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Woop woop! My girl brought home the silver medal in our local homebrew competition!! I got a decent score on my beer but didn't win anything (deservedly so, made some mistakes). In case anyone wants some inspiration for a kickass, one-and-done, Belgian Strong Brown... Here's her recipe: 2lb Biscuit 2lb Honey Malt 2lb Caramunich 2lb Golden Oats 8lb Marris Otter 1lb Brown Sugar 1oz Cascade 60min 1oz Hersbrucker 15min 1oz Hersbrucker 5min Mashed at 155F, Belgian strong ale yeast. For the first month it tasted a bit too hot, but around the 2 month mark it really started to shine and became something awesome. If you have the capability to lager it a bit like Duvel does I'd suggest it, just to get it a little cleaner.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:09
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 08:42 |
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fullroundaction posted:Woop woop! My girl brought home the silver medal in our local homebrew competition!! I got a decent score on my beer but didn't win anything (deservedly so, made some mistakes). I don't think I have heard of a Belgian Brown before. Sounds crazy/awesome.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:34
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ScaerCroe posted:I don't think I have heard of a Belgian Brown before. Sounds crazy/awesome. We hadn't either, and then we had one at a beer nerd bar and were like "welp". I like session beers, and my girlfriend would drink KBS while floating around in the pool, so our brewing philosophies don't usually line up. I know her malt bill is going to make most people have a panic attack, but trust me it's not "too much" of anything. She got docked on her score sheets for it being too dry and clean 
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Sep 7, 2013 02:18
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This is probably a silly question, but I'll ask anyway because I think the answer will be that I think I can do the following: I want to do a Munich Helles and it looks like AHS has a "Mini-Mash" kit that involves 3.5 pounds of grain and 5 lbs of LME. It seems to me I could mash in the grains in a 20x24" nylon bag in my 40 quart turkey fryer (kinda sorta BIAB-style) and then dump the grains once the mash is complete (and before boil, hop and LME additions, etc.). I would obviously have to spend more time and attention paid toward watching temperatures during the mash in a mini-mash than using straight extract, but does that plan sound feasible? Totally stoked about brewing the Helles: New fermentation chamber, temperature controller, brew buddy who has never had a Helles, and can't wait to recreate the taste and smells that my wife and I get every year when we travel to Germany.
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Sep 7, 2013 03:57
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LaserWash posted:This is probably a silly question, but I'll ask anyway because I think the answer will be that I think I can do the following: No reason your mini-mash can't be BIAB style. What yeast strain are you planning to use? I usually use the WLP833 but I've also had decent results with 838. I'd love to find one that gets me close to Augustiner. Supposedly Wyeast Munich Lager II is pretty close but I haven't found it yet to give it a try.
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Sep 7, 2013 05:29
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Bruinator posted:No reason your mini-mash can't be BIAB style. What yeast strain are you planning to use? I usually use the WLP833 but I've also had decent results with 838. I'd love to find one that gets me close to Augustiner. Supposedly Wyeast Munich Lager II is pretty close but I haven't found it yet to give it a try. I really wish I knew what yeast I was going with. It's part of the hang up I'm having, that and whether I want to mini-mash for the first time. You and I are speaking the same language though. I want something that tastes like JW Augustiner (from the barrel) or Andechs Helles. AHS has Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager) and 2124 (Bohemia Lager) that I've been tossing around back and forth trying. They do not however have the Wyeast Munich Lager II strain that you suggest. There's also something out there called White Labs 835 German Lager X that has been reported to come from a "famous monastery in Bavaria" but no one seems capable of pinpointing which monastery (Augustiner? Andechs? Ettaller?... continue list of 2500 other monasteries in southern Bavaria...) and it also appears hard to find online. I'm guessing they don't make it anymore. Whatever I end up with, I'll be harvesting for a Shiner Bock clone. Thinking of doing the BIAB so that I can make a nice clear, malty tasting Münchner Helles, over what might be perceived to be the easy way out (all extract) and "less to form." Hmmphhfff... what to do, what to do... I just want that creamy, malty, clean Munich Helles taste. You can't get that in Texas and I'm not aware of anyone in the US that's capable of producing something on the level of Andechs or Augustiner.
