What's brewing??

[Gatorchip]

Sounds like a better idea, but in reality, I like the way my extract beers turn out so I may just stay with those.

Have you tried the Cascade Mountain Imperial IPA from Northern Brewer, it is phenominal, worth every penny it costs.

Nope I haven't tried it. And now that NB's prices went up and they charge per pound in shipping, I doubt I ever will.

Their Barelywine recipe is awesome though. If you have a carboy to age it for 6 months, I highly recommend picking up the kit.

 

[Gatorchip]

Barelywine in fermenter.

 

[757Hokie83]

kegged the coconut curry hefe this weekend...pulled off a little taste, very interesting flavor to it, good interesting, the cayenne pepper was really pronounced, we'll see how it is after its carbonated

time to gather ingredients for a batch of mead

 

[Gatorchip]

kegged the coconut curry hefe this weekend...pulled off a little taste, very interesting flavor to it, good interesting, the cayenne pepper was really pronounced, we'll see how it is after its carbonated

time to gather ingredients for a batch of mead

Take a picture of a pour when carbonated.

 

[thecrow124]

I bottled the porter a couple weeks ag o. Tried one last weekto test carbonation and that was fine. The taste was interresting to say the least. Tasted a bit sour, could have just been the hops, not really an infection sour. Not really as thick as I thought it would be, but definitely not thin. Probably try another one in a week or so, but the rest will age until late fall or winter.

 

[757Hokie83]

Take a picture of a pour when carbonated.

Will do. I'm going with a slow carbonation on this one, so it should be ready in a few days. When ever i try to force carbonate it, to have it ready in a couple of days, i end up overcarbonationg, so i've decided to be patient with this one

 

[757Hokie83]

Pulled my first pint last night, very tasty brew. The cayenne pepper seems to have settled down since my first taste. I would definitely recommend this one. Forgot to snap a pick of a pour, but i'll be revisiting the brew tonight

 

[thecrow124]

SIL came over yesterday and wanted to try my beers. Only thing I had chilled was the porter. I was nervous about letting her have one before I could give it a taste test, but I finally caved. I have to say this one is very good and has improved a lot since the initial taste. It seems weird though, there is no head to speak of, but it is well carb'd in the bottle.

Also bottled the Hefe that my friend and I brewed. It will be in the bottle a week tomorrow. Once it reaches its fully carb'd level it will be ready to drink. It sat in the fermenter for just over 4 weeks so there is no need to age it at all. He kegged his half, so he has probably already started drinking on his.

On a totally unrelated subject, a local homebrew shop has a 5 gallon mash tun/hot liquor tank set that they sell with all the accessories for $96. I really like the ease of brewing extract beers, but at times I think I would like to do some things that I can't quite do with extracts. I really only want the mash tun, but they are pretty adamant that they only sell them as a set. They did say that they will be getting in the accessories that I can purchase seperately, so maybe I will wait and do that and hope I can find a bargain on a 5 gallon cooler somewhere.

 

[Darkstone42]

I intend to get back into the brewing next weekend. Today, I bought a chest freezer, and I already have a digital temperature controller to override the internal system, so even though I don't want to turn on my AC yet, and the house is getting up close to 90 degrees, I can ferment at a good, consistent temperature.

Oh yeah!

 

[Sleepy T]

SIL came over yesterday and wanted to try my beers. Only thing I had chilled was the porter. I was nervous about letting her have one before I could give it a taste test, but I finally caved. I have to say this one is very good and has improved a lot since the initial taste. It seems weird though, there is no head to speak of, but it is well carb'd in the bottle.

Also bottled the Hefe that my friend and I brewed. It will be in the bottle a week tomorrow. Once it reaches its fully carb'd level it will be ready to drink. It sat in the fermenter for just over 4 weeks so there is no need to age it at all. He kegged his half, so he has probably already started drinking on his.

