Home Brewing

Crispy · Mar 28, 2010, 04:36 PM

I am now brewing a "Reddish-Brown Belgian Ale" (terrible name), with a partial mash which is now resting in the mashtun (picnic water cooler). And of course, while doing that I'm enjoying a Doppelbock from my last batch, and it's not bad, but needs some more time in the bottle. The low amount of priming sugar has resulted in little carbonation, but at least they didn't blow up. Strong!

jones · Apr 23, 2010, 11:17 AM

I met CrispYY before the show and we swapped home brews. Chris, my dad and I tried your Doppelbock and it was great! I would buy this beer.

On a side note,It was also nice to meet JohnnYYac, ALady, and a couple of other forum folks (sorry, I'm not the best with names).

Crispy · Apr 23, 2010, 11:24 AM

QuoteI met CrispYY before the show and we swapped home brews. Chris, my dad and I tried your Doppelbock and it was great! I would buy this beer.

On a side note,It was also nice to meet JohnnYYac, ALady, and a couple of other forum folks (sorry, I'm not the best with names).

Awesome! Glad you liked it. I haven't had a chance to try yours yet, but I will after work, and after today, I am going to be ready for it. This feels like Monday!

How'd you feel yesterday? ;)

jones · Apr 23, 2010, 11:30 AM

Quote
QuoteI met CrispYY before the show and we swapped home brews. Chris, my dad and I tried your Doppelbock and it was great! I would buy this beer.

On a side note,It was also nice to meet JohnnYYac, ALady, and a couple of other forum folks (sorry, I'm not the best with names).
Awesome! Glad you liked it. I haven't had a chance to try yours yet, but I will after work, and after today, I am going to be ready for it. This feels like Monday!

How'd you feel yesterday? ;)

Pretty darn good. We slept in (we have 3 kids under 4 years at home) and grabbed a quick bite (and a couple of Big Hoppy Monsters) at Mellow Mushroom.

YouAre_GivenToFly · Apr 27, 2010, 12:27 PM

I've been away from brewing for about 2 years now... planning on brewing a Vanilla Cream Ale net weekend.

Crispy · Apr 27, 2010, 10:58 PM

Flyguy! Your beers are outstanding, both of them! As you said, the IPA is less hoppy than you'd hope, but still really tasty (did you get enough sugar in the bottle? ;)). And the stout is really, really good.

My "Reddish Brown Belgian Ale" is ready to bottle, I just need to get my lazy ass in gear and do it. I got 12 more new grolsch-style bottles, so I can now do a whole batch in those, which is nice. Time to start another one!

jones · Apr 28, 2010, 10:23 AM

QuoteFlyguy! Your beers are outstanding, both of them! As you said, the IPA is less hoppy than you'd hope, but still really tasty (did you get enough sugar in the bottle? ;)). And the stout is really, really good.

My "Reddish Brown Belgian Ale" is ready to bottle, I just need to get my lazy ass in gear and do it. I got 12 more new grolsch-style bottles, so I can now do a whole batch in those, which is nice. Time to start another one!

I'm glad that you liked them! Would a reduction in priming sugar make a beer taste less hoppy? I just used what came with the kit. I would be intereted to know for future reference.

The "Stout" (Porter?) is the Thespian Stout from High Gravity. The IPA is My Favorite IPA, also from High Gravity.

jones · Apr 28, 2010, 10:25 AM

QuoteI've been away from brewing for about 2 years now... planning on brewing a Vanilla Cream Ale net weekend.

That sounds interesting. I haven't ever tried a beer like that, I don't believe. Let us know how it turns out. Is it your own recipe or a kit? Extract or mash?

Crispy · Apr 28, 2010, 10:50 AM

Quote
QuoteFlyguy! Your beers are outstanding, both of them! As you said, the IPA is less hoppy than you'd hope, but still really tasty (did you get enough sugar in the bottle? ;)). And the stout is really, really good.

My "Reddish Brown Belgian Ale" is ready to bottle, I just need to get my lazy ass in gear and do it. I got 12 more new grolsch-style bottles, so I can now do a whole batch in those, which is nice. Time to start another one!

I'm glad that you liked them! Would a reduction in priming sugar make a beer taste less hoppy? I just used what came with the kit. I would be intereted to know for future reference.

The "Stout" (Porter?) is the Thespian Stout from High Gravity. The IPA is My Favorite IPA, also from High Gravity.

Ah, I was unclear (had a few in me) about what I was saying there about the priming sugar. Maybe it was just the bottle I got, but it seemed like there may have been a little much sugar, it was really heady and took a while to pour. A high amount will affect the flavor a teensy bit, but shouldn't mess with the hoppiness. How much did the recipe call for? I think what I usually use is about 3/4 cup. I'd like to start using DME instead of sugar, but I never have any on hand when I bottle.

jones · Apr 28, 2010, 12:42 PM

Quote
Quote
QuoteFlyguy! Your beers are outstanding, both of them! As you said, the IPA is less hoppy than you'd hope, but still really tasty (did you get enough sugar in the bottle? ;)). And the stout is really, really good.

My "Reddish Brown Belgian Ale" is ready to bottle, I just need to get my lazy ass in gear and do it. I got 12 more new grolsch-style bottles, so I can now do a whole batch in those, which is nice. Time to start another one!

I'm glad that you liked them! Would a reduction in priming sugar make a beer taste less hoppy? I just used what came with the kit. I would be intereted to know for future reference.