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Sep 7, 2013 17:11
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My father is going to need more carboys.  Also a larger basement.
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Sep 7, 2013 20:38
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fullroundaction posted:We hadn't either, and then we had one at a beer nerd bar and were like "welp". Michigan Brewer (KBS reference)? I brewed Jamil's Bock recipe today while watching MSU. Pouring onto the cake from a Munich Helles.
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Sep 7, 2013 22:13
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Shifty Pony posted:
What varieties of grapes you got there mr. Grapey? Funny to see a grapeshot in a mostly beer thread the same day I visit a winery. Rock on. I also fixed that sentence for you.
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Sep 8, 2013 02:07
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ScaerCroe posted:Michigan Brewer (KBS reference)? South Carolina. We can get it here on occasion for $25 a 4-pack, one per customer. One of our bars even got a keg of it, which lasted like 20 minutes. Had a big homebrew club meeting today. Lots of new members, and lots of new beer to try  Now we get to argue for weeks about a new Tshirt design.
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Sep 8, 2013 02:48
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I wish I didn't kind of hate my homebrew club. No one's a dick or anything; far from it. It's just simultaneously really big and also very cliquey and hard to penetrate. The meeting starts out as a giant shitshow of 100+ people all trying to belly up to the bottle share tables at the same time, then groups of buddies break off and just talk amongst themselves. They do some super cool projects like group brews for a full-size 55gal barrel so I go through spurts of trying to go to meetings, then inevitably dropping out again 
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Sep 8, 2013 04:38
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Do hydrometer readings of really cold samples mess up the measurements? I measured my Bock at ~50F and got 1.092, when I was shooting for an OG of 1.070!
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Sep 8, 2013 06:08
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ScaerCroe posted:Do hydrometer readings of really cold samples mess up the measurements? I measured my Bock at ~50F and got 1.092, when I was shooting for an OG of 1.070! Because the density of liquids change with temperature, hydrometers are calibrated to a certain temperature and an adjustment must be made for any temperature difference. The calibration temperature should be on the hydrometer itself or the paperwork that came with it. That being said, I don't think temperature difference alone explains that level of discrepancy. http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ Rattlehead fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Sep 8, 2013 |
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Sep 8, 2013 11:02
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Docjowles posted:I wish I didn't kind of hate my homebrew club. No one's a dick or anything; far from it. It's just simultaneously really big and also very cliquey and hard to penetrate. The meeting starts out as a giant shitshow of 100+ people all trying to belly up to the bottle share tables at the same time, then groups of buddies break off and just talk amongst themselves. They do some super cool projects like group brews for a full-size 55gal barrel so I go through spurts of trying to go to meetings, then inevitably dropping out again Are you in my homebrew group? I have considered not re-newing my membership at this point. The group seems too focused on "bigger things" than sharing homebrew and discussing it. I've met a few people who I brew with on occasion now, but I don't think a group that big is really a good thing. I found a small one that meets and shares brews and I think that's more for me.
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Sep 8, 2013 12:42
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I built a sanitary blowoff / yeast collection vessel yesterday. The whole system is sanitized so the clean yeast that collects in the vessel can be reused on subsequent batches. The liquid can also be quickly sampled (by flipping open the lid) with a pipette and dropped into a refractometer to estimate the gravity of the fermentation without pulling a sample from the primary. The vessel is large enough that it can be expanded so multiple fermenters can feed into it with more holes in the lid. In that case, if you wanted to just do a single fermentation you'd plug the extra holes with extra airlocks. The carboy bungs are "medium buon vino", which have a piece of racking cane stuck in them. Connected with 5/16" "racking tubing" to another piece of racking cane exiting into the vessel. 3/8" rubber grommets from Home Depot complete the seals. The lid on the collection vessel isn't 100% air tight, despite what the label claimed, but the airlock still bubbles and any contaminant would have to be pretty determined to get in.
