Drinkers with a Running Problem

Home Brewers... (Read 1606 times)


Prince of Fatness

    I'd definitely drink one of those blueberries.

     

    I have some set aside to send out there.  I'm heading to Delaware soon and was going to ship after that.  Probably the end of the month.

     

    Saturday was miserably hot so rather than yard work I decided to brew.

     

    Dubbel Trouble with Star Anise

     

    5 lb US 2-row

    1 lb Light Munich

    .25 lb Caramunich I

    .125 lb Special B

    .5 lb D-180 Candi Syrup (add with 10 minutes left in boil)

    .5 oz Star Anise, uncrushed (add with 20 minutes left in boil)

     

    .75 oz Styrian Golding 4.0% AA (60 min)

    .25 oz Styrian Golding 4.0% AA (30 min)

     

    Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (no starter)

    Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit (no starter)

     

    Mash 152 degrees for 60 minutes.  Sparge, then boil 60 minutes.  Chill and pitch yeast.  Ferment 3 or 4 weeks then bottle.  Try to ferment this one in the 70's.

     

    I may have gone a little heavy handed with the anise, but I wanted to make it noticeable.  We'll see.

    Not at it at all. 


    Feeling the growl again

       

       

       

      Saturday was miserably hot so rather than yard work I decided to brew.

       

       

      I totally approve of this thought process.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       


      Prince of Fatness

        Saturday I brewed a batch of beer in the garage.

         

        Cherrywood Smoked Altbier (5.25 gals)

         

        7 lb Vienna Malt
        3 lb Cherrywood Smoked Malt
        2 lb Light Munich Malt
        .5 lb Caramunich I

         

        1 oz Magnum [12.4 %] (First Wort) Hops

        1 oz Spalt [2.6 %] (15 min) Hops

        1 oz Spalt [2.6 %] (10 min) Hops

        1 oz Spalt [2.6 %] (5 min) Hops

        1 oz Spalt [2.6 %] (Flame Out) Hops

         

        Wyeast 1007 German Ale (1 qt starter)

         

        Mash 151 degrees for an hour.  Boil for an hour.  Chill and pitch yeast.  Ferment in a cooler filled with water, swapping out a frozen water bottle twice a day.  This should give me around 55 - 60 degrees.  Bottle after 3 or 4 weeks.

         

        OG was 1.066

         

        That cherrywood smoked malt smelled divine when we crushed it.

        Not at it at all. 

        Trent


        Good Bad & The Monkey


        Prince of Fatness

          Melon IPA (11 qts)

           

          I am hoping for a melon bomb.

           

          Not a bomb, but the melons aren't subtle.  It came out real nice.  I put some out when I brewed last weekend and it was well received.

           

          Dubbel Trouble with Star Anise

           

          I may have gone a little heavy handed with the anise, but I wanted to make it noticeable.  We'll see.

           

          Just bottled this last night and the anise effect definitely settled down.  It's definitely noticeable but not over the top.  If I were to do it again I would maybe add a bit more but this is good.  OG was 1.008, a little drier than I was looking for.  It gave me a ABV of 7.7%.  Since I had some leftover dark candi sugar I used that to prime.

          Not at it at all. 

          Trent


          Good Bad & The Monkey

            I will use the gin barrel to age a sour honey saison 

             

            Brewed this yesterday. Ended up with ~11.5 gallons @ 1.070, so just on target. Pitched the bugs at 9pm. Airlock activity was vigorous enough by 3am to wake me (thank goodness my wife is out of town!).

             

            The cerealization step with the buckwheat was interesting. I ended up with nearly 3 gallons of a semi-gelatinous oatmeal-like mush at the beginning that jammed up the sparges and slowed the whole process. It took 3 full sparges to get all the sugar out. Gonna be good food for the wild yeasts.

             

            The other interesting part was getting the CMY-01 yeast. Turns out it is not commercially available. It is the house yeast at Crooked Stave. Thing is, when CS bottles, they always add some champagne yeast. This has two effects: 1) gives a bright carbonation; 2) limits people's ability to harvest their house yeast without a formal microbiology lab. However, Evil Twin did a collaboration with CS and made a beer with just the CS house yeasts. The ET bottle was NOT finished with champagne yeast. I was able to prop up bottle dregs, and the starter I made was very fruity, estery in the nose, as it should be.

             

            1.000, crystal clear today. Tastes like honey and gin. Very excited! Will pull out of the barrel in the coming days and carb up with champagne yeast, then put french saison-fermented apple cider into the barrel.


