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What are you brewing?

So I went to my LHBS yesterday and picked the guys brain for about an hour, asking him all sorts of questions about brewing all grain batches, and he directed me to mini-mashing as a "stepping stone" from all liquid extract brewing to making the jump to all grain. He seems willing to work with me on a 2.5 gallon scale, so now it is just a matter of finding a recipe for a good oatmeal stout, then buying the ingredient. I haven't the slightest clue where to start, but I'll be asking some more questions in a few weeks when my other batches are done...
 
Austin Homebrew sells really good minimash kits. I used them for a couple of mini mash kits as a transition to all grain. Maybe try one of those before trying to "create" a mini mash recipe. Generally, the first time you use a new brewing method, you want to remove variables. That way if it turns out bad, you know it wasn't a recipe problem. The kits will give you good beer without all the stress. Then once you get the hang of it, you can start building your own recipes. I am all about building recipes... that is one of my favorite things about homebrewing, but doing a couple of kits to get the hang of the new process is never a bad idea. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!

DJ
 
I've got a batch of Belgian Trippel bubbling away right now.

I wanted to use my better bottle as my primary for this one so I could watch it bubbling away. I learned two lessons.

One was that when you lift the bottle, take the air lock out...............The weight of the liquid causes the bottom to sag, causing a vacuum, which sucked the liquid right out of the air lock into my wort..........I use sanitizer in my air lock. :rolleyes:

The other was that for a Belgian I should have used a bucket which would have given me more head room between the lid and wort. I woke up this morning after pitching last night and there was a pool of wort on the floor, with krausen spewing out of the top of the air lock. :laugh:

I never gave that a thought.

Getting ready to order the rest of the ingredients that I could not find at my local from Midwest to make a batch of Dubbel. Found a recipe, and I'm excited to get away from kits............Tweaked the ingredients a little bit with the help of Justin. Will be making my own Candi sugar with a recipe he gave me as well. :cool:
 
DrummerJohn said:
Austin Homebrew sells really good minimash kits. I used them for a couple of mini mash kits as a transition to all grain. Maybe try one of those before trying to "create" a mini mash recipe. Generally, the first time you use a new brewing method, you want to remove variables. That way if it turns out bad, you know it wasn't a recipe problem. The kits will give you good beer without all the stress. Then once you get the hang of it, you can start building your own recipes. I am all about building recipes... that is one of my favorite things about homebrewing, but doing a couple of kits to get the hang of the new process is never a bad idea. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!

DJ
Click to expand...

Thanks DJ, I will be checking out Austin Homebrew for a kit, and when I get it, I might shoot you a couple PMs.

ETA: Just took a reading on my Dubliner Stout, and she is ready to bottle at a reading of 1.015, and my estimated was 1.016, and only 13 days fermenting! I'm pretty surprised actually, and the beer tastes so damn good. I'm cold crashing the keg now, and will bottle on Wednesday.

As far as my Blueberry Stout, I took a reading and it's at 1.020, and my estimated is 1.016, so I'm going to wait. It tastes "ready to bottle," but I'll do another reading on Wednesday to see if there are any changes. The brew itself is black as night, and has a motor oil consistency. The beer from the fermenter tastes awesome, I'm very happy with it.
 
You gotta love it when the hydrometer samples taste great! A couple of weeks to carb up in the bottle and those stouts will be awesome! Pair those babies up with a nice strong cigar for sure. I think I'm gonna have to do a stout next.

Brewed an American Wheat IPA this weekend and hit all my temps and OG right on, so it should be pretty darn good.
 
jfields said:
I've got a batch of Belgian Trippel bubbling away right now.

I wanted to use my better bottle as my primary for this one so I could watch it bubbling away. I learned two lessons.

One was that when you lift the bottle, take the air lock out...............The weight of the liquid causes the bottom to sag, causing a vacuum, which sucked the liquid right out of the air lock into my wort..........I use sanitizer in my air lock. :rolleyes:

The other was that for a Belgian I should have used a bucket which would have given me more head room between the lid and wort. I woke up this morning after pitching last night and there was a pool of wort on the floor, with krausen spewing out of the top of the air lock. :laugh:

I never gave that a thought.

