Local 12 beers of Christmas

I would start another group for christmas, if there are people who want to do it. PM me

Pm'd you brent.

davidgsmit said:

pm'd you brent.

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+1

davidgsmit said:

Sorry Chessking! Got the wrong name!

Hernando, what size batches are you making if you don't mind me asking? I can certainly appreciate you not wanting to hand out a sub par beer.

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The standard 12 fl oz bottles.

Glad to see if you guys got something going.

I started a new thread for the second group. Please post there and we will get this going.

Brent_in_Aurora said:

I started a new thread for the second group. Please post there and we will get this going.

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For those looking:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f227/more-local-christmas-beer-exchange-353320/

The Gingerbread Ale should be going into primary this Saturday. We bought a house this month, which cut down on my brewing time, plus it's just been too damn hot to brew. That's why I thought I would pick one of the faster turn-around beers.

The plan is to do the Northern Brown from Brewing Classic Styles, and add the spice as directed at the end of the boil. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out, and to the exchange in a few months.

Cool. That Northern Brown works well for spices or fruit. I have used it before. My new stout recipe is tasting good. I'll re-brew it soon and get to work on my own spice mix.

HerbieHowells said:

The Gingerbread Ale should be going into primary this Saturday. We bought a house this month, which cut down on my brewing time, plus it's just been too damn hot to brew. That's why I thought I would pick one of the faster turn-around beers.

The plan is to do the Northern Brown from Brewing Classic Styles, and add the spice as directed at the end of the boil. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out, and to the exchange in a few months.

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Congrats on the new house! Sounds pretty tasty to me. We had one person drop out. I was out of town doing some backpacking and just came back to a message saying that the he won't be able to do the Christmas Gruit. Sheet happens and it is what it is so we are down to the 10 beers of Christmas.

Mine have been bottle conditioning for a bit now and it is SO very hard not to crack on open to see how it tastes. I usually, in normal practice, open one a week to see how flavors develop. But, I am being patient; oh sooo very patient.

Got the Old Ale brewed a few weeks ago. Not sure wtf happened, but missed my OG by almost 10 points (1.056) It still tasted good, but just not going to have the punch it should.

Hoping next week to rack it over on to the fruit.

There was a lovely gingerbread smell wafting out of my airlock yesterday afternoon, making the whole brew room smell like a wonderful bakery. That was before the WLP550 Belgian Ale in the second carboy took off, and made the whole room smell like a frat house. But based on the earlier smell, I have high hopes for this ale.

Had a bit of a stressful weekend (and I am going to vent) but my good friend and I took over the caramel quad. The guy who was supposed to do it kinda struck a nerve with me; he was to meet us at the brewhut Sat. to pick up the ingredients and since he was confsed on what to get I decided to meet them at the brewhut to help them out. He never showed, never called and never responded. My friend said he'll buy the stuff for the no-show and have him pay him back and I thought that was pretty commendable. We had a few Oktoberfests too so the evening wasn't a loss.

We had told the guy that we needed to start brewing mid to late morning, with the understanding that this is his beer and I am there to help with whatever questions or help he needed but brewing and clean up and the rest, was on him. (I figured since I am providing the equipment, propane & lunch, that this was fair) It's pushing noon and this guy, again, is a no-show, so we went and picked up some ice for cooling, I bought stuff lunch of course, he didn't show up. So, my friend Harry and I begin brewing and this guy calls around 1 to say he is showing up around 3 PM. We're cool with that but of course he missed the entire all-grain process. So this guys shows up around 3 and the boil is just begining. I am cooking up some food and the caramel for the brew while they watch the boil. My friend ends up leaving at 5:30 (we just transferred the beer to the ice tub) Harry says don't forget, you have to clean up and stuff.
I offer the guy a beer and he is telling me it's very good, blah-blah. He finishes off his beer and then leaves. While the beer is still cooling. He tells me, "I gotta go man. Are you cool with handling everything?" I am pissed and speechless and tell him I don't really have a choice, do I? So he bails, leaves me to do all the transferring and cleanup. This guys literally did nothing for this beer but stir the boil for 5 minutes.

I called Harry and told him what happened and he was pissed off too. We agreed to have the dude keep his money and we'll keep the batch since he did nothing for this beer at all. Do you guys think this was the right thing to do or am I being over-dramatic?

The Caramel Quad is happily fermenting in my basement. The final gravity was 1.106. With that being said, I would open this beer last or late as possible. It is October and I don't foresee this beer being mellow by December but I could be wrong. Had I known the procrastination was going to take so long I would have done this beer and left the dubbel for someone else. So, I apologize for this beer possibly not being ready by the time we exchange. And, thanks for letting me vent (not that I gave you a choice).

First of all, don't be concerned about the beer not being ready in time. We can deal with that. Patience is our game. On the issue of dude and the non-contribution, I think you are correct in excluding him at this point. I have put some effort into my beer and expect no less form a brother brewer. Both you and Harry have gone out of your way to get this beer brewed, and when the accounting comes in December, you should get the rewards. I wouldn't feel right if dude got some of my hard earned beer without the effort on his part. To paraphrase the President, "He didn't brew that". I look forward to the sampling of your now doubled workload, and to the December gathering of local brewers. Prosit.

Yea, I'm on your side. It would have irritated me as well, and I would be doing the same thing as you.


On a side note - feedback is welcome with the Fruitcake Old Ale. Put all the fruit in to it the other week, but it doesnt state how long to keep it on the fruit. Should it be aged the entire time on the fruit, or should I treat is usual and only keep it there a week or two?

Thanks.

On a much lighter note; I helped Harry bottle his first ever batch of homebrew, the Honey Ginger IPA. I must say from the sampling, this beer is very good. I think the hops we used kinda took over the Ginger, I wasn't picking up on the ginger all that much but still good.

Hernando said:

Thanks.

On a much lighter note; I helped Harry bottle his first ever batch of homebrew, the Honey Ginger IPA. I must say from the sampling, this beer is very good. I think the hops we used kinda took over the Ginger, I wasn't picking up on the ginger all that much but still good.

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You might want to let some of it age, and see if the ginger comes out more. But if not at least you have a baseline for the next batch. Cheers.

Ginger is a subtle flavor that will probably blend with the hops. Cinnamon is another warm flavor that blends well.

On another note, I saw some fully laden juniper shrubs on my daily walk with my dogs. The house is vacant and I can get a few ounces if anyone wants some fresh juniper berries.

Just saw this. Is there any way I can get a copy of the ginger bread ale. I would love to get it right and get in on this next year

Brent_in_Aurora said:

Ginger is a subtle flavor that will probably blend with the hops. Cinnamon is another warm flavor that blends well.

On another note, I saw some fully laden juniper shrubs on my daily walk with my dogs. The house is vacant and I can get a few ounces if anyone wants some fresh juniper berries.

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I think the problem lies in the hops that he used. Initially the recipe says to pick your favorite IPA recipe, so he picked one that uses Simcoe, amarillo and columbus hops. Then after buying the ingredients, we and combing over the Ginger IPA notations in the book it says to use Kent Goldings exclusively. Still should be a good beer.

06vmi06 said:

Just saw this. Is there any way I can get a copy of the ginger bread ale. I would love to get it right and get in on this next year

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Sent

I am planning on getting the gingerbread ale into bottles this weekend. That should give it plenty of time to carb up before Christmas.

Between singing in my church choir and parties, my December calendar will be filling up soon. Has anyone given any thought to the actual exchange?

I was thinking the first or second weekend in Dec. Do either of these weekends work? I contacted a few places where we could meet up and it be central for all of us. As soon as I hear back I will let you know on the where.

Would this be a SWMBO welcome gathering, or just the fellas?

By all means, bring your wife. There is no reason to seclude anyone.

Kegged up the Fruitcake old ale last weekend. Tasted pretty good, a bit thin, but after the low OG, i guess it was to be expected. The fruits didnt sink as I had planned so the orange zest never sank either. This beer has definitely been a pain so far.

Should have it in bottles in another week or two to finish conditioning for the tasting in December.

I have a choir thing on the first Sunday in the afternoon, but I should be good for any other date. My wife may or may not show up. She is authentically gluten free as opposed to gluten free for fad reasons, and works lots of weekends, so unless one of you is 9News personality / homebrewer Kyle Clark I.R.L., she probably won't make it. If Kyle is out there, both of us will likely be there.

I'm good for either weekend. I assume you were planing to meet somewhere where we can taste some craft beer and perhaps have a meal? Or are we just meeting in some parking lot for the exchange? I prefer the first option, but will show up beer in hand regardless.

So I spoke to the people at Strange brewing and they said they would be more than hoppy to have us do the exchange there. It is a pretty central place to meetup for those out in Golden and up north. It is about 1/2 mile (Guesstimate) from Mile High Stadium. I was shooting for the 1 of Dec. which is a Sat. and we should miss the Broncos crowd. Figured we could meetup around 2 PM.

Please let me know if that works for you guys. they usually will have food truck there but you can get food orderd in and more importantly, they have beer!


Once I know the time works for you guys, I will confirm the date and time with them.

Should be good for my buddy and I.

It would be fantastic if we could push it back if possible. My beer will be very young on the 1st. Also I work crazy hours all weekend every week so I will not be able to make it to a meet-up on the weekend. I should have seen that coming lol...

Anyway I will have my beer regardless, I dont want to back out just more of a heads up. I understand it is practically impossible to cater to everyone's schedules. Worst case scenario I will find a way to get them out there somehow if I cant make it that Saturday.

Well we started this project a little late in the season compared to others so a young beer is to be expected. I think that won't be a problem. I wanted to do it earlier than later because people start having parties and it gets harder to find time and a place to gather.

Option, if there is a reason you can't make it, I can meet you before and after to get your beer and give you the others' beers to you. I am determined to make this work and easy on everyone.

Yes thats what I was thinking also. I want to make it work and be involved in future swaps!

The afternoon of the first works for me.

Count me as another brewer who is glad that we ended up capping at 10. I discovered that my auto siphon was cracked while I was cleaning it, so I had to siphon the old fashioned way. Attempted to answer the phone while siphoning, lost my siphon, and by the time I realized what had happened, there was no way to get it started without kicking up a whole lot of trub.

Good news is that I got 40 bottles on the nose, so everyone is covered.

I am working on the 1st, but I can either ask my wife to drop bottles off or try to get a personal day. Strange sounds great. I have never actually been there.

As for the beer, I added my spice tincture last week. Time to carb up and get it ready to bottle. Smells great right now!

I might have missed it, but what is the bottle count we are doing for each person? I typically dont bottle so I just want to make sure I bottle enough of this up so that everyone gets their amount.

riored4v said:

I might have missed it, but what is the bottle count we are doing for each person? I typically dont bottle so I just want to make sure I bottle enough of this up so that everyone gets their amount.

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3 each

Question for those with experience with bigger beers; the quad is sitting at 1.030. this puts the ABV at 10.2 %. I was expecting the gravity to be a bit lower than what it is but I am not sure if the 1.030 is a normal FG for a big beer or if I should go by some fresh yeast do a starter and repitch. Since this is my fisrt beer with this magnitude Iwould love some insight. If it is ready than I will bottle that bad boy this week.

The tasting was pretty good. A bit sweeter than expected but the alcohol is definitely present. I did by EC-1118 Champagne yeast for bottling. I am not sure on how much to reconstitute and pitch before bottling so I would also appreciate feedback on that as well.

Hernando said:

3 each

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Cool. Thanks.

Should give me 'just' enough to enjoy some leftovers:rockin:


With the bigger beer, you could try moving it to a warmer spot or maybe gently swirling the fermenter to rouse the yeast. 1.030 seems a tad high. Most of my bigger beers (10%+) have usually ended down in the 1.025 or lower ranger.

riored4v said:

Cool. Thanks.
Should give me 'just' enough to enjoy some leftovers:rockin:

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I had 4 stuck in my head, glad it is 3. Turned out I had nothing to sweat about when the bottle wand started slowing down on beer 39. Sweet, now I get to make sure that they carbonate properly.

Hernando said:

Question for those with experience with bigger beers; the quad is sitting at 1.030. this puts the ABV at 10.2 %. I was expecting the gravity to be a bit lower than what it is but I am not sure if the 1.030 is a normal FG for a big beer or if I should go by some fresh yeast do a starter and repitch. Since this is my fisrt beer with this magnitude Iwould love some insight. If it is ready than I will bottle that bad boy this week.

The tasting was pretty good. A bit sweeter than expected but the alcohol is definitely present. I did by EC-1118 Champagne yeast for bottling. I am not sure on how much to reconstitute and pitch before bottling so I would also appreciate feedback on that as well.

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I assume you are using Mosher's tripel recipe form Radical, and did the recommended amber malt, and sugar/light malt addition. Also you mentioned in an earlier post that the O.G. was 1.106. I plugged the recipe into my calculator and came up with a projected O.G. of 1.103 and a final gravity of 1.026. I'd say you were fairly close to dead on. If the gravity reading is not changing, then i think its done.You might try warming it up for a few days, but I don't think adding more yeast is necessary.

As far as bottling, if you change your yeast to one that attenuates lower, and add priming sugar as well, the yeast may consume the simple sugars as well as some of the complex sugars left over from the primary ferment. In other words, the champagne yeast tolerates high alcohol levels better than the Belgian yeast and it may kick off a secondary fermentation causing bottle bombs. There is still plenty of yeast in suspension for priming purposes, IMHO. If you add yeast for bottling, add the same strain used in primary. Also for priming purposes, keep the bottles warm. Above 70 F for a couple of weeks. That yeast is getting tired and higher temps will keep them going without adding any noticeable off flavors.

If you want another option, I got an extra Keg, and would be willing to force carb and bottle for you. It takes a couple of weeks to do it right so we would have to get together soon. Just an idea. I'm not trying to hijack your beer.

chessking said:

I assume you are using Mosher's tripel recipe form Radical, and did the recommended amber malt, and sugar/light malt addition. Also you mentioned in an earlier post that the O.G. was 1.106. I plugged the recipe into my calculator and came up with a projected O.G. of 1.103 and a final gravity of 1.026. I'd say you were fairly close to dead on. If the gravity reading is not changing, then i think its done.You might try warming it up for a few days, but I don't think adding more yeast is necessary.

As far as bottling, if you change your yeast to one that attenuates lower, and add priming sugar as well, the yeast may consume the simple sugars as well as some of the complex sugars left over from the primary ferment. In other words, the champagne yeast tolerates high alcohol levels better than the Belgian yeast and it may kick off a secondary fermentation causing bottle bombs. There is still plenty of yeast in suspension for priming purposes, IMHO. If you add yeast for bottling, add the same strain used in primary. Also for priming purposes, keep the bottