started to work again. Good news. With grain basket back in, we proceeded with the mash.
The temperature for this mash is high, 70oC as we want plenty of body in the beer. The temp registered on the PID showed as being 68oC and the heater ono full blast. Within a few mins it had overshot to 73oC but minutes later it was backdown to 68oC. Theres no way the mash temp could fluctuate that much so we could only assume that the temp probe is inaccurate.

Mash complete, we sparged and moved to boil. It took over 90mins to get from 75oC to 100oC, a ridiculously long time so we can only assume the heating elements are under powered. I know similar competing products need special power connections or even two sources so not sure why Grainfather felt the heating elements on the G70 would be OK.

The counter flow chiller was excellent, a single pass for about 2 minutes recirculated back into the GF brought temps easily down to 80C for whirlpool / hopstand. It also easily chilled to pitching temp of 18C in a single pass at nearly full pump throughput into the FV.

However, again, the pump seemed to get airlocked when initially hooked up to the chiller and it took some manual lifting and tilting of the chiller and the lines to try to get it flowing again.

The bottom filter plate was very good when transferring to FV, and the bottom centre drain and bottom tap also very useful when cleaning as everything can be flushed right through and out the bottom.

The brew competed and wort transferred to the fermenter we cleaned up and reflected on the G70. Theres no doubt it looks the part, sure there’s a few questionable design decisions but its a solid professional looking instrument you’d be proud to own.

However, the under powered heating element, inaccurate temperature measurement and the strange pump fault mean that this is not a product we’ll be buying.

Many Thanks to Geterbrewed for allowing us to trial the G70.

Erol

The Grainfather Product can be found here: https://www.geterbrewed.com/the-grainfather-g70/

19th January 202019th January 2020

Gin botanicals for making gin at Get Er Brewed

Gin Botanicals

There are hundreds of botanicals which can be used to flavour gin which is what makes it one of the broadest categories in spirits in terms of flavour, origin and styles.

The most crucial botanical used, which is essential in the gin making process is Juniper Berries. Fact: Gin is derived from the word juniper! Regardless of all the different styles of gins, the one thing that they will all have in common is that they are all predominantly juniper flavoured.

The Coriander Seed, is nearly as common a juniper itself appearing in many gin products. Coriander has a long history of importance for both food and a perfumer’s ingredient. Depending on the distiller will depend on where the botanical is sourced from. The Coriander Seed all at once will give off a citrusy, nutty and a little spicy variety of flavour.

Angelica can be an unfamiliar major gin ingredient used with many not realising how commonly used this botanical is. Similar to Coriander, Angelica is closely related to the carrot family with the herbs which make up the Angelicus genus grow nearly everywhere in the northern hemisphere. The role of the botanical is to act as a binding agent in order to promote combining the other botanicals together to enhance the variety of flavours each one gives off.

The Lemon Peel is the most common citrus fruit used in gin, providing a distinct citrus aroma. Lemon peels, like other citrus fruit contain a large amount of limonence, the aromatic which is mainly responsible for the bright aroma associated with citrus.

When it comes to oranges, these can be divided into two sub categories- sweet and bitter. Both types of oranges can be found in gins. Typically, the peel of a Seville Orange (bitter) is used to dry and the peel of the sweet orange is used fresh.

The Orris Root, known to help hold the other fragrancies in place- a fixative in perfume for many centuries. They are left for as long as 5 years to dry, before being ground into powder, added to water and distilled. The Orris Root binds and stabilizes other flavours, resulting in being more likely to detect it by the effect it has on other ingredients.

Cardamom is another botanical becoming more common in the gin world! Its exotic aroma adds and expressive, spicy note. It is one of the most expensive spices, with very little needed to impart its strong flavour, Cardamom can be challenging to work with as its essential oils and aromatics are very volatile and degrade quickly.

Liquorice is a sweet, woody botanical which contains a natural sweetener. Liquorice root carries a unique taste with the often misconception that people assume that Liquorice root is similar to Liquorice sweets- which is in fact wrong!

Grains of paradise are rarely used outside of traditional African food cultures. The seeds have a woody, almost piney aroma, and slightly reminiscent of cardamom.

Other important botanicals may include Lavender, which is increasingly becoming more popular in the use of some gin. As well as a fragrance, lavender is used as flavouring with many distillers normally opting to steep it in their pot at the last minute to avoid dominance over the rest of the botanicals. Fennel may be used by gin distillers to impart a liquoerice-like warmth and spice, becoming more common especially in contemporary style gins that emphasis herbal profile. As gin continues to expand in the world, new botanicals are starting to increasingly show up never before being distilled with juniper.