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Sep 8, 2013 14:43
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CapnBry posted:I built a sanitary blowoff / yeast collection vessel yesterday. I'm very new to this but I love the idea of collecting and reusing yeast, but how do you operate it? How far from the top of the liquid is the tube in the primary? Once you have the blowoff, how do you use that to ferment the next batch? Just toss it all in?
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Sep 8, 2013 17:20
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BrianBoitano posted:I'm very new to this but I love the idea of collecting and reusing yeast, but how do you operate it? How far from the top of the liquid is the tube in the primary? Once you have the blowoff, how do you use that to ferment the next batch? Just toss it all in? On reusing yeast, if you're using a bucket, you can just scrape a bit of the yeast off the bottom of the bucket. I've done it and it worked well - just make sure you're careful about sanitation like usual and it should be fine. I haven't tried storing the yeast, though. Only taking it and holding it while I brew the next batch, then pitching it immediately.
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Sep 8, 2013 17:42
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CapnBry posted:I built a sanitary blowoff / yeast collection vessel yesterday. im not sure that any liquid sampled from the blowoff collection would be representative of the final taste / gravity. What are you doing on the side of the carboy? i assume temp... what are you using ?
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Sep 8, 2013 18:01
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Marshmallow Blue posted:What varieties of grapes you got there mr. Grapey? Funny to see a grapeshot in a mostly beer thread the same day I visit a winery. Rock on. Scuppernong and Black Beauty. They are both varietals of muscadine grapes native to the Southeast. My dad likes sticking to esoteric things that you cannot find in the store.
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Sep 8, 2013 18:07
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Docjowles posted:I wish I didn't kind of hate my homebrew club. No mention of New Belgium in this entire post so I'm no longer rage-jealously angry at you  My club is probably 20 paying members total, of which maybe 5 or 6 actively brew. Everyone else either used to but hasn't in years or just a total groupie (how the hell do homebrewers have groupies?). That's not counting the significant others that tag along. We only have 1 like "master level" homebrewer and I ride that guys nuts trying to absorb his powers 
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Sep 8, 2013 18:08
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Anyone have any luck getting hose barbs at home depot or lowes? I don't really want to order them from keg connection since it's $8 shipping and kinda slow, but we (kind of accidently) are making a switch from quarter inch hose to 5/16ths and I'd rather get this project over sooner so I can drink this beer. Browsing the HD/Lowes web selection of hose barbs doesn't make it look promising.
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Sep 8, 2013 18:27
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they have them, but they are brass 99% of the time. for stainless you need to get them special
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Sep 8, 2013 18:29
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Just ordered my Munich Helles kit from AHS. I'm going with the WLP830. This will be my first lager and my first mini-mash. Totally stoked about this.
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Sep 8, 2013 20:11
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LaserWash posted:Just ordered my Munich Helles kit from AHS. I'm going with the WLP830. This will be my first lager and my first mini-mash. Totally stoked about this. Most homebrewers don't do lagers because it's a harder process to do, but it's totally worth it. I don't do enough of them myself, only 4-6 per year if I'm lucky. The main things to remember are to oxygenate your wort as well as you can (easy to do with an oxygen stone, otherwise shake/stir/agitate the poo poo out of it before you pitch your yeast), make a big starter, and always pitch your yeast 2-4*F cooler than you plan to ferment at. Even if you have to shove your fermentor in your fermentation chamber for 6-12 hours to cool it to the proper temp never pitch warm and then cool it to your fermentation temps. It'll probably take close to 3 weeks to ferment completely, but raise your temps to the mid 60s for 2-3 days when your fermentation is about 80% done for a diacetyl rest. After your fermentation is totally done transfer to a secondary and lager for 1-3 weeks at 32-34*F
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Sep 8, 2013 20:26
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Anyone have any luck getting hose barbs at home depot or lowes? I don't really want to order them from keg connection since it's $8 shipping and kinda slow, but we (kind of accidently) are making a switch from quarter inch hose to 5/16ths and I'd rather get this project over sooner so I can drink this beer. Browsing the HD/Lowes web selection of hose barbs doesn't make it look promising. Bargain fittings has $5 shipping.
