Everything Homebrew!

reply to post by thov420


Sorry, saw the cinnamon, and thought spiced. Upon further review, you are right, what you are making is a melomel, mostly fruit. The pinch of cinnamon will not vary the style.

Keep us updated on how it turns out.

(Do you have a hydrometer yet? They are about 4.95 USD at your local shop. You need to get OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity) readings when you are brewing.)

reply to post by Druid42


No I don't. I'll have to pick one up in the next couple of days. If things go well I just might be using it more and more.

chocolate cherry oatmeal stout went into the keg yesterday.
We wound up letting the beer sit in the secondary for two weeks due to time problems.
It actually worked out well, the extra week allowed for more sediment to fall out.
The hydrometer reported just shy of 5% alc. The tasting had a coffee smell up front from the roasted barley, a smooth chocolate taste in the middle with a tiny bit of oatmeal at the end. A very smooth overall beer, although the cherry hasn't made it's appearance yet. We used a big can of chopped cherries the same size as the malt cans and we were sure it would be enough, but alas it may not be. We agreed not to use the extract in the beginning because we were told it had a fake cherry taste to it.

We spoke to some whiskey makers about our baker's chocolate being a mud pile at the bottom of the primary, they suggested using what they use in their vodkas. They roast their own cocoa beans and use them in their process. We will definitely do that next time.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Your CCO Stout sounds a little on the low side at 5% abv. Hmm. Don't worry, it's still drinkable. A buddy of mine usually finishes in that range as well. Did you do all-grain or extract? Usually all-grains finish low due to incomplete sparge, so you may want to rinse twice or three times. It's fine to rinse with your wort, which is what I usually do anyway, before using sparge water.

Anyway, you can also get cherry extract, instead of using canned cherries. It comes in a 3 oz bottle, very concentrated, and about 2 teaspoons per five gallons gives a batch a nice essence.

Hi Druid
We did the extract not all grain this time. I reserved about a gallon of water to flush the grains bag.
The sparge was so full of emulsified chocolate powder that it took a long while to empty the bag.
As for the cherry extract, we had it in hand and the store owner was dissatisfied with the finishing taste of the extract and recommended the cherry puree. The puree was another factor in the sparge bag emptying marathon.
ehh live and learn. I always encourage people to try different styles and techniques in brewing. The guy I'm teaching now is getting there and he grasps the concept of the process, hell his first batch was an all grain petit saison. That one we really should have waited on, it was a bit overwhelming for him, but we did ok.

The estimated final alc. was projected at 5.5% so I figure we came close, but given the variables present, it was a hard guess. This is why I stressed to him the importance of keeping notes.

Tonight is a big brew-night. Me and my bro-in-law are attempting our first step mash for an Austrian-style Bock.
We will be mashing our Munich I with Pilzner and Vienna malts as the base, and a very small touch of Melanoidin and Cristal malts for colour and body. We will be doing a four(4) step mash followed by a lengthy 90 minutes boil. We'll be pitching this with Austrian Lager yeast and after the primary fermentation we'll lager the whole for another lengthy 3 months. We're looking at an ABV of 7.2% when done.

This is the first recipe I designed by myself. Hope it turns out well.

Tomorrow I'll be picking up the ingredients to do an imperial coffee stout. Actual brewing will probably be done the day after Thanksgiving. I'll probably post what I'm using tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited and anxious on this one. This will be the first recipe I've come up with completely on my own. Everything else has been inspired by recipes I've found online. If this goes well though I think it will finally be time to move on to all-grain.

Originally posted by Xcalibur254
Tomorrow I'll be picking up the ingredients to do an imperial coffee stout. Actual brewing will probably be done the day after Thanksgiving. I'll probably post what I'm using tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited and anxious on this one. This will be the first recipe I've come up with completely on my own. Everything else has been inspired by recipes I've found online. If this goes well though I think it will finally be time to move on to all-grain.

I used to extract brew, but once you go all-grain you'll never want to go back.

Good luck and good brewing.

So here's what will be going into the stout:

12.5 lbs Amber Liquid Extract
1 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Caramel Malt 40L
0.5 lb Roasted Barley

4 oz Mt. Hood
1 oz Centennial

1 lb gourmet Guatemalan coffee
2 Madagascar vanilla beans soaked in bourbon
Irish Moss
Yeast Nutrient

2 packs Wyeast 1056 American Ale

sounds good man.
We're looking at the bourbon porter out of northern brewers.
It calls for maker's mark, but we've got a local whiskey maker who we're planning on visiting for a barter.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


That's a 5 gallon batch? Wow, that'll be STOUT.

Any idea on the OG?

reply to post by Druid42


Off the top of my head I can't remember. I know the estimated ABV for my original recipe was 9.6%. I've actually cut down on the malts since then.

So the Coffee Imperial Stout turned out really well. It has an ABV of 8% and has a very nice coffee flavor. Right now I have a single hopped Citra IPA in secondary fermentation that will be ready for bottling in two weeks.

Sounds great!
I have a Magic Hat ElderBetty clone in the secondary.
The color and aroma is great so far.
I neglected to get the gravity in the beginning

ElderBetty comes back to the market in April and we're have a taste test night then.

My BinL and I are meeting inn two weeks to put together our brewplan for this coming year should be interesting.

My beer is an American hefeweizen. I tweaked my recipe by adding an extra half pound of DME and grain mostly because they were prepackaged that way, but allowed it thinking that it would balance out any bitterness that the elderberries gave off, and also the extra DME may increase the alcohol which is also a win.
We're talking about a Belgium Trippel and a 3x hopped India pale ale in early April.

I'm still hoping to convert my 15 gallon keg to a brew pot this summer. It's going to run about $250.

Originally posted by shadow watcher
We're talking about a Belgium Trippel and a 3x hopped India pale ale in early April.

Um.... Yes please!!

My husband & I just brewed our first ever batch (IPA) a few weeks ago. It's currently in the secondary and I think we might bottle it this weekend.

We purchased a cheap 20 min boil kit to try and we are gonna dry hop it with some cascade for a light summer brew. Also planning on giving some to my dad, he doesn't go for 'those fancy beers'.

'those fancy beers'
HA! I love to hear that.
We have a Budweiser connoisseur in our neighborhood who busts on us for working so hard.
He always seems to be in the neighborhood on kegging day though.

Have you tried growing cascades? For the last ten years we've had a trellis of hops growing.
We cut it back in the fall and returns even more full than the year before.
Rhyzomes are so easy to grow on a south facing wall.

reply to post by shadow watcher

Yeah, my dad always wants whatever we are drinking then makes a face after tasting it. It's gotten to the point that when we bring our 'fancy beers' to their house my mom fusses at him for taking one.

Since this is our first time brewing I haven't thought about growing hops. Thanks for the suggestion! I will check into that.

Congrats on your first batch!!
It IS an addicting hobby. You will be doing this for a long time and will have tons of fun.
Brewing really brings friends together and it's contagious. You'll see.

Ask all your questions here, there are so many talented people at your disposal.