Homebrewing....back at it, possibly?

[Cobrabit]

Not to criticize, but when I drink one of those IPAs that are all the rage I don't like them. Way too hoppy.

Acquired tastes. Much like when coffee tasted horrible as a kid unless sugar and cream was added, many beer drinkers don't start out right away drinking double IPAs. Most will drink Bud or Coors light, then gradually get introduced to more favorable beers and either continue to up the ante or stick with the lighter pilsners. Then there are those of us that have become hop heads and that's about all we'll drink.

I do have an Imperial Milk Stout (Dragon's Milk clone) in my cart that will take about 3 months before it's ready and another IPA clone (Pliny the Elder) as well that I'm getting ready to order.

 

[Cobrabit]

Flame out addition of hops to steep for 15 minutes, along with 1lb of Brun Leger (candied sugar)

2 oz Simcoe
1 oz Columbus
0.5 oz Apollo

 

[Hank Kingsley]

NEIPAs and fruited wild ales are the rage right now.


Thankfully, Brut IPAs flamed out quick

Fruited says it all.... Chocolate too.

Beer is fucked right up.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Acquired tastes. Much like when coffee tasted horrible as a kid unless sugar and cream was added, many beer drinkers don't start out right away drinking double IPAs. Most will drink Bud or Coors light, then gradually get introduced to more favorable beers and either continue to up the ante or stick with the lighter pilsners. Then there are those of us that have become hop heads and that's about all we'll drink.

I do have an Imperial Milk Stout (Dragon's Milk clone) in my cart that will take about 3 months before it's ready and another IPA clone (Pliny the Elder) as well that I'm getting ready to order.

I've been drinking beer for a long time. 50 years?

I hate Guinness and anything similar.

I'm not a beer snob. I don't sit an analyze tastes.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

His recipe is 100+ IBUs... that beer would kill you then.

I like hops, but really prefer a balance with a lot of malt. That's why I prefer IIPA's over standard IPAs.

Would't kill me but I wouldn't drink a second. Unless of course that's all there was.

 

[Cobrabit]

Cooled the wort down to 180 and added the second round of Hop stand to steep for another 15 minutes.

1 oz Columbus
1 oz simcoe
1 oz Amarillo
1 oz Centennial
0.5 oz Apollo

 

[Cobrabit]

I've been drinking beer for a long time. 50 years?

I hate Guinness and anything similar.

I'm not a beer snob. I don't sit an analyze tastes.

I understand. I've got plenty of friends that just want to grab a case of whatever is cheap and pound away each weekend. Homebrew definitely isn't for them, because they aren't really looking for different flavor profiles, as they're just looking to get hammered.

I wouldn't consider myself a beer snob either because I'll drink pretty much anything that's available. The old saying is you can't complain of what beer your buddy is giving you, but you can if it's not cold.

However, if I'm the one buying or making it, I'll like something I can sit back and enjoy, as I'm not planning on drinking more than a couple at a time. Much like bourbon, there's the cheap stuff to mix and get hammered where the taste is covered up by the mixer, and then there's the more complex and smooth bourbon you sip neat that cost a bit more.

 

[Cobrabit]

Chilling now.

 

[Cobrabit]

Got a little busy towards the end, so here are a couple more pictures to end brew day. Ended up with an OG right where it called for with 1.070

 

[Cobrabit]

Was getting a little nervous without seeing obvious signs of fermentation for over 72 hours and was planning on pitching some US-05 dry yeast today if it got to 96 hours without anything. However, it looks like it just had the longest lag time I've had before in my batches, but I've got some bubbles and krausen starting this morning. I had switched over to a regular air lock versus my blow off setup yesterday thinking that there was too much tubing trapping any CO2 in the tubing before making its way to the container with sanitizer and not letting me see any bubbles, but will monitor it throughout the day. If fermentation really takes off, I'll switch back to the blow off setup.