Getting ready to order the rest of the ingredients that I could not find at my local from Midwest to make a batch of Dubbel. Found a recipe, and I'm excited to get away from kits............Tweaked the ingredients a little bit with the help of Justin. Will be making my own Candi sugar with a recipe he gave me as well. :cool:
Click to expand...

I keep all my better bottles in milk crates to avoid that very problem Jon, and also put cheap vodka in the airlocks in case there is suckback for whatever reason.

Search blowoff tube to avoid making the mess in the future, how big of a better bottle were you using?

I want to see the final recipe for the Dubbel too!
 
smellysell said:
jfields said:
I've got a batch of Belgian Trippel bubbling away right now.

I wanted to use my better bottle as my primary for this one so I could watch it bubbling away. I learned two lessons.

One was that when you lift the bottle, take the air lock out...............The weight of the liquid causes the bottom to sag, causing a vacuum, which sucked the liquid right out of the air lock into my wort..........I use sanitizer in my air lock. :rolleyes:

The other was that for a Belgian I should have used a bucket which would have given me more head room between the lid and wort. I woke up this morning after pitching last night and there was a pool of wort on the floor, with krausen spewing out of the top of the air lock. :laugh:

I never gave that a thought.

Getting ready to order the rest of the ingredients that I could not find at my local from Midwest to make a batch of Dubbel. Found a recipe, and I'm excited to get away from kits............Tweaked the ingredients a little bit with the help of Justin. Will be making my own Candi sugar with a recipe he gave me as well. :cool:
Click to expand...

I keep all my better bottles in milk crates to avoid that very problem Jon, and also put cheap vodka in the airlocks in case there is suckback for whatever reason.

Search blowoff tube to avoid making the mess in the future, how big of a better bottle were you using?

I want to see the final recipe for the Dubbel too!
Click to expand...

Drummerjohn suggested that earlier today and I Hooked up a blow off tube. That sucker is still pumping out the krausen, but I guess I now know that's normal with a big beer like this (OG was 1.087)
The Better Bottle was only a five gallon that came with the kit I bought. I never gave it a thought as last time I used a bucket and then transferred to a five gallon glass carboy is use for wine. That's just the thing I guess. I'm used to wine fermenting, but not beer and the foam it can make. I'll use a six gallon glass next time I want to watch the bubbles.
Lesson learned. :blush:

I'll get the recipe down once I get it all in and get it posted. I did get the WLP 500, and added the Special B as you suggested.
 
Drinking my third Irish Red Ale that looks more like a Nut Brown, but damn it's good after only thirteen days of bottle conditioning. Can't wait to see what this beer will be like in a month. :p
Carbonation is really nice, and I'm pleased that my first attempt turned out better than decent.
Wouldn't have been my first choice to brew if it didn't come with the kit I bought, but It's a good ale none the less since I made it myself......Very rewarding!
 
Sooo, I transferred the tripel to the secondary this weekend...OG wast 1.085, the reading before it went to secondary was 1.022. It is still bubbling a bit in the secondary so that may come down a bit. I will let this sit in the secondary for 2-3 weeks before bottling....

I may boil up an Irish stout kit this weekend. I am putting the finishing touches on my keggle. I have added the spout and the sight glass will go on. Oh, I am thinking about labeling my bottles (at least the give aways) so here is a prototype label....

BelgianLabel.jpg
 
Today is bottling day for me, and I ordered some labels from myownlabels.com. A bit pricey at 28 bucks for 24 labels, but I figured I'd try it once or twice.
 
souldog said:
Today is bottling day for me, and I ordered some labels from myownlabels.com. A bit pricey at 28 bucks for 24 labels, but I figured I'd try it once or twice.
Click to expand...


Holy Shite!!!!

