It’s been a long time since I’ve mentioned brewing so here’s an update showing some of the improvements Martin and I have made to our garage brewery (Pacific Way Brewery). After taking our previous brew in a bag setup (BIAB) to the next level by designing and commissioning a gravity fed brew tree we moved […]
Visiting Devon
Devon is a massive County! As a family we visit on a yearly basis and there’s still many areas we haven’t yet travelled to. It’s hard to resist the old favourites and it’s interesting to see how they change each year – Croyde for example has become such a tourist hot spot and is becoming pretty crowded since […]
Wales Road Trip
The first camping trip in the campervan this year was to Wales. The route was governed by a visit to some friends that had recently moved out of Belper to Llandrindod Wells and then by us wanting to venture North to take in some sights and places we’ve always wanted to see. Belper, Derbyshire to […]
Portable Folding Solar Panel
Since installing a Biard 100W solar panel on the roof of the campervan, I’ve experienced the benefits of solar power while away with the family. I’ve also noticed a few downsides to a permanently fixed installation and the biggest problem came when we needed to park the van in the shade due to the sun’s […]
UK Coast Tour
When someone mentions “Coast to Coast” in the UK I usually think of the popular route across the country that starts in the Lake District and ends in Whitby. Our recent campervan road trip version of Coast to Coast followed a slightly peculiar route based on the weather forecast at the time – from Cornwall […]
Campervan Solar Panel Installation
I’ve been running a rigid frame 50W solar panel at home for a number of years to provide 12V lighting with the intention of using it on the caravan and then the campervan but I just couldn’t bring myself to mount such a big frame on the roof of a moving vehicle. After noticing a deal […]
The Electric Campervan
After helping launch the world’s first electric campervan at the NEC last October (2014) I finally got the chance to take it out and give it a right good thrashing! Over the last 6 months, Fish Media has been working with a Derby based campervan conversion company – Hillside Leisure – to update their website and create […]
BrewTree – Gravity Fed Homebrew Stand
When I first started thinking about brewing in the garage I researched homebrew stands and tables – mainly on Pinterest. I was amazed at the weird and wonderful sculptures that I found, a lot of these coming from the US. I found two main types of stands that interested me, one using a step system and […]
Testing The Grainfather – All Grain Brewing System
In July I noticed an all-in-one brewing system being tested for the UK market by James Kemp, I was curious as this product resembled the Still Spirits Turbo 500 boiler that Martin and I started all-grain brewing with a year ago. A quick search confirmed that Imake Ltd the parent company for Still Spirits based in New Zealand had launched […]
Normandy and Brittany Road Trip
Last year in 2013 we took a road trip in the campervan from the UK to the South of France, it was a pretty epic route of 2,260 miles but it made us realise that travelling in the campervan is a much better experience if we break the route into three hour sections to make […]
Brewing a Black IPA
How time flies in the World of brewing! Mart and I have just finished brewing our 7th all grain batch of beer (see the full list on Untappd) and this time we decided to go all out and begin brewing a Black IPA. If you are new to beer and brewing, a black IPA probably sounds wrong […]
River Dart Country Park
We’ve just returned from a three night break at the River Dart Country Park Campsite and managed to go outside of the school holidays as the school had Thursday and Friday as inset days. We went in the campervan with two other families who were in a caravan and a tent (6 adults, 6 kids) – each […]
Tap A Draft conditioning and serving beer
After attending the Twissup in Burton Upon Trent (2010) I was sent a demonstration of the Tap A Draft Coors Home Draft system (see the post by Andy) and at the time we speculated that this would be great for homebrew if the CO2 canister could be replaced. However, this particular Coors system was designed […]
Adventures in HomeBrew
It all started in 2009 when I was discovering the different styles of beer and exploring micro breweries in my area (Derbyshire, UK) I was invited to Nutbrook Brewery to learn about the process of making beer. These guys were making beer from water, grain and hops (as you do) in their garage and I […]
Touring The South Of France
“Living The Dream” … what an amazing phrase. When I first wanted a campervan the dream was to start touring the South of France, hopping from one site to the next, enjoying the views and the local customs. Getting to a point in life where I could actually afford to live the dream meant growing up, […]
North Devon
Wow, last week turned out to be a pretty good week to get away. A trip to North Devon was on the cards – this time in a group of 15! We got down a day early and stayed at a site where we once had a seasonal pitch, Willingcott Caravan Club Site. I wasn’t […]
The Lakes
This Bank Holiday weekend we took the opportunity to jump in the bus and drive North. After 160 miles we landed in the Lake District and pulled up to Windermere Camping And Caravanning Club Site. We took the Quechua Base Seconds XL living area which literally popped up in seconds and then took a few […]
LED lighting for the Campervan
In the caravan I fitted LED bulbs in the existing light units. This saves a massive amount of battery power when you are off grid – meaning you can stay away longer before you need to re-charge. Basically one 15 Watt halogen bulb can be replaced with a 3 Watt LED bulb meaning the battery […]
Road Trip around France
A couple of years ago I took our touring caravan across the ferry for a trip around France but due to the fact that towing a caravan from Derby to Poole takes so long (220 miles at 50 miles an hour) we decided to stay only 15 miles from Cherbourg in Normandy. This year we decided […]
Design a Beer – Brewday
Two years ago I went to Nutbrook Brewery in West Hallam, Derbyshire and recorded a series of videos on my iPhone documenting the process of making beer. I was told about a special ‘Brewing Experience‘ where you can design your own beer using the brewery’s bespoke software. I was lucky enough to have been given […]
ALL BEER EXPERIENCE
This is the All Beer Experience pack that I got for Fathers day. What a great gift for anyone wanting to learn about the different styles and flavours of beer. You get a glass, some malt sachets and a nice thick spiral bound book detailing everything you need to know about beer! It’s very cool. […]
Brewing Beer at Nutbrook Brewery
Once upon a time I bought a selection of local beers and made some Stout Cakes with a stout called ‘Midnight’ by Nutbrook Brewery. As per the usual, I blogged about it and took a couple of snaps. The guys at Nutbrook Brewery in West Hallam, Derbyshire got in touch to say that they loved the […]
Mission to sample local Breweries
The map you see before you is my one man mission to sample local brewery beer … Click on a icon to see the brewery details. View Breweries near me in Amber Valley in a larger map Amber Ales Amber Ales Ltd PO Box 7277 Ripley Derbyshire DE5 4AP UK Leadmill Brewery Ltd Leadmill Brewery […]