 

[PickleRick]

In case anyone was actually interested, I did order that kettle: Gigawort™ Electric Brew Kettle and other essentials I needed after going through my old equipment and seeing what was still good. Plan to make their Heady Topper clone, since I've never had a chance to try the original and heard great things about it: Off the Topper IIPA Beer Recipe Kit

I may update along the way it interested.

My stepdad bought that exact kettle back in 2017,lol. Works great, not that ive used it, but i have enjoyed the results.

 

[Cobrabit]

Another 12 hours and krausen is forming up nicely. Went ahead and put the blow off tubing back on for the night because I don't want to wake up to a mess if it takes off.

 

[Cobrabit]

Dry hopped 4 days ago and transferred to the secondary today. S.G. was right at 1.02 today, so around 6.7% ABV. Might knock down a couple more points to get it at 7% while in the secondary, but overall, it's what I expected, especially with the longer lag time from the yeast at the beginning.



Brewed an imperial stout last week in my other primary that got started about 15 hours after pitching. It had two liquid yeast packs, a starter, and added some nutrient to the boil. Hopefully I'll get the expected ABV at 11%. I'll transfer next week to sit for a couple months with oak chips and bourbon.

 

[Cobrabit]

Started soaking my oak chips in Evan Williams white label (375 ml) to add to my second carboy when I rack the Imperial Stout clone (Dragon's Milk) over in a couple days. Very interested in getting a gravity reading on that one to see where it's at once I rack it with an OG right at 1.100. Most of the consistent bubbling activity in the blow off setup ended a few days ago, but there's still plenty of CO2 pressure in the primary bucket with a domed lid. It'll condition in the secondary for at least 8 weeks prior to bottling.

 

[Cobrabit]

Bottled this morning. Ended up with 54 bottles, plus a taster. The last 6+ taster had a little more of the dry hops making their way into the bottle, but those won't be any that I'd pass along to friends. Ended up with a FG of 1.016, which puts the ABV right at 7.2%

 

[pooods]

Add me to the list of kids killed my brewing. Brewed so much that I bought my base malts in 55lb sacks. Converted a freezer to a 4 tap kegerator with a stout faucet & nitro. Nothing like the smell of cooking wort.

I do have a question, why are you covering the kettle during the boil?

 

[Cobrabit]

Add me to the list of kids killed my brewing. Brewed so much that I bought my base malts in 55lb sacks. Converted a freezer to a 4 tap kegerator with a stout faucet & nitro. Nothing like the smell of cooking wort.

I do have a question, why are you covering the kettle during the boil?

Had the lid on to help raise the temperature up to 160+, then switched over to a foil covering once I started steeping my grains with an opening to allow steam to escape ( you can see the foil in post 12). The foil is primarily there to prevent debris from a couple oak trees overhead on a windy day finding their way into the kettle.

 

[pooods]

Had the lid on to help raise the temperature up to 160+, then switched over to a foil covering once I started steeping my grains with an opening to allow steam to escape ( you can see the foil in post 12). The foil is primarily there to prevent debris from a couple oak trees overhead on a windy day finding their way into the kettle.

No DMS talk needed.

Good for you. I am jealous. I miss the process.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

I finally built the keg fridge for my bar during the pandemic as there wasn't much else to do. I have two five gallon kegs in there. Milk stout and American wheat.

 

[SU Nittany Tide]

View attachment 248756 Started soaking my oak chips in Evan Williams white label (375 ml) to add to my second carboy when I rack the Imperial Stout clone (Dragon's Milk) over in a couple days. Very interested in getting a gravity reading on that one to see where it's at once I rack it with an OG right at 1.100. Most of the consistent bubbling activity in the blow off setup ended a few days ago, but there's still plenty of CO2 pressure in the primary bucket with a domed lid. It'll condition in the secondary for at least 8 weeks prior to bottling.

I quit racking my brews years ago based on the advice of most everybody on brewing message boards. I'd love to try the dragons milk clone!