On a totally unrelated subject, a local homebrew shop has a 5 gallon mash tun/hot liquor tank set that they sell with all the accessories for $96. I really like the ease of brewing extract beers, but at times I think I would like to do some things that I can't quite do with extracts. I really only want the mash tun, but they are pretty adamant that they only sell them as a set. They did say that they will be getting in the accessories that I can purchase seperately, so maybe I will wait and do that and hope I can find a bargain on a 5 gallon cooler somewhere.

That doesn't sound like an unreasonable price assuming it is stainless. Warty said it best, If you plan to be in this hobby long term, I would go ahead and spring for something a little bit bigger. If you ever go all grain you are going to be limited by the amount of grain you can mash in a 5 gallon tun. If you are gonna be brewing 4-5 g batches of low gravity beer, you might be fine. If you ever wanna go to brewing 8-10 g batches or something with higher gravity, probably won't be able to do it with that rig. Now...if you are just using it to heat your mash/sparge water, would probably work fine.

 

[thecrow124]

That doesn't sound like an unreasonable price assuming it is stainless. Warty said it best, If you plan to be in this hobby long term, I would go ahead and spring for something a little bit bigger. If you ever go all grain you are going to be limited by the amount of grain you can mash in a 5 gallon tun. If you are gonna be brewing 4-5 g batches of low gravity beer, you might be fine. If you ever wanna go to brewing 8-10 g batches or something with higher gravity, probably won't be able to do it with that rig. Now...if you are just using it to heat your mash/sparge water, would probably work fine.

It is actually 2 Igloo coolers with plastic hoses and valves. The strainer at the bottom of the tun is stainless, but that is it. I understand what you say though, unless I am positive that I don't want anything bigger than 5 gallon batches something like this would just be force limiting myself.

 

[757Hokie83]

SIL came over yesterday and wanted to try my beers. Only thing I had chilled was the porter. I was nervous about letting her have one before I could give it a taste test, but I finally caved. I have to say this one is very good and has improved a lot since the initial taste. It seems weird though, there is no head to speak of, but it is well carb'd in the bottle.

Also bottled the Hefe that my friend and I brewed. It will be in the bottle a week tomorrow. Once it reaches its fully carb'd level it will be ready to drink. It sat in the fermenter for just over 4 weeks so there is no need to age it at all. He kegged his half, so he has probably already started drinking on his.

On a totally unrelated subject, a local homebrew shop has a 5 gallon mash tun/hot liquor tank set that they sell with all the accessories for $96. I really like the ease of brewing extract beers, but at times I think I would like to do some things that I can't quite do with extracts. I really only want the mash tun, but they are pretty adamant that they only sell them as a set. They did say that they will be getting in the accessories that I can purchase seperately, so maybe I will wait and do that and hope I can find a bargain on a 5 gallon cooler somewhere.

yeah i wouldnt shell out $96 for it. I found a cheap coleman cooler, bought a ball valve, and some pvc piping, and made my mashtun for under $35

 

[Sleepy T]

yeah i wouldnt shell out $96 for it. I found a cheap coleman cooler, bought a ball valve, and some pvc piping, and made my mashtun for under $35

Yep, I had an old cooler and an old piece of copper pipe, so that is what I used for a manifold/false bottom. I probably spent a total of $10-15...and a little time.

I currently batch sparge so I can't say much about the 5 gallon igloo HLT.

 

[Darkstone42]

I've got an IPA in the primary fermenter right now. According to my notebook, my last brew was on September 22. That's too long...

 

[Gatorchip]

Barelywine in secondary that won't be ready until October. Tasted good on the transfer.
I have an IPA in the primary. Will be racking in the next week or two on top of 3 oz of hops. I can't brew again until this happens since my carboys are filled with beer. Not a bad problem to have!

 

[wartyOne]

That doesn't sound like an unreasonable price assuming it is stainless. Warty said it best, If you plan to be in this hobby long term, I would go ahead and spring for something a little bit bigger. If you ever go all grain you are going to be limited by the amount of grain you can mash in a 5 gallon tun. If you are gonna be brewing 4-5 g batches of low gravity beer, you might be fine. If you ever wanna go to brewing 8-10 g batches or something with higher gravity, probably won't be able to do it with that rig. Now...if you are just using it to heat your mash/sparge water, would probably work fine.