The "Stout" (Porter?) is the Thespian Stout from High Gravity. The IPA is My Favorite IPA, also from High Gravity.
Ah, I was unclear (had a few in me) about what I was saying there about the priming sugar. Maybe it was just the bottle I got, but it seemed like there may have been a little much sugar, it was really heady and took a while to pour. A high amount will affect the flavor a teensy bit, but shouldn't mess with the hoppiness. How much did the recipe call for? I think what I usually use is about 3/4 cup. I'd like to start using DME instead of sugar, but I never have any on hand when I bottle.

I gotcha. Yeah, I noticed the same thing about the IPA and wasn't really very pleased with it overall. I thought that the Stout (Porter?) turned out really well. So, well, in fact, that I only have a couple of bottles left. I guess that I need to make more!

YouAre_GivenToFly · Apr 29, 2010, 12:24 PM

Quote
QuoteI've been away from brewing for about 2 years now... planning on brewing a Vanilla Cream Ale net weekend.

That sounds interesting. I haven't ever tried a beer like that, I don't believe. Let us know how it turns out. Is it your own recipe or a kit? Extract or mash?

Extract recipe I found on a homebrw forum.

Malts
3 pounds extra light DME
3 pounds light wheat DME
1 pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150'-165')

Hops
1oz Cascade for bittering (60 minutes)
.5oz Saaz for flavor (20 minutes)
.5 oz Tettnang for aroma (end of boil)

Yeast
Wyeast German Ale

Extras
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
4oz Lactose @ 15 minutes
2 oz real vanilla extract

Priming
>1cup Lactose
4oz vanilla (Be careful! This may be too much vanilla for some people.)
1.5 cups light DME

Crispy · Apr 29, 2010, 03:25 PM

That is an interesting-looking recipe, YAGTF, and steeping the Caramel malt at that temperature means you're getting into partial mash territory. Have you done much mashing before?

Does the recipe mention when to add the vanilla to the boil?

YouAre_GivenToFly · Apr 29, 2010, 03:32 PM

QuoteThat is an interesting-looking recipe, YAGTF, and steeping the Caramel malt at that temperature means you're getting into partial mash territory. Have you done much mashing before?

Does the recipe mention when to add the vanilla to the boil?

Add the 2oz. of vanilla at the very end of the boil.

This was actually the first beer I ever made. Kind of intimidating at the time, but it turned out very well. I found that steeping the caramel was realy just like making a big batch of tea, but with more attention paid to temperature.

I submitted it to the Sam Adams homebrew contest a few years back and got a pretty respectable score. I got 2 scoresheets back... I forget what my actual score was but it was in the 70-80% range. I was pleased :)

Crispy · Apr 29, 2010, 03:49 PM

Quote
QuoteThat is an interesting-looking recipe, YAGTF, and steeping the Caramel malt at that temperature means you're getting into partial mash territory. Have you done much mashing before?

Does the recipe mention when to add the vanilla to the boil?

Add the 2oz. of vanilla at the very end of the boil.

This was actually the first beer I ever made. Kind of intimidating at the time, but it turned out very well. I found that steeping the caramel was realy just like making a big batch of tea, but with more attention paid to temperature.

I submitted it to the Sam Adams homebrew contest a few years back and got a pretty respectable score. I got 2 scoresheets back... I forget what my actual score was but it was in the 70-80% range. I was pleased :)

Good stuff! If you do more mashing, I've found using an Igloo picnic water cooler works very well to hold the temperature. Half a gallon of water at 165F for each pound of grain will put the mash temp at around 155-158.

YouAre_GivenToFly · May 04, 2010, 02:14 PM

Quote
Quote
QuoteThat is an interesting-looking recipe, YAGTF, and steeping the Caramel malt at that temperature means you're getting into partial mash territory. Have you done much mashing before?

Does the recipe mention when to add the vanilla to the boil?

Add the 2oz. of vanilla at the very end of the boil.

This was actually the first beer I ever made. Kind of intimidating at the time, but it turned out very well. I found that steeping the caramel was realy just like making a big batch of tea, but with more attention paid to temperature.

I submitted it to the Sam Adams homebrew contest a few years back and got a pretty respectable score. I got 2 scoresheets back... I forget what my actual score was but it was in the 70-80% range. I was pleased :)
Good stuff! If you do more mashing, I've found using an Igloo picnic water cooler works very well to hold the temperature. Half a gallon of water at 165F for each pound of grain will put the mash temp at around 155-158.

I never thought of using a picnic cooler... I usualy just put a pot on the stove and carefully moitor the temp for 45 minutes.

jones · May 04, 2010, 02:18 PM

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Converting_a_cooler_to_a_mash_tun

jones · May 04, 2010, 02:18 PM

I have yet to get into mashing...

Soulshine · May 07, 2010, 11:19 PM

QuoteFlyguy! Your beers are outstanding, both of them! As you said, the IPA is less hoppy than you'd hope, but still really tasty (did you get enough sugar in the bottle? ;)). And the stout is really, really good.

My "Reddish Brown Belgian Ale" is ready to bottle, I just need to get my lazy ass in gear and do it. I got 12 more new grolsch-style bottles, so I can now do a whole batch in those, which is nice. Time to start another one!

That shit will turn out better in the high country...i'm just sayin... ;)

YouAre_GivenToFly · May 10, 2010, 09:52 AM

Brewed yesterday. Everything went really well... partial mash stayed right at 155 degrees for about 35 minutes.... full 60 minute boil... had fermentation within 4 or 5 hours, and that airlock was really bubbling this morning with some good smells coming out of it. only 20 days until bottling!

aMillionDreams · May 16, 2010, 08:07 AM

ALright, I'm doing it, finally. I bought two books on homebrewing and I'm going down to the homebrew store sometime this week (maybe today) to get the equipment. I've just been balking on the up front investment but I spent 150 bucks on alcohol this weekend and thought, what am I waiting for? It's time to brew!