Recent content by 55chevydude

I'd be curious to know what your gravity reading was after the krausen fell, since that is what your picture looks like. Was it near completion? A friend gave me a bunch of his homebrew stuff when he gave it up (quitter!) and he had two of these Muton's kits in there. I've never brewed from...

Nice brewcephus! Any idea on what you spent on this 5 gallon batch?

Just an update on this one. I would highly recommend this beer, especially for those wary of high hop or overly dark brews. In the end it came out more along the lines of a Coconut Vanilla Brown Ale. If you have a spare 1 gallon jug, try this out. I think you will enjoy the unique flavors. :mug:

Well, this turned into an awesome conundrum. I was attempting to see which of the three variations would be best. Turns out they were all great in their own ways. Some liked the slight added sweetness from the lactose version, others enjoyed the sophisticated oak notes in the oaked version. But...

Okay, so here we are 4 weeks and change from brew day. Transferred from primary to secondary after 12 days. I discovered that my carboy only holds 5 gallons and this was more like 5.6 gallons. So I decided to top off a 1 gallon growler and put an airlock on it for later experimentation. Also, I...

So to bump this old post, i have been brewing via steam kettle and/or propane burner (Dark Star) along with upping the IBUs. This has virtually eliminated the sweetness problem. Can't tell you which it was: better boil or more hops. All I can tell you is that it worked. Maybe you vets out there...

Yeah, I would have used some light chocolate in their too, maybe even some Caramunich for complexity, but this was just to see what Special B could do on its own. I toasted the coconut and added about 1/2 cup before racking on top of it in a clean, fresh jug. Added 1/2 a vanilla bean also...

Malt 13.00 lbs Briess 2-Row or Marris Otter 60 mins 1.037 1.50 lbs Special B Malt 60 mins 1.030 0.75 lbs Pale Chocolate (optional for a sweeter, darker brew) Hops 2.00 oz 54.53 Chinook 60 mins 1.00 oz 22.02 Chinook 20 mins 1.00 oz 19.78 Chinook 10 mins 1.00 oz Chinook flowers...

Thanks, that looks more like what I was going for. I need to drop the $8 and get BeerSmith. Right now, fermentation has slowed. It was one week yesterday. I will siphon it off the trub into a nice, clean jug for another week or so of conditioning. Then on to adding the toasty coconut and...

I know this is the cardinal rule of creating recipes, but I didn't take an OG reading. :o There was an additional 1/2 cup of light brown sugar added in the final 5 minutes that should have bumped that up some. I was shooting for the mid .050s to the low .o60s. As for the SRM of the DME, it was...

No, I base my experiments loosely on other recipes. This one called for English Dark Crystal, but I feel pale/light chocolate would've been good too. Do you recommend a software? Fermentation finally slowed (after 3 days!) and I am happy with the experiment so far.

Ok, well, I brewed this up on Sunday. A few notes to start. The special B seems to give me the flavor and aroma I was looking for (raisins, maple syrup etc.) but lacks the color. In the future I will need something darker like light chocolate added in to the specialty grains. Right now it looks...

Hmm...that's a good thought. I had considered that too. Just didn't want the vanilla to be the main character. I'll give it a shot this way, then maybe try adding it just prior to bottling down the road. That's the beauty of 1 gallon kits!

Ok, so here is my first try on a Coconut Vanilla Porter. As a test, I am doing a one gallon batch to start. 1.5 oz Special B 1 lb. light DME .25 oz. Cascade (55 min) .25 oz. Cascade (5 min) .50 oz. Vanilla extract at flame out Nottingham ale yeast Steep the grains at in 1.25 gallons...

Hmmm...then I guess all those nanos out there that have been doing this for a while should take note: Apparently you are all on borrowed time and doomed to fail. No exceptions. The experts have spoken :)