What's everyone brewing?

[Jayme]

I wish. Gavin transferred and carbonated it while I was away. I think the root cause was when he set the 12V stir plate to 24V so my yeast starter didn't have enough growth.

[mr x]

Blending it is!

[Jayme]

Yup! It will be a good experiment if nothing else.

[Graham.C]

I hope to do my mild brown and comfortably numb this weekend/early next week.

[berley]

Tomorrow I'm going to brew a Flanders Red and Saturday, something super, super dry to blend with a doppelbock that finished way too high (1.030, tastes decent but like there was a tablespoon of dme dumped in). Never tried brewing to blend before so we'll see how it goes!

What yeast/bugs are you planning to use for the Flanders Red?

[canuck]

Got the California Steam brewed up this afternoon.

[Dirt Chicken]

I want to try out a jalapeño beer, experiment!!!

[Jayme]

Tomorrow I'm going to brew a Flanders Red and Saturday, something super, super dry to blend with a doppelbock that finished way too high (1.030, tastes decent but like there was a tablespoon of dme dumped in). Never tried brewing to blend before so we'll see how it goes!

What yeast/bugs are you planning to use for the Flanders Red?

I've got a flander's blend from the East Coast Yeast group buy a few weeks bag! Excited to try it out. It will be the first sour beer I've brewed.

[berley]

Awesome, I've heard good things about those guys. I'll be interested to hear how it comes out. Do you have a rough idea how long you're going to let the bugs work? I brewed a Flanders Red in Feb, 2011, and still haven't bottled it yet (used the Wyeast Roselare Blend, plus threw in the dregs of a couple sour beers a few months ago)... going to bottle half of it soon and put the other half on 2.5-5 lbs of cherries for another few months.

[Jayme]

Did you taste it yet? My plan is to pretty much let it go for the best part of a year, taste it periodically until it seems done! My base recipe is the one out of Brewing Classic Styles. I like the cherry idea. Are you going to blend at all?

[berley]

I tasted it every 3 months since brewing it... the reason I'm still waiting is because last time (which was about 3-4 months ago, time for another taste!) it didn't have the sour character that I was hoping for. I used the recipe in BCS as well... it'd be interesting to compare yours and mine when they're both ready, what with the different yeast/bugs and all.

No plans to blend... it was my first sour beer and for some reason I have yet to do another, even though I love them.

[Tony L]

Time to make up another Helles on Saturday.

[Jayme]

I tasted it every 3 months since brewing it... the reason I'm still waiting is because last time (which was about 3-4 months ago, time for another taste!) it didn't have the sour character that I was hoping for. I used the recipe in BCS as well... it'd be interesting to compare yours and mine when they're both ready, what with the different yeast/bugs and all.

No plans to blend... it was my first sour beer and for some reason I have yet to do another, even though I love them.

Cool - we should for sure trade some bottles! I am thinking of doing a lambic sometime soon as well, but I might wait until late in the summer to get some fresh fruit. Did you start your beer with the roselare right from the get go or ferment with something else and pitch the bugs afterwards?

[pet lion]

Brewing up an IPA with Legacy and Comet hops.

[berley]

I tasted it every 3 months since brewing it... the reason I'm still waiting is because last time (which was about 3-4 months ago, time for another taste!) it didn't have the sour character that I was hoping for. I used the recipe in BCS as well... it'd be interesting to compare yours and mine when they're both ready, what with the different yeast/bugs and all.

No plans to blend... it was my first sour beer and for some reason I have yet to do another, even though I love them.

Cool - we should for sure trade some bottles! I am thinking of doing a lambic sometime soon as well, but I might wait until late in the summer to get some fresh fruit. Did you start your beer with the roselare right from the get go or ferment with something else and pitch the bugs afterwards?

Yeah, let me know. I'd love to do a Lambic as well... I was thinking of doing a Berliner Weisse sometime soon. You really have to do a Sour ever 3 months or so if you want to build up inventory!

I DID start with the Roselare right away. Jamil said you could start with 1056 or similar and add the Roselare into fermentation if you didn't want it to be too sour, but I had advice that adding the Roselare on its own really didn't make a super sour/acidic beer. And judging from my tasting over the year, this advice was correct, at least in my case.

I'm a little worried to taste it again... a while back my airlock kept getting low and I was slow topping it up... oxygen getting in would greatly increase the chance of acetobacter production, a sour that you DON'T want.

I also left mine in primary the whole time at Jamil's suggestion, but after doing some reading, I'd transfer to secondary for the long haul. The Brett in the beer will feed and feed off the dead yeast cake and continue to produce more funk... great for a Lambic, not so great for a Flanders Red (where the sour/acid is supposed to be the dominant aroma/flavor, as opposed to funk).

[Brewnoser]

Did anyone take me up on my earlier request for someone to make a Nursing Stout?

Lots of lactose, lots of flavour.