This, EXACTLY.

If you want to brew 5-gallon batches, buy equipment to be able to brew a 10-gallon batch. 5-g equipment allows for 6% MAX beers. If you're wanting to go bigger then 6% make sure you buy a bigger system. It will cost you if you want three stainless vessels (HLT, Mash Tun, Boil Kettle), so be prepared for that. There are ways around stainless, though.

PM me if you're curious. I can't post enough words to point you in the right direction in this forum.

 

[thecrow124]

Stopped at Northern Brewer on my way home today and bought a 2nd crack coffee stout for the missus and the Chinook IPA that I plan to bastardize. The kit comes with 3 oz of Chinook hops. I bought 5 oz of Mosaic to use in it, but now I need to figure out how to best utilize the hops.

I was thinking 1oz Chinook at 60, another ounce at 30. With the Mosaic I was thinking 1 ounce at 10 another ounce at 5 and then dryhop with the other three ounces for 7 days. That would still leave me with an ounce of Chinook left over that I would have to find a use for later.

Using that hops schedule I would come out around 51-52 IBU, but the beer itself doesn't have a huge malt bill so I now think that may be a bit much. I have plenty of time to play around with the recipe as I probably won't have time to brew until after vacation at the beginning of July.

Thoughts?

 

[Sleepy T]

Stopped at Northern Brewer on my way home today and bought a 2nd crack coffee stout for the missus and the Chinook IPA that I plan to bastardize. The kit comes with 3 oz of Chinook hops. I bought 5 oz of Mosaic to use in it, but now I need to figure out how to best utilize the hops.

I was thinking 1oz Chinook at 60, another ounce at 30. With the Mosaic I was thinking 1 ounce at 10 another ounce at 5 and then dryhop with the other three ounces for 7 days. That would still leave me with an ounce of Chinook left over that I would have to find a use for later.

Using that hops schedule I would come out around 51-52 IBU, but the beer itself doesn't have a huge malt bill so I now think that may be a bit much. I have plenty of time to play around with the recipe as I probably won't have time to brew until after vacation at the beginning of July.

Thoughts?

I have used Chinook a couple times and it is quite strong. I think if you are using that much (2 oz.) in the first 30 minutes of the boil it is going to be a pretty harsh beer. 50 IBUs seems awfully low for that much Chinook @ 60 and 30. But if that is what you are gunning for..go for it!

For less harshness and better flavor, that is a good hop (Chinook) to throw in at 40-45 minutes. Another poster told me to do that and it turned out well (Warty1). I have heard the Mosaic hops are pretty damned good but haven't tried them, the profile says they can be used for bittering, taste, and aroma.

I am by no means an authority and have only been brewing a few years, but I would possibly add a 15-20 minute addition on it and go for something like....

Chinook .75-1 oz @ 40-45min
Mosaic .5-1 oz @ 20, 10, 0min, and Dry Hop
........for 50-70 IBUS at your OG of 1.053

I am sure a more experienced brewer can chime in and give you better info. than me. Good luck with it Crow, Let us know how it turns out! Sounds like it will be a great brew.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

Hefeweizen in the primary. Have an Amber, Red IPA and a Milk Stout bottled...

 

[Sleepy T]

Man, I brewed 3 batches today (a keg+!!!)and feel like I ran a fucking marathon. a12+ hour brew day and I was busy the whole time.

I don't get to brew but maybe a few times a year and thought I would make it count this time. I may have gotten a little overly ambitious...I am sure I will be happy here in a couple months however.

8 gallons WPA (single hopped w/ Amarillo)
8 gallons Red Rye PA (single hopped w/ Columbus)
5 gallon extract kit of Jamil's Evil Twin (my bro has had it in his closet for 6 months)