Fraternity Closet Brew

Just thought I would share a photo of my small yet effective setup here in my closet. I am going to brew another batch for my primary once I rack whats in the bucket into my carboy.

Any suggestions for a good brew for the upcoming cold weather here in Wisconsin?

Primary (Bucket): Mystery IPA
Little Guy: Experimental Hard Cider w/ US-05

It's getting kind of close for a big beer like RIS, or barleywine. Maybe a strong stout? If you like IPAs, maybe a nice American Stout? Or Janet's Brown Ale. It's a nice hoppy brown. Very tasty beer and winner of uncounted awards.

I like the idea of a Stout. I need to look into should good recipes with a lot of grain for a partial.

I'm currently drinking a barley brown ale I did back in August so I will wait on brewing another. (although this one tastes amazing)

How difficult/ long will it be to brew a barley wine? I have seen a lot of people post about them on this forum.

To be honest, they are more advanced. If you are doing extract, that takes a lot of the 'work' out of it. But you need to pitch a lot of yeast and it takes a while for all of the fermentables to be processed, and it takes a long time for the beer to age. Some barleywines are drank in as little as 3-4 months, but some people let them go for 1 or more years.

Man. Fermenting beer at my old fraternity house would have been a non-starter from a sanitation and cleanliness standpoint. Power to you for pulling that off.

I always like a good robust porter in the winter months. I am sure there is a spectacular recipe in the recipe section here.

Yea I made sure to keep everything very sanitized plus it helped that the majority of the house was out when I was doing the boil in the kitchen.

I have never considered a porter before...not sure I've even tasted a porter before... What is it like? Sorry if this makes me sound dumb but I am being honest. I love beer and love brewing beer!

To be honest, it really isn't that different from Stout. Some say that stouts have roast barley and porters do not, but that rule does not work across the board. It is a shame that Deschutes doesn't distribute to Wisconsin (at least according to their map) because their flagship beer, Black Butte Porter, is an amazing beer.

I do have some left over Safale US-05 that I would like to use on my next batch. Would I be able to make a good Stout with this yeast? I know its not meant for it but is yeast all the difference?

Yes, you can make a good stout with that yeast, and yes, yeast does make all the difference (or at least some of the difference). Us-05 is a clean transparent yeast, I find it's great for showing off ingredients without distracting with yeast profile.

How big is that bucket? I'd be worried about a stout for the chance of the blowoff and covering all the stuff in ur closet in roasted stout deliciousness. What about a scottish ale? maybe a 60 or 80 depending on ur preferred malt/hop balance...

A stout was originally called a stout to differentiate it from a porter. The original names was Stout Porter, and it meant a more stronger porter.

But as has already been said, there is sometimes not much difference between the two of them. A strong porter could easily be called a stout, and likewise a somewhat less roasty stout could easily be called a porter. They are defined this way for the purposes of judging.

Case in point, I made a chocolate stout for my wife who isn't fond of strong roast flavor, so when it was made I felt I had to change it's description to Chocolate Porter, since it really didn't have the strong roast flavor profile that I am used to in a stout.

It's these small things that makes for good conversation between brewers.

I'm glad to hear that about the US-05 and did not know that about porters.

The bucket is a 5 gallon which is why I like to piece together ingredients myself and make batches that are about 4 gallons. My better bottle is 6.5 gallon though

Well I'd recommend starting right off the bat with a blowoff tube if its gonna be in your closet just to be safe. Also have u thought of any names for it? Like Sorority Slaying Stout?

HerbieHowells said:

It is a shame that Deschutes doesn't distribute to Wisconsin (at least according to their map) because their flagship beer, Black Butte Porter, is an amazing beer.

Click to expand...

"Amazing" is an understatement! I LOVE Black Butte Porter, and it's a shame it isn't distributed in Pennsylvania, either. I have to smuggle it back from Washington.

Well it sounds like the Black Butte Porter should be added to my list of beers to try!

Here are some updated photos from my closet brew. I racked the IPA to secondary the other day and added:
1 oz Centennial Hops
0.5 - 0.75 oz of light oak chips

Does everything look alright so far? Temp in my room is set to 68F and have a small fan blowing on the carboy most of the day.

I am surprised how much has already settled at the bottom. I think I picked up a ton of yeast from the primary when I siphoned. Maybe this yeast will help clear what is left...

You should get a smaller secondary...that is a lot of headspace.