Everything Homebrew!

reply to post by PartTimeBrewer


I too prefer to let my stuff age. Everything is better with age.

That being said, a light, quaffable ale that is made for taste can be cracked open after it conditions to the proper carbonation level..

If we did mail off for a taste test, I'd be sending something that was made to be enjoyable, not some super high gravity beer that requires 3 months of aging but only got 3 weeks. Often times I can take a lower OG brew straight from the fermenter to the keg, and it's ready 2 days later when I hit the proper carb level.

The reason I said we should brew a new beer if we mail off to nixie_nox is because most of my beers are dark, thick, chunky or extra extra hopped. If we do an exchange I would send a sampler.

Just got home from brewing a nut brown ale and kegging an Imperial IPA. This weekend I'll also be doing an IPA with tangerine and lemon zest, similar to a Blue Moon Wheat beer.

I've been brewing since 1991 and recently started teaching brewing again.
I used to teach many back in the hayday of homebrewing and then just did it occasionally on my own.
I've recently realized that my current life is a mess doing things I don't enjoy.
Tomorrow I am applying for a part time job at a local brewery hoping to do what I love.

While there is no money in this, at least i'm doing something that makes me happy.
I am hopeful this becomes something permanent and I can have some time to enjoy life.

On a side note, this evening I've had many Belgium beers that were great and also a double milk stout that was like a velvet carpet on my tongue. If you have the chance, try one. As for the Trappists, wow, what a great beer.

I hope there are some out there who want to chat more. I'm a bit nervous about reaching out to do this for money.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Recipes! Please share!

I want to do a chocolate cherry stout next. Anything you've run across?

Love me some cherry/choc stout!
I'll consult my BIL and see if he has a recipe.

The breakwater pale ale recipe is
grain
.325 lbs Briess caramel
.3125 lbs Belgian Biscuit
fermentables
3.15 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
3 lbs Golden Light DME
Hops/Flavoring
1/2 oz chinook hops (60 min)
1/2 oz chinook hops (45 min)
1/2 oz chinook hops (30 min)
1/2 oz chinook hops (15 min)
1/2 oz chinook hops (2 min)
1/2 oz Citra (dry hop for 7 days)
Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

My yeast looks ready, I may brew tonight.

Link to where to buy

I am debating wether my next brew project is gonna be some absynth, mead, or some old fashioned cider. I always wanted to try those three, need to find a three sided coin to toss

I tried making mead 20 years ago.
The champagne dry yeast left an off flavor to me.
If I were to try again, I'd consult a pro.
Unlikely though, because it was a painfully long year to wait to drink.

I tried to make peach brandy once, but it was so expensive and time consuming that I'd be hard pressed to try again. Do you distill alcohol?

reply to post by shadow watcher


Distilling scares the crap out of me. I have read so much conflicting info about it. Stuff like the 1/3 and the 3/4 are toxic and can kill you. I guess that is why the liquor companies make the big bucks.

Yeah, the lead used to solder the tubing used to wreak havoc on those woodsmen.
I'm tempted to rig a pressure cooker and some tubing and give it a whirl.
This guy I knew collected old booze and distilled it to pure alcohol.

I'm walking back and forth between the laptop and the brew pot tonight.

reply to post by shadow watcher

My son-in-law tried the pressure cooker/tubing route a few years ago. He is normally pretty clever at rigging things like that but has a reputation of not finishing what he starts. He quit after a few tries; I think it was just too slow or unproductive. I will have to ask him what happened. In the meantime, I prefer plain old beer anyway.

Breakwater Pale Ale is blubbing away this morning.
God I love liquid yeast.

Still haven't gotten back into homebrewing here but it's in the cards.

Just too distracted to focus on it now.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Congrats on the successful fermentation! What was your OG? Any educated guess what your ABV will turn out to be?

reply to post by shadow watcher


A double milk stout? Do you use oatmeal in that?

Awaiting that recipe plus the choco/cherry stout recipe from your BIL.

reply to post by TinkerHaus

The reason I said we should brew a new beer if we mail off to nixie_nox is because

it should be in the same style, all made within the same time period?

It's gonna be wrong to match a hefewiesen against an IPA, so everyone should pick some thing that everyone can make, whether all-grain or extract, but everyone use the same base recipe. I don't have any style ideas, but give me a recipe, and I'll tweak it a bit for a taste variation. That should be the premise for a competition, so toss out ideas.

1.049og
Shooting for 5%
It's going to be a citrus flavored summer beer for after mowing the lawn.
I suspect a LOT of mowing.

Been pounding 9+ percent beers and think this will be a nice change.
The guy I'm teaching bought a wort chiller and I now cannot live without it.
All these years I've been doing the long wait to pitch yeast and now, ten minutes and done.

My BIL had a cookout today and had an ale and a IPA on tap.
good stuff

reply to post by shadow watcher


9%, holy crap, WTH is that style? My pyment finished to 9.03%, but I'm considering it more of a honey wine than beer.

To hit 9% you must be boosting your wort with corn sugar before pitching yeast, aye?

The stout was store bought. It was 2x milk stout from southern tier.
Truly amazing body and mouth feel. well worth the purchase and I'd love a clone recipe.
If I find one, I'll post it up.

reply to post by Druid42


yep, whacking it with corn sugar and propagating the hell out of the yeast.
As the alcohol increased it killed off much of the yeast and needed the extra cells to punch through.

The Trappist beers were 10 and 11% and were very crisp. the total opposite of the stout in almost all ways.

Just got the Imperial IPA into bottles. Despite having a lower than expected OG that seems to have been made up with a lower than expected FG. It ended up being 1.008 giving it an ABV of 8.4%. It also has a really nice taste to it. It's not as bitter as I expected but there's a definite hoppy mouth feel and taste.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


That is unusually low for a FG, but hey, can't complain about the end result.

Have you been following the taste testing/competition remarks in this thread? Interested?

I believe it is heading towards a style that everyone brews at the same (relative) time, variations allowed, but unpicked as of yet.

Any thoughts?