Looking to brew something out of my comfort zone
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loctones
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My current infatuations: After trying a bunch of sour and brett beers at the GABF last year, I've been investigating those. Also, I have 2 young kids and I want to drink beer but not get intoxicated, so I've also been looking into making good low alcohol beers (though I still like some high-alcohol stuff, I just pour small glasses). And I've been playing around with hops more. For me that's resulted in the following beers:
--Old ale with WLP644 in secondary
--4% amber sour. I grew up some Jolly Pumpkin dregs and pitched them in secondary. I think I'm going to age half on raspberries and just open the other half one bottle a month to see how it changes over time.
--Nailing down my favorite version of a Mild
--Imperial Amber. I used the Gordon recipe from Can You Brew it and amped it up a little and I'm drinking a 9% beer at 4 weeks and it actually tastes good. Low fermentation temperatures for the win on big beers!
Go with whatever excites you and I'm sure you'll be happy. With some of these beers, I like dreaming them up and brewing them as much as I like drinking them!
--Old ale with WLP644 in secondary
--4% amber sour. I grew up some Jolly Pumpkin dregs and pitched them in secondary. I think I'm going to age half on raspberries and just open the other half one bottle a month to see how it changes over time.
--Nailing down my favorite version of a Mild
--Imperial Amber. I used the Gordon recipe from Can You Brew it and amped it up a little and I'm drinking a 9% beer at 4 weeks and it actually tastes good. Low fermentation temperatures for the win on big beers!
Go with whatever excites you and I'm sure you'll be happy. With some of these beers, I like dreaming them up and brewing them as much as I like drinking them!
It's just beer. None of it is really that complicated. Sure you could take on a Gueuze, Solera, etc. Maybe a braggot? However you could look to perfect one style, pursue the perfect porter, etc. Another challenge is super high-gravity that's drinkable, 15+% abv. Personally approximately 50% of what I've brewed in the past has been below 4.5% as I really like drinking beer but really don't like being drunk. Thus creating a low-alc IPA 3.2% was a challenge I pursued for a while and is a worthy pursuit. Whatever you want to do... go for it and good luck!
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I decided to try to make a pumpkinweiss sometime in the next few weeks. Hopefully it will turn out to be a nice seasonal late summer early fall beer.
I haven't yet done any research to determine whether this type of beer has been done before. I am sure it has but it will be new to me.
I haven't yet done any research to determine whether this type of beer has been done before. I am sure it has but it will be new to me.
What do you normally brew or drink?
Ya... that would be my question...
Me? I did a couple Belgians earlier in the year and then after feeling the effects of BIG BEER decided to try brewing beers with low alcohol but lots of taste.
So I brewed a English Mild and a Kolsch (lagering the first time).
I also broke down and tried a brewing a clone (my first time) of Fat Tire.
This weekend I bottle the Clone and Keg the Mild...
DPB
TopherM
Well-Known Member
I fell in love with the Gose style at the last tasting event I went to. It's a very unique sour (lacto) coriander wheat with salt added to it that was wildly popular in Germany in the 1900s, but largely lost/ignored in the modern era.
It is so unique, that I entered one in a recent wheat contest and even specified in the "notes" section that it was a "Gose style - Sour Wheat with Salt." All three judges gave me tasting deductions for "tastes like salt." One even said "why would you put salt in your wheat?"
These judges must have failed the Gose section of the BJCP exam, or more likely is even ignored there!
Anyway, ask some of the more prolific brewers in your club if they make one (if you're in a club). Great beer and strangely refreshing!
It is so unique, that I entered one in a recent wheat contest and even specified in the "notes" section that it was a "Gose style - Sour Wheat with Salt." All three judges gave me tasting deductions for "tastes like salt." One even said "why would you put salt in your wheat?"
These judges must have failed the Gose section of the BJCP exam, or more likely is even ignored there!
Anyway, ask some of the more prolific brewers in your club if they make one (if you're in a club). Great beer and strangely refreshing!
I normally drink what I brew. I haven't ever brewed the same thing twice, with two exceptions; an awesome porter and (my favorite) a Belgian Dubbel. Otherwise, I drink everything. I like the idea of a sour beer, I've never had one. I'm, also, thinking about trying a lambic. As soon as I can lager, a whole new world will open up to me and I'm really looking forward to that. I've brewed over 20 AG batches and am having a blast!
sweed
Well-Known Member
I went big ish for my 2nd brew. RIS with vanilla beans, bourbon, and oak chips. Over 11.5%, the alcohol is no where to be found after only a month in bottles. Very smooth and will only get better. I love RIS, so I had to go big. But,it wasn't hard. I say go with something you like, make it extreme, over the top, and see what happens. The worse thing is, its not great and you brew again to perfect it.
BigBeer4All
Well-Known Member
Unless its a sour, I usually prefer bigger stronger beers.
That being said, my latest endeavor into bizarre brewing was an 8.5% abv sandy. The beer rose into the mid 70s during fermentation complementing the lemon with some nice clove notes. It's a very deinkable, very strong summer session beer.
That being said, my latest endeavor into bizarre brewing was an 8.5% abv sandy. The beer rose into the mid 70s during fermentation complementing the lemon with some nice clove notes. It's a very deinkable, very strong summer session beer.
I & nordeastbrewer77 were fooling around with the old victorian #3 Burton ale. His AG,mine extract-but both firmly set in the strong ale category. A bit sweet,& somewhat hoppy. Mine needed more for the longer aging. Although I think I aged it too long. Anyway,they're sorta like taking a barleywine (Burton#1),& scaling it down to a slightly sweet pale ale sort of thing. Although more like the color of a rusty bitter. I'm pretty sure we both have our recipes listed.
I have brewed some gruits (check out www.gruitale.com to get a start). Reading up on and finding all the different herbs was kind of an adventure. I definitely tend toward the "F*c! the Rheinheitsgebot!" school of brewing, so what I did early on in my exploration of the craft was seek out sources of good ideas -- here, other brewing boards, books such as Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing (probably the best book on the vast spectrum that can still be tied together loosely as 'brewing beer').
I did my fair share of brewing big beers, but like others, I have found that brewing the really flavorful session ale that can be turned around in 2-3 weeks is really satisfying too. Notwithstanding though, I like brewing big stuff that has to age too, and I like my vanilla oak bourbon porters, my smoked hoppy ales with corriander, my quest to brew a tasty bacon oatmeal stout. There's no shortage of ideas out there...give some a try, don't be afraid to fail, and remember, it's just beer...
I did my fair share of brewing big beers, but like others, I have found that brewing the really flavorful session ale that can be turned around in 2-3 weeks is really satisfying too. Notwithstanding though, I like brewing big stuff that has to age too, and I like my vanilla oak bourbon porters, my smoked hoppy ales with corriander, my quest to brew a tasty bacon oatmeal stout. There's no shortage of ideas out there...give some a try, don't be afraid to fail, and remember, it's just beer...
If you haven't brewed lagers or sours, then I guess your path is pretty obvious. Lagers take some reliable temp control. If you have that, make an octoberfest and get ready for the season. In october you'll be ready to start comparing against the commercial ones.
If you can't do lagers, a sour beer is very easy to make. Follow the Flanders Red recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. Use the Roeselare blend for yeast. Stick it in a cabinet somewhere and forget about it (maybe add tart cherries or oak later, but not necessary). Easy peezy.