We have our very own award winning Gin Distillery at Get Er Brewed called Frankie & Eileens so you can have confidence that we are supplying the finest gin botanicals available in the world

Frankie & Eileen’s: This premium liquid is made up of a variety of 13 botanicals, left to mature in a copper still for 36 hours prior to starting the distiller process. The still (did we mention is hand-built locally with the copper sourced from Ireland) is then run low and slow to ensure the best cuts are made- as flavour is Frankie and Eileen’s top priority!

Botanicals used are Juniper, English Coriander Seed, Angelica, Lemon Peel, Irish Potato Peel and Pea Pods (which in fact work in harmony with the Macedonian Juniper Berries and Spanish fruit peels), Orris Root, Liquorice Root, Cardamom, Grains of Paradise, Cassis, Bitter Orange, Sweet Orange.

Gin Botanicals available for Craft Distilleries in bulk can be bought here:

https://www.geterbrewed.com/gin-botanicals-en/

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/gin-botanicals-en/

We have smaller quantities of luxury Gin Botanicals available in the following links:

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/luxury-gin-botanicals/

https://www.geterbrewed.com/luxury-gin-botanicals/

Blog written by Lauren Shaw our new Gin Brand Ambassador and Sales Executive for Get Er Brewed.

16th January 202016th January 2020

The Grainfather G70 at Get Er Brewed

Get Er Brewed are excited to now offer the brand new and exciting half barrel electric all in one brewing system. The Grainfather G70 is the largest Grainfather made yet, it boasts a strong and robust build quality. The unit is complete with a wort chiller.

The all in one brewing system can hold an impressive 17kg of malt and has capacity to hold 70 Litres of wort. The new conicals are in development and will be launched later this year. Trials using the system have allowed flexibility with brewing one batch and splitting over 2 or 3 fermenters allowing experimentation with different yeasts and dry hopping.

Like the original Grainfather its wifi controlled and links seamlessly to the Grainfather community app. Allowing homebrewers the flexibility to create their own recipes or browse thousands of user submitted ones and build the ingredient recipe using the Get Er Brewed recipe builder. The app allows you to start heating the strike water in advance so you can start your brewday swiftly.

Perfect for a small test plant for a brewpub, restaurant or microbrewery or homebrewers with a serious addiction to shiny

Two stage false bottom – the conical base allows a false bottom with an inner collar to sit in the recess of the base. I’ve personally tested this with 600g’s of hops and saw a full flow through the pump. This is very, very effective.

The Grainfather g70 bottom drain is below the false bottom so there is almost no dead space.

Bespoke 3.2kWh concealed element – We’ve made the absolute most out of the power available to us. The element covers around 80% of the base and is mounted using a thermal paste, rather than braised. This moves the heat efficiently upwards, losing very little to where it’s not needed and as it’s spread in such a wide area, scorching will be very unlikely (also most solids settle on the false bottom, so won’t touch the elements anyway). Being concealed, it’s super easy to clean too.

Convenient side entry recirculation. Rather than up and over, we’ve built a port into the side of the unit which means if the pump is accidentally switched on, it will fire the wort just to the other side of the unit, rather than straight up. The recirc pipe has a push fit, so couldn’t be easier to install or remove.

Ball value for sampling/draining. This runs in line with the pump so is particularly helpful when draining the cleaning water. It fires out at a rate of knots and empties the unit in no time.

Sight glass with clean-in-place (CIP) solution. This is really useful when sparging. Rather than relying on water calculations, you can just sparge until you reach pre-boil volume. The cap can be replaced with the included hose barb so you can connect the recirc pipe and flush the sight glass while cleaning.

Rolled edge filter plates. These mean the silicone seals are no longer required. They have a really smooth finish and plates themselves feel really robust and wearing. The shape of the G70 is a little different – it’s much wider and not that much taller than the standard Grainfather so we’ve seen comparatively quick draining from the basket, and less likelihood of stuck sparges as the draining surface area is bigger.

-Safety aspects including locked in support ring, heavy duty, no slip brackets to on the grain basket and protection from knocking the ball valve open.

Lifting bar with winch lifting hook. Make no mistake, this is a 2 person lift without a winch!

Huge wort chiller. This works an absolute treat. There is a more powerful pump, a very efficient false bottom and a bigger wort chiller, so in my experience, cooling times are about the same as the 30l Grainfather, despite the volume being more than double. Due to the size, this will need to be positioned away from the G70, so longer silicone tubing is attached as standard.

Heavy duty handles on G70 body. Also handle on glass lid.

Includes dust cover and tap connections.

3 year Grainfather warranty.

Check them out in the links below, we have a pre order deal available if you want to get in touch:

The Grainfather g70 UK

https://www.geterbrewed.com/the-grainfather-g70/

The Grainfather g70 Ireland

https://www.geterbrewed.ie/the-grainfather-g70/