Homebrewers - Whats Fermenting?

[smokinghole]

Just packaged up roughly 9 gallons of English Special Bitter. The numbers came out perfectly and the bitterness is right where it should be. I have not drank many beers like this and have never brewed one. So we'll see how good it is when I hand a case off to a Londoner. Due to this being low carbonation, I calculated for 1.6 volumes, I bottled a large portion in three 2L flip top growlers for a potential super bowl party. I still ended up with almost three full cases of bottles even with the 6L going into growlers.

 

[musicman]

Hopslam was just released, so in honor of its release I am going to try to make an IPA with a shit load of hops from the pacific NW. Im kind of a newb at this so I am only brewing in 1 gallon batches. I know.....weak...

 

[JRL]

I am prepping bottles for tomorrow. Need to bottle a cream ale, tasted good the other day when I tested it. I can not wait till I can get the kegerator up and running. Still need a regulator, secondary regulator, faucets and shanks. Hopefully in March.

 

[gibbleguts]

Hopslam was just released, so in honor of its release I am going to try to make an IPA with a shit load of hops from the pacific NW. Im kind of a newb at this so I am only brewing in 1 gallon batches. I know.....weak...

Weak? At least you are trying your hand at it. The whole reason I don't home brew is there are so many good beers out there brewing my own would interfere with trying professionally blended beers. Doing small batches till you get recipes worked out isn't a bad thing you just have to brew more often and fine tune some recipes.

 

[JRL]

Weak? At least you are trying your hand at it. The whole reason I don't home brew is there are so many good beers out there brewing my own would interfere with trying professionally blended beers. Doing small batches till you get recipes worked out isn't a bad thing you just have to brew more often and fine tune some recipes.

You know It is weird cause I don't think that my beers are better than any craft beers out there but the last 10 beers I have had at home were all my home brews and I have some good miro brew and craft beers in my fridge. Kind of odd, even as i sit here and think about it I am not sure why.

 

[smokinghole]

I do it for the economics of it really. 9%+ belgians go for $120+ a case. I can make three for $50 when I make an expensive batch. I think the stuff I make is damn good too.

I make 5ish gal batches of "new recipes". When I know I like it I make 8-12 gal batches cause it takes the same amount of time to brew for the most part.

 

[musicman]

Wow 8-12 gallons at a time! That is a serious drinking commitment!

I do it for the economics of it really. 9%+ belgians go for $120+ a case. I can make three for $50 when I make an expensive batch. I think the stuff I make is damn good too.

I make 5ish gal batches of "new recipes". When I know I like it I make 8-12 gal batches cause it takes the same amount of time to brew for the most part.

 

[gibbleguts]

You know It is weird cause I don't think that my beers are better than any craft beers out there but the last 10 beers I have had at home were all my home brews and I have some good miro brew and craft beers in my fridge. Kind of odd, even as i sit here and think about it I am not sure why.

What it may mean is you have made enough to know what you like and blend towards that. Like you say may not be better but maybe more towards your tastes at the moment at least.

 

[smokinghole]

Wow 8-12 gallons at a time! That is a serious drinking commitment!

Some of these beers age for a minimum of six months mind you. Plus if you know you like the beer its a shame not to have more than a case or two to drink/share.

 

[hossdawg]

Over the weekend I racked an Irish Red Ale to a secondary and brewed a Caribou Slobber Brown Ale. Both were from Northern Brewery.

 

[smokinghole]

I have two more home assembled recipes to brew up before I do my Flanders Red batch. I just hope I have the bottles available to package this stuff up! I will be taking a trip north before too long to stash some brew at my parents house I'm thinking.

 

[smokinghole]

Finally doing up my Orval inspired beer. It gets vienna malt and pils malt. Then clear and amber candy sugar along with a sprinkling of caramel malts. If it doesn't suck I'll share the actual recipe. Orval is my favorite Trappist ale and I just hope this mildly lives up. I will be fermenting with WLP510, reputed to be the primary yeast strain. Once fermentation is complete I will dump in some orval bottle sediment that I've saved, and from one that I'll drink very soon. I will let it go until the gravity is closer to 1.009 and then I will bottle in heavy champagne bottles. Due to the wild yeasts in the Orval itself the beer will continue to ferment and build CO2.

 

[Lorax429]

It's brew day. This one is a pale ale

 

[JRL]

Nice, keep those beer rolling and you will always have stuff around. I am going to pick up supplies to do my Belgian Pale Ale tomorrow. I am hoping to enter this one in the national homebrew competition.

 

[Lorax429]

Ok. Pale ale in the fermenter. OG is 1.056.

 

[smokinghole]

Next time you do a pale ale or an IPA try some safale SO4 yeast. That stuff makes some good flavors and it drops so clear it's like you filtered the beer. Just don't let it get much over 68F and it will make good flavor. If it gets too warm it can begin to put off terrible acetone like flavors. I had an IPA get WAY too warm when the AC died two summers ago. It was a dumper.

I figured with the wife out of town I'd brew again today. I'm heating up sparge water for a Belgian dubbel. My own recipe so we'll see how it works out. I've been trying to use up my bulk grain right now. In two weeks I'm thinking I'll brew up a traditional maibock.

 

[veeref]

My son helping me with an American IPA. I used a little over 11lbs of 2-Row, with a little bit of Carapils, 60L and German Munich Light Malt. Hops were Horizon, Cascade and Willamette staggered every 30 mins, with more Cascade at flame-out.

Pitched with Wyeast 1056. I decided to try fermenting in the upper 60s. It had a pretty high flocculation, and I replaced the airlock with a blowoff tube just to be safe.

 

[smokinghole]

Very cool your son is helping. My wife avoids even coming outside when I have a batch going. It doesn't stop her from bragging it up to friends from time to time. I'll be on a brewing break for a week or two while a couple finish up. I have most all my fermentors full. Well I take that back I can always start my Flanders Red Ale.....

 

[Lorax429]

Tried my first beer from first batch. An Amber Ale. It is good. Good color and good head. For a kit beer the flavor is very good. It is still a little green though. It ha only been in the bottle for 13 days. I was impatient. But I think it will improve some with another week or so.

Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk

 

[JRL]

Very nice, if you give it a little more time it will only get better. I know I was anxious my first few and still am for certain batches.

I will be doing an amber ale this weekend I think. Then oatmeal stout.