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Sep 8, 2013 20:37
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Josh Wow posted:Most homebrewers don't do lagers because it's a harder process to do, but it's totally worth it. I don't do enough of them myself, only 4-6 per year if I'm lucky. The main things to remember are to oxygenate your wort as well as you can (easy to do with an oxygen stone, otherwise shake/stir/agitate the poo poo out of it before you pitch your yeast), make a big starter, and always pitch your yeast 2-4*F cooler than you plan to ferment at. Even if you have to shove your fermentor in your fermentation chamber for 6-12 hours to cool it to the proper temp never pitch warm and then cool it to your fermentation temps. It'll probably take close to 3 weeks to ferment completely, but raise your temps to the mid 60s for 2-3 days when your fermentation is about 80% done for a diacetyl rest. After your fermentation is totally done transfer to a secondary and lager for 1-3 weeks at 32-34*F I want it to be clear and malty, so I'm hoping the 830 does that. Also read that some people do two or more whirlfloc tablets to get things all cleared up. I was planning on doing two whirlflocs and then a double dose or so of gelatin at the end. Does that sound about right? When I'm done, I'll harvest the yeast and start work on the Shiner Bock clone I want to do. Yes, I like lagers. Sue me.
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Sep 8, 2013 21:05
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I'm brewing by myself for the first time in a long time. On the one hand, it's less fun than brewing with a buddy, but on the other hand I'm a lot less drunk than normal and things are going smoother than they usually do.
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Sep 8, 2013 21:50
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LaserWash posted:I was planning on doing two whirlflocs and then a double dose or so of gelatin at the end. Does that sound about right? 1 whirlfloc is all you need, 1 tablet is good for up to ten gallons. For clarity it's important to get a good cold break so chill as fast as you can. Before you transfer to secondary cold crash it for a few days to compact your trub and don't get greedy and suck up trub while you're racking. Most of the clarity will come from lagering and cold conditioning, but you can do gelatin too and it'll help.
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Sep 8, 2013 23:13
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Dangit, I hit back in the quickreply box so this post is going to be shorter than it was.Roundboy posted:im not sure that any liquid sampled from the blowoff collection would be representative of the final taste / gravity. I plan to reuse the yeast by pouring it into a jar and letting it settle out, then topping it off with sterilized water. I do this with yeast starter leftovers and it stores for months. Instead of buying a new smack pack, I just make a new starter and pitch it with the decanted yeast from the jar. The wire the temperature sensor for the fermenter controller. Right now it is wired to a custom circuit board that controls the freezer via SSR. My plan is to replace the controller board in the freezer with my own design though, which after a bunch of ferments this way will probably use an RF transmitter instead of a wire. The replacement has a 3 digit 7-segment LCD to read out the temperature and fits into the same hole, no extra wires. I'm a little shy about building it because it would be my first transformerless power supply build and even though I've followed all the UL design guidelines, I'm still a little shy about it. Also I drink a lot now.
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Sep 8, 2013 23:16
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Josh Wow posted:Most homebrewers don't do lagers because it's a harder process to do, but it's totally worth it. I don't do enough of them myself, only 4-6 per year if I'm lucky. The main things to remember are to oxygenate your wort as well as you can (easy to do with an oxygen stone, otherwise shake/stir/agitate the poo poo out of it before you pitch your yeast), make a big starter, and always pitch your yeast 2-4*F cooler than you plan to ferment at. Even if you have to shove your fermentor in your fermentation chamber for 6-12 hours to cool it to the proper temp never pitch warm and then cool it to your fermentation temps.
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Sep 9, 2013 03:27
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Syrinxx posted:What's the reason for the temperature requirement with lager yeast? Most kits I've seen say it's safer to pitch slightly warm than let a big juicy batch of wort sit around for bacteria to wander into. Also I've talked to people that just pitch 2 packets of yeast for lagers instead of messing with big starters, is this suitable? Most kits I've seen give pretty poor advice. There's also brewing acceptable beer, and brewing a beer right. If I were going to lager a beer I'd make sure I gave it every pre-cautionary measure I could.
