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**DeathBrewer** · 12-14-2007, 03:33 AM

Hey, Talley!

Can you give me the recipes for your homebrews so I can better critique them?

I'm trying your Blue Moon right now. The extract twang is definitely prominent, but it has a nice maltiness to it that i like.

A little head retention couldn't hurt...did you use any flaked wheat or malted wheat in the recipe or was it all extract?

I can taste the coriander, but the twang kinda takes away from it. it even has that "saltiness" that blue moon has.

it definitely has a good fruitiness to it...those high temps for this beer might not have necessarily been a horrible thing.

all in all a decent extract brew, not unlike some of my earlier wit brews. Have you gotten into partial mashing yet? i could hook you up with some methods and recipes that make it EASY...especially if you're only brewing in the kitchen.

thanks again for all the brews! give me those other recipes and i'll tell you what i think.

Now...which of those commercial brews do i break into first...

talleymonster · 12-14-2007, 04:08 AM

Thanks for the honest feedback, I appreciate it.

All three of the HBs that I sent you were AHS extract kits with steeping grains. I followed the recipe to the T on all of them. I don't have the recipes anymore I don't think, but it was pretty simple:

Steep Grains for 15 minutes
60 minute boil
Hops for 60 minutes
Hop addition for last 5 minutes
cool and pitch yeast.

My fermentation temps were a little warm, around 74*-78*. I got kinda lazy and didn't switch out my frozen water bottles. They were all brewed back in the summer. I don't remember exactly when. I didn't take good notes....I didn't even really take any at all. I know, big mistake

. I already bought a nice leather bound notebook to take notes with on all of my future brews.

The Red Ale was brewed first. Then the Kolsch, and then the Blue Moon.
The red and the Blue Moon were carbonated with the included priming sugar, and the Kolsch was carbonated with honey.

If I remember correctly, I used Irish Moss at the end of the boil for the Blue Moon.

I used dry yeast on all of them. Can't remember which ones....again bad note taking!

My brewing is done in my garage on a turkey fryer, and the fermenting in my closet undet the stairs.

No, I have not gotten into PM yet....I'm in the process of building an AG setup, and have taken a little break from moving to get my finances in order for the spring...we're going to move into a new place. I've just been using this down time to keep reading brewing material, keep active on the forums, get ready to jump to AG, and to collect bottles (I've had a couple nice CraigsList scores lately).

**DeathBrewer** · 12-14-2007, 04:13 AM

Hell, might as well do the commercial brews here too.

BTW...4 those who don't know...these are beers talley sent me on a recent swap. Talley's the man!

Squatters Captain Bastard's Oatmeal Stout

Drinking from a pint glass. Nice head on the pour. Cool name, of course. 4% ABV.

Made in Salt Lake City, UT!!!! crazy, man...didn't think much beer would be brewed there.

Nice roasted flavour, although a little much for my taste. obviously a dry stout.

much more coffee flavour than chocolate....again, not really my thing.

Nice texture, very "frothy"...creamy...leaves alot of lace on the glass.

not much on the bitter side. i think it could really use some more hops to balance.

a decent dry stout. very drinkable, and that's a lot coming from me. little low on the bitter side, but coming out of a place where many people resent alcohol, i'd say it's a great brew!

**DeathBrewer** · 12-14-2007, 04:20 AM

the kolsch was primed with honey? ooh...interesting. how much did you use? i'm going to try to make a bieken clone sometime.

the blue moon was a bit clear, i thought. definitely because of the irish moss AND the dry yeast. not that it makes a huge difference...my american wheat is VERY clear.

I may be able to look up those recipes....

Cheers!

talleymonster · 12-14-2007, 04:26 AM

I used 1 cup of honey for a 5 gallon batch per Papazian's insrtuctions in The Homebrewers Companion.

**DeathBrewer** · 12-14-2007, 05:35 AM

Stone 11th Anniversary Ale

what is this? I'm not usually a fan of Stone...too hoppy. You're trying to convert me, aren't you

this is a great beer. i can't tell whether it's a cross between a stout and an IPA or a light flavoured, dark colored barleywine...

great head on the poor...keeps it, too. first taste is FULL of hops...not bad though. as you drink it more and it warms, it really comes out of its own. there's actually a great balance...it's quite malty, nice taste of caramel. in the end it tastes almost like a heavy porter.

i've had a few drinks so this might not be the best review in the world...don't worry, i won't drink ALL the beers tonight...maybe i'll finish them tomorrow

i really liked this...might pick it up again if i see it. awesome bottle, too. this one will be added to my kitchen decorations

**DeathBrewer** · 12-19-2007, 07:18 AM

The Anniversary Ale is an America Strong Ale, eh?

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/38470

I like it. May have to brew something similar.

Honey Kölsch

Don't know if you wanted to call it that, but i can sure taste the honey. It's nice and crisp...doesn't have any head, tho.

Definitely taste some undesirable esters, but nothing major.

I think priming it with a mixture of DME and honey might help with the mouthfeel and head. How long has it been in the bottle? I don't taste any sulfur, so it must have aged for a while.

I made a honey rye once. it was really nice and spicy, countered the honey. it was overpowering, tho, and was best in small quantities.

I think all in all it was a good Kölsch, but maybe it would have been better without the honey.

Still a very drinkable beer. Always rockin drinking homebrew!

**DeathBrewer** · 12-19-2007, 07:19 PM

ya know what...i was just thinking...this being a Kölsch, it was probably an ALL extract batch, wasn't it? That would also hurt the head.

Anyway, hope the all-grain is coming along...let me know if you want to do a PM in the meantime. All you need in addition to your current setup is a colander!