            Prince of Fatness

              I brewed a Founders Breakfast Stout inspired oatmeal stout the other week. Added rye and some pale malt varieties to get some depth. Just ordered a sorghum whiskey barrel to age the stuff with chocolate and coffee... http://oldsugardistillery.com/whiskey.html

               

              Targets:
              - Volume: 6.5 gal
              - Original Gravity: 1.076
              - Final Gravity: 1.019
              - IBU: 30.3
              - Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
              - Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 2 weeks @ 65F
              - Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 weeks @ 65F

               

              Grain Bill:
              - 4.0 lbs. (21.3%) American 2-row
              - 4.0 lbs. (21.3%) Vienna malt
              - 4.0 lbs. (21.3%) Maris Otter
              - 1.0 lb. (5.3%) American Chocolate Malt
              - 0.5 lbs. (2.7%) Special B
              - 2.0 lbs. (10.7%) Oats (flaked)
              - 2.0 lbs. (10.7%) Rye (flaked)
              - 0.75 lbs. (4.0%) Roasted Barley
              - 0.5 lbs (2.7%) American Black Patent

              Total Grain Weight: 18.75 lbs

               

              Hops / Adjuncts Bill:
              - 0.5 oz Nugget (Whole, 13.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
              - 0.5 oz Mt. Hood (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 30 min.
              - 0.5 oz Mt. Hood (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 2 min.

              - 2 oz Ground Sumatran coffee at flameout
              - 2 oz Ground Kona coffee cold brewed, added at bottling
              - 2.5 oz Dark bittersweet baker's chocolate at 15 mins.
              - 1.5 oz Unsweetened chocolate baking nibs at 15 mins.

               

              Yeast:
              - English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

               

              My math (Strike Water Temperature Tw = (.2/R)(T2 - T1) + T2; r is ratio of water to grain in quarts/lb
              - for r = 1.25 = x/19; x = 24 quarts = 6 gallons
              = (0.2/1.33)(155 - 65) + 155
              = 168 degrees (6.25 gallons for 18.75 lbs grain)

               

              Mash Schedule:
              - Single Infusion @ 155F x 60 min

               

              Brew Day Notes (5/19/2015)
              - 6.25 gallons cold tap water heated to 163.
              - Mashed in, hit 150. Held for 2 hours (Extra time to compensate for lower temp.
              - Collected 3 gallons first runnings at 1.070
              - Batch Sparge with 3 gallons at 180
              - Sparge stabilized at 158.
              - Collected 3.5 gallons second runnings starting at 1.070, dropping to 1.030, total wort at 1.055.
              -- (single second running, probably didn’t let the first one go long enough)
              - Heat to boil over 80 minutes
              - 0.5 oz Nugget pellets added
              - 0.5 oz Mt. Hood pellets added 30 minutes later
              - 0.5 oz Mt. Hood pellets added another 30 minutes later
              - Pulled immediately off heat and into primary to cool overnight.
              - Yield was 6.75 gallons at 1.080, total brew time 5.5 hours

               

              Was this the Monkey Flakes?  If so it was very good.  Lots of whiskey flavor.  Got very little if any coffee.  Boozy and got better as it warmed. I sipped on it for quite a while and savored it.

              Not at it at all. 

              Trent


              Good Bad & The Monkey

                Yup! Monkey Flakes.

                 

                No coffee because May 2015. 17 months.


                Feeling the growl again

                  Yup! Monkey Flakes.

                   

                  No coffee because May 2015. 17 months.

                   

                  I would have drank that.

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   


                  Prince of Fatness

                    So now AB InBev is getting into home brewing.

                     

                    http://growlermag.com/big-beer-buys-northern-brewer/

                    Not at it at all. 


                    Feeling the growl again

                      So now AB InBev is getting into home brewing.

                       

                      http://growlermag.com/big-beer-buys-northern-brewer/

                       

                      Depressing.  Midwest Supplies has been my wine ingredient/equipment vendor for 15 years.  I don't expect this will improve their prices/service.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       


                      Prince of Fatness

                        Dubbel Trouble with Star Anise

                         

                        I had a bottle of this yesterday.  It came out pretty nice.

                        Not at it at all. 


                        Prince of Fatness

                          Cherrywood Smoked Altbier (5.25 gals)

                           

                          I bottled this up last night.  Damn I love the flavor of the cherrywood smoked malt.  Should have used a little more of it, but the flavor is definitely there.  I may have to brew this every fall as it is perfect for the season.

                          Not at it at all. 


                          Prince of Fatness

                            I bottled this up last night.  Damn I love the flavor of the cherrywood smoked malt.  Should have used a little more of it, but the flavor is definitely there.  I may have to brew this every fall as it is perfect for the season.

                             

                            I enjoyed my first bottle over the weekend.  I think that this is going to be my go to fall beer.  Next year I'll use a little more smoked malt, but otherwise this is solid.

                            Not at it at all. 


                            Prince of Fatness

                              I brewed up a SMaSH over the weekend using US 2 Row and Calypso hops.

                               

                              Calypso is a Yakima Valley bred, dual-purpose diploid hop with Hopsteiner lineage on both sides. Despite its aroma-focused origins, it boasts a high alpha acid percentage. In addition to this, Calypso features crisp, fruity aromas and flavors that exhibit elements of apple, pear and stone fruit brightened with hints of lime citrus. It is marvelously complex with an almost understated earthy, tea-like note.

                              Not at it at all.