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Sep 9, 2013 05:39
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I agree with Midorka, but to expound, it's also a CYA from the homebrew shop's perspective. If a dude making his second batch buys the kit, follows directions and gets an infected batch, he's going to blame the shop. But if he follows instructions to a T, making a lager that's pretty estery but otherwise not infected, he's stoked and going to come back for more. I mean that in no way as a knock on anyone brewing kits, hell they almost certainly turn out better than the poo poo recipes I make up myself. Just that kit instructions are often written with the goal of guaranteeing "acceptable" beer as Midorka puts it vs "great beer but harder/more expensive to pull off" since most of their customers aren't huge sperglords like us. edit: read Syrinxx's post again. A few other things: 1) Lager yeast is a different type of yeast. It just naturally works better at a lower temperature. At ale temps it spits out unpleasant flavors that are out of style. Think of any lager from a Bud to a Victory Prima Pils or Ayinger Oktoberfest, do you get anything from the flavor that seems like yeast fruitiness? Nope, they are clean as can be. That's from the low and slow fermentation. 2) Yes, you can just buy more vials/packs to approximate a big rear end starter. It's not exactly the same since a starter also gets the yeast all active and happy but if you'd rather spend money vs time it's close enough. Docjowles fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Sep 9, 2013 |
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Sep 9, 2013 06:09
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If you were trying to win a contest in which the winner's recipe gets brewed by a local brewery, would you limit yourself to entering beers the brewery would or could actually brew?
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Sep 9, 2013 17:19
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I may have messed up something here. I tried to get strawberries into my strawberry currant mead. So I blended them  And now theres piles of fluff on the bottom and seeds and floaty gunk on the top. This was for backsweetening and not fermenting so everything was close to done. Is it going to compact back down or am I going to lose a ton of mead to the fluff.
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Sep 9, 2013 17:27
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internet celebrity posted:If you were trying to win a contest in which the winner's recipe gets brewed by a local brewery, would you limit yourself to entering beers the brewery would or could actually brew? No, I'd brew the best beer I knew how. Which reminds me, I have to get some pale ale into kegs today. It's just a club comp, but I have a short timeline.
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Sep 9, 2013 17:42
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internet celebrity posted:If you were trying to win a contest in which the winner's recipe gets brewed by a local brewery, would you limit yourself to entering beers the brewery would or could actually brew? Normally I'd say yeah play it safe and brew what they'd brew, but the winner of the competition I just participated in was a huge peanut butter and chocolate brownie stout ... in a place that serves the most boring swill to tourists all summer. What contest are you referring to? Also do you know if/when Front Street is doing theirs again?
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Sep 9, 2013 17:47
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internet celebrity posted:If you were trying to win a contest in which the winner's recipe gets brewed by a local brewery, would you limit yourself to entering beers the brewery would or could actually brew? Probably depends on the brewery, but I agree with Josh, just brew the absolute best beer you can and let the chips fall. A guy in my club won a ProAm competition with a sour that it would basically be impossible to ever replicate. He still got to brew a commercial batch and they just worked out something spiritually similar.
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Sep 9, 2013 17:48
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Jo3sh posted:No, I'd brew the best beer I knew how. Of course, but would you bother to enter something like a gueuze knowing that there's no chance in hell they'd tie up a fermenter or two for a couple years? edit: quote:What contest are you referring to? Also do you know if/when Front Street is doing theirs again? I'm talking about Front Street. I think it's in January so I want to be sure I have something great ready to go. The same guy has won for several years in a row so I'm brewing with intent this year. internet celebrity fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Sep 9, 2013 |
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Sep 9, 2013 17:50
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Docjowles posted:He still got to brew a commercial batch and they just worked out something spiritually similar. All Sachh sour loaded with lemon juice
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Sep 9, 2013 17:56
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 08:42 |
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My Southern English brown ale is being bottled today. I'm tasting it and it's nutty, lingers like a roasted peanut, with cocoa and roasted coffee aromas. This is pretty great and 3.4%. Hello session beers.
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Sep 9, 2013 18:01
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