But 2.5% or less BV

I've made some good ones in the past....

A friend of mine's wife just gave birth, and she's a beer fiend. She's a great singer locally, we call her Joyce the Voice. (Wilderbeasts, anyone?)

Some classic milk stout, or even an altered version of one you now have, would be a great way to say "we like it when you procreate, so we don't have to".

Let me know, eh?

[Jayme]

I'm a little worried to taste it again... a while back my airlock kept getting low and I was slow topping it up... oxygen getting in would greatly increase the chance of acetobacter production, a sour that you DON'T want.

You do want a bit of oxygen to produce some acedic in a Flanders I do believe - just not too much. It should be fine!

[mr x]

Yeah, from what I understand, Rodenbach is the gold standard, and all I taste is vinegar.

Jeff, that beer isn't going to fit my brewing schedule unfortunately. On top of the fact that I wouldn't have much of an idea how to get it right.

[berley]

I'm a little worried to taste it again... a while back my airlock kept getting low and I was slow topping it up... oxygen getting in would greatly increase the chance of acetobacter production, a sour that you DON'T want.

You do want a bit of oxygen to produce some acedic in a Flanders I do believe - just not too much. It should be fine!

For sure... that's why some people (especially if using a glass carboy as the fermenter) stick wooden dowel or something in the opening, to let a bit of O2 in. I was away for awhile, and am a little worried that the airlock was empty for 2 weeks! Oh well, I have to taste it soon anyway, so I should know for sure.

[Dirt Chicken]

Did anyone take me up on my earlier request for someone to make a Nursing Stout?

Lots of lactose, lots of flavour.

But 2.5% or less BV

I've made some good ones in the past....

A friend of mine's wife just gave birth, and she's a beer fiend. She's a great singer locally, we call her Joyce the Voice. (Wilderbeasts, anyone?)

Some classic milk stout, or even an altered version of one you now have, would be a great way to say "we like it when you procreate, so we don't have to".

Let me know, eh?

Yeah I know of the wilderbeasts, Joyce Saunders. Never have brewed anything with any lactose yet.

[hogie]

Doing my first decoction mash today and a triple at that!

S.M.A.S.H. with Münich + Chinook = Smünch

Calling it a Bavarian amber ale.

In the middle of the protein rest now and heating the 2nd decoction to a boil.

[berley]

Did anyone take me up on my earlier request for someone to make a Nursing Stout?

Lots of lactose, lots of flavour.

But 2.5% or less BV

I've made some good ones in the past....

A friend of mine's wife just gave birth, and she's a beer fiend. She's a great singer locally, we call her Joyce the Voice. (Wilderbeasts, anyone?)

Some classic milk stout, or even an altered version of one you now have, would be a great way to say "we like it when you procreate, so we don't have to".

Let me know, eh?

I brewed a Sweet Stout a couple of years ago that came out pretty tasty. It had an OG of 1.061, FG 1.025... what about using that recipe (which I got from BCS), but aiming for an 0G of 1.043 or so?

70% Maris Otter
10% Black Patent
6% Crystal 60 L
4% Chocolate malt
10% Lactose

Mash at 154 F or so.

1.5 oz EKG @ 60 min, to about 25 IBU

60 minute boil. Ferment @ 68 F with Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale.

Thoughts?

[LiverDance]

Brewing up a SMaSH beer as well, rauch malt and hallatuer. Also trying out this BIAB method as its only a 12l batch.

[Tony L]

Doing my first decoction mash today and a triple at that!

.

So how did it go?

I did a step mash for a Helles yesterday that so far looks very promising.

[hogie]

Doing my first decoction mash today and a triple at that!

.

So how did it go?

I did a step mash for a Helles yesterday that so far looks very promising.

Well it was a time consuming but very educational and mostly fun. The grains really broke down after all that boil so they were extra mushy and sticky which led to a stuck mash and a very slow sparge when I finally got it going again.

I stopped taking notes after I reached the boil but here is the sequence of events up to that point:

11:10 - Doughed in. 14L @40C -> 38C
11:30 - Pulled 5L thick mash.
11:35 - Started heating on stove.
11:55 - Reach 68C. resting 5mins
12:00 - Back to heating.
12:20 - Reached boil. Mixed back to 50C
12:50 - Pulled 5.5L. Heating.
13:00 - Reached 70C. Resting 5mins.
13:30 - Reach boil. Mixed back to 61C!
13:35 - Pulled 4L thick.
14:00 - Reached boil. Mixed back to 66C
14:20 - Started recirc. Test for conversion failed.
14:40 - Added 7L (21L total) to reach 67C.
15:00 - Recirc. Slow sparge. Rice hulls would have been good!
15:15 - Only 5L drained. Stuck mash. Stirring and waiting 15min.
15:30 - Recirc. Slow sparge. Added 14L more. Collected 28L. SG 1.054. 89% pre-boil efficiency.
16:20 - Reached boil.