Just thought I'd say I used your method/howto for my first partial mash a few days ago and everything turned out great. The pictures and excellent writeup really made things easy.
Now the hard part, waiting ~6 weeks to taste my IPA...
Just wait a week or two and brew again. If that means you need another fermenter, get one. I get by with one primary and 3 secondaries, with one secondary usually being tied up in long-term projects (mead, etc). The only time this crimps my style is times like now, when I've restarted after a long layoff and I could use another primary - but it's a temporary situation and storage space is limited, so I just work through it, and will soon have all filled and working. Unless IPA is the only thing you like, make a different style next. If it is, make a different IPA next. Eventually this will mean you can compare several versions side-by side and choose a favorite, if one seems better than the others.
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Re-filling the pipeline - got a lot of brewing to do.
buy a bucket fermenter or two to get some batches rolling. they're cheap, like $12, and they work just fine. Once you have better fermenters, they are great to use for sanitizing and/or bottling buckets, too.
Oh, no twiddling going on here. I've got ingredients for an ESB ready to go as soon as I transfer the IPA out of primary and a nut brown in bottles that should be ready to drink sometime next week.
Currently I'm drinking my second batch, a fantastic scottish ale that turned out better than I could have expected. Unfortunately (fortunately? More for me...) SWMBO doesn't like the scottish (just not her style I guess), so I get to finish that one myself.
The first few batches have been primarily extract with just a couple pounds of specialty grains - this IPA was my first true partial mash.
Thus far every batch has been better than the first (which was damn good in its own right). I think I'm hooked!
I like the Scottish Ales myself. Have the stuff to make one, but under the impression that it needs to ferment at lower temps than I can usually manage. What does anyone think about that - I have the Wyeast Scottish Ale yeast for it. I live in Florida and it can be quite pricey to air condition the house to anything close to comfort in the relentless heat of summer. Good thing for Saison's, huh??!!
Generally, I like maltier beers, but I'm gaining more appreciation for hoppier beers, especially since my local brewing club is full of hopheads and I try their brews!
I want to make a Kolsch sometime soon - Deathbrewer, I see you have an Imperial Kolsch in primary - would you share the recipe? Have you made it before? Also, what about the Breakfast Stout? Do you have a favorite recipe for that one, too?
I recently made a Cream Ale, not sure how it will turn out. I've been boiling on my stove, usually 2 1/2 gallons for the boil and always have gotten a nice, full, rolling boil without having to have the burner turned on all the way (electric). Last time I brewed (the Cream ale), it barely simmered while on high. I only have 2 burners that work, one small, one large - I'm a renter for now, and landlord won't fix the burners or replace the stove! Anyway, needless to say, I didn't get the hot break, so I have really cloudy beer. I racked it into a secondary with some SuperKleer KC as soon as it quit fermenting and it's clearing up some, though not like my other beers which actually boiled!! Don't know how it will taste, but no sense in throwing it out yet, I sampled some, wasn't terrible, but I'm not very good at being able to tell how something will taste until it's carbonated. With experience I suppose I'll get better at it - maybe (?).
Ok, enough for now, it's late, I'm getting punchy and dangerously close to writing a novel here! Sorry about that!!
I like the Scottish Ales myself. Have the stuff to make one, but under the impression that it needs to ferment at lower temps than I can usually manage. What does anyone think about that - I have the Wyeast Scottish Ale yeast for it. I live in Florida and it can be quite pricey to air condition the house to anything close to comfort in the relentless heat of summer. Good thing for Saison's, huh??!!
I used the same yeast for mine. I keep the house A/C at 78 and then put the carboy in a water bath with a towel around it and swap out frozen water jugs. I'm able to keep fermenting temps down around 70 that way. Probably still a touch on the warm side, but the beer tastes great, so I'm not complaining.
Thanks for the tip knownikko. I'll try that, sounds like it's working for you. This thread has been full of helpful tips - going to brew this weekend using the method demonstrated here. Maybe I will rethink and do the Scottish after all.
How did brew day go? My g/f and I are going to buy our ingredients this weekend and then brew next week! Can't wait! Also, does anyone know if WLP300 can ferment decently at around 60 degrees or so? It is cooling off up here and to warm a drafty house to the correct fermentation chamber would make for some really expensive beer! Thanks!
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On Tap: Heavenly Scourge Black IPA and Beecave Heffe
Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty
Next: Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale and Pliny the Elder Clone
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