Try Onlinelabels.com Jonathan. I love dealing with these people for my business. You can get a thousand labels for beer bottles in plain matte for $18.95, or you can go fancier and more expensive. When you place an order you get a free subscription to their Maestro Label designer program and you can buy, design, and print your own labels at home for a fraction of that cost. No downloads necessary for it either.
The program is very user friendly and you can upload your own pictures or pick from ones they have on it. There's stuff you can buy if you want as well.

Online Beer and Wine Bottle Labels
Online cigar band labels!
Maestro!
 
DePasta said:
Sooo, I transferred the tripel to the secondary this weekend...OG wast 1.085, the reading before it went to secondary was 1.022. It is still bubbling a bit in the secondary so that may come down a bit. I will let this sit in the secondary for 2-3 weeks before bottling....

I may boil up an Irish stout kit this weekend. I am putting the finishing touches on my keggle. I have added the spout and the sight glass will go on. Oh, I am thinking about labeling my bottles (at least the give aways) so here is a prototype label....

BelgianLabel.jpg
Click to expand...

How long did you primary it for? In the future, I'd recommend letting it finish up in primary (probably a month with an 85 OG) before moving it to secondary. I'm sure it will still be delicious though! ISO...
 
Well, unfortunately, It was in the primary for 9 days...the SG had slowed and was at 1.022 over 3 days (Following the kit directions.) Later I read on Homebrewtalk about leaving it in the primary a bit longer, but it was too late. I am concerned I had the room a bit cool during primary, it was around 62 degrees. After I moved it I warmed the room up to 66, and it seems to be fermenting again...I will just let it sit a while...at least 3 weeks and see what happens....If it turns out decent I will fulfill your ISO :thumbs: If not, I won't subject you to the terror!
 
DePasta said:
Well, unfortunately, It was in the primary for 9 days...the SG had slowed and was at 1.022 over 3 days (Following the kit directions.) Later I read on Homebrewtalk about leaving it in the primary a bit longer, but it was too late. I am concerned I had the room a bit cool during primary, it was around 62 degrees. After I moved it I warmed the room up to 66, and it seems to be fermenting again...I will just let it sit a while...at least 3 weeks and see what happens....If it turns out decent I will fulfill your ISO :thumbs: If not, I won't subject you to the terror!
Click to expand...

It'll probably be great. RDWHAHB!
 
Well we had our first tasting this week and all in all it was a nice surprise. It was actually beer :rolleyes: . The Irish Red we made was really good. Nice amount of head (I will get up pics when I crack the next one). Of the 7 we have made it through between us and friends only one was flat so we're not sure if the bottle was contaminated or not capped properly or what. As far as the Saint Paul Porter goes, I really like the flavors. Coffee and hops abound. It is still a little new, however , and will need a couple more weeks in the bottles to be a really solid beer.

In the fermenter we now have an ESB so updates to follow on that one in just over a month :p
 
Early update. As I mentioned earlier (or thought I did) my buddy and I have been using his dad's home brewing equipment for our first few batches. After much instastance from the old man to go buy our own, we did some hefty research and off to the store we went. 170 bucks later we had everything we needed to take care of two stage fermentations. We ended up getting two of the ported better bottles (one 5 and one 6) with the racking cane adapters. Along with that two drilled bungs and two 5' sections of hose. The idea behind this setup is that by connecting the racking adapters with one piece of hose and the two drilled bungs with another, we can rack without needless exposure to oxygen between primary and secondary while also not having to worry about creating a siphon. In addition to that we picked up a few odds and ends like crystal thermometers, a handle for the carboys, bottling bucket, and a hop ball that my friend insisted he needed.

Following our trip we moved our ESB from primary to secondary (stupid siphoning mehtod) and there it will sit for another 3 to 4 weeks. We are likely going to do a partial mash oatmeal stout within a week or two so keep your eyes open for that!
 
Well, I just moved my experimental Wheat IPA to the secondary after 6 weeks in primary and put in 2 oz of cascades for dry hopping. The Hydro sample tasted awesome! It tastes a little like Gumballhead, but with Cascade hops instead of Amarillo. If it is this good flat and warm, I can only imagine what it will be like in the keg. This one is not going to last long at all! I may have another house brew.

DJ
 
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