Everything Homebrew!

Our Imperial IPA is in the keg and under lock and key until Labor Day.
We brewed the others just to keep us away from it.

I also made beer bread with my spent grains. It is so much better than just dumping them.
It's sort of a taste of the beer's future. Recipe is available to any who wants it.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Normally, we put our spent grains in the flower bed for fertilizer.....

A recipe for bread? Please share.

Easiest beer bread to make. Normally there is actual beer involved, but the amount of liquid in this recipe is enough. Enjoy!!


Beer Bread

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grains

350 degrees
45-60 minutes until knife comes out clean

reply to post by shadow watcher


That actually looks feasible, and tasty. Thanks for sharing. I will try that after my next brew, and will report back the results.

I may have to tinker with quantities however. Maybe double the batch.

It makes a modest loaf, but remember that it is a colon scrubber with all that grain.

Has anybody else had problems with Wyeast smack packs? I used to use them because they are convenient and my local supply store had them on hand, whereas I had to special order and wait for a White Labs yeast. He has a very minimal selection of dry yeasts. I quit them because three of the last four smack packs were duds. They never started and I had to go back to the shop and settle for a dry yeast pack.

Hmm Never had a problem with liquid packs. Were they out of date?
I usually whack them the day before for that very reasoning, but never had it happen.
Getting a refund is nice but not helpful if you already started the brew.

reply to post by shadow watcher


None of them were out of date. All were smacked on the same day as the brew, but hours ahead. None of the 3 that failed really blew up impressively in the allotted time, but I used them anyway, hoping for a start, even if slow. None of the 3 batches ever started until I went out and got dry packs. I am done with Wyeast, never had a problem with White Labs.

I usually don't start a yeast the day before because more often than not, when I plan to brew, something comes up and I have to delay to another day.

reply to post by PartTimeBrewer
Me and my brother in-law now re-culture our yeast from our previous brews. So far we haven't had any issues as to their viability except for 1 slow start.
I know that sometimes the need for difference flavour profiles calls for other yeast strains. In these cases we have used a smack packs and have never had any issues with their viability.
Since our change to all grain brewing we have never used dried yeast packets as the question of viability had been a factor before with our extract brewing and the discovery of liquid yeast and smack packs made life a lot easier..

I know a guy that saves his used yeast for future batches. He has had great luck with them, but then again he has the capacity to store them in the freezer. I like to just propagate the yeast by setting up a sterile environment and feeding the yeast some malt extract then covering it in plastic wrap. Maybe that could have helped a slow starter?

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by shadow watcher

 

Recipes! Please share!

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

Hey Druid I stumbled upon this for you. Cherry chocolate oat stout
Bro in law had nothing on file.

Originally posted by shadow watcher
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.

haha, I like your style!

I brew a wonderful sweet stout, it's a milky oatmealy concoction that is malty and sweet. I really want to share with everyone in this thread, dammit!

Maybe we should just organize an exchange, as it seems nixie_nox forgot we were going to give her free beer. =(

reply to post by Druid42


I would love to do a tasting/competition. Unfortunately it's not really feasible for me right now. I really only have the time and money to do one batch at a time. So I wouldn't really be able to do a sampler and it will be a while before I start my next batch.

My batches are all kegs, so whoever got my sample would be pretty happy!
I'd venture a recipe swap. That would allow us the chance to sample each beer that strikes us as appetizing.

I pitched the CITRA pellets into the secondary Sat.. Let me tell you all, the smell was amazing.
Has anyone tried the bread yet?

The breakwater pale ale went into the keg tonight. The hops smell was pretty heavy and the siphoning taste was impressive. I had to sparge the secondary to get the citra out, but that was a minimal amount. The color was as expected. I hadn't done the gravity yet, but may do it once it's carbonated.

I priced out converting my half barrel into a brew kettle and the parts will be around a hundred bucks or so.
That would include the 3 pc ball valve, the 90 degree metal tube, the thermometer, and the glass vertical fluid level.

If I do this, I'll also hunt for a false bottom that will fit the keg bottom.

So I finally opened the Imperial IPA on Thursday. It's definitely not what I was expecting. I was thinking it would turn out like a West Coast IPA similar to Stone's Ruination. Instead it has some definite citrus character and reminds me a lot of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute.

Wow, was it a kit beer or your own recipe.
Forgive me for not reading back in the thread.
Our Imperial IPA was from Northern Brewers and I was curious since we agreed to wait till Labor day to crack it open.

Side note: My Dry dock Pale Ale has been resting in the keg for a few weeks now at about 24psi.
I purged the pressure and brought it up to about 8psi. The sucker is so foamy (in the fridge) that I purged the pressure again and left it that way. My tower usually doesn't cause foam, so it caught me off guard.

reply to post by shadow watcher


It was my own recipe. This was the final version of it:

2 lbs. LDE
6.6 lbs. Golden Light LME
1 lb. Caramel Malt - 14L
1 lb. Pale 2-Row
1 lb. Corn Sugar

2.5 oz. Magnum (60 Min)
1.5 oz Centennial (5 Min Steep)
2 oz Centennial (Dry Hop 3 days)
1 tsp Irish Moss

Wyeast Labs #1056 American Ale

OG: 1.072
FG: 1.008

Interesting. I have to wonder which hops gave you the citrus flavor.
I told my brew partner about it and may have to sample our version sooner to report our findings. haha

Post to subscribe to thread since it was pointed out to me and I lost it.

Then was pointed out again.

Have a few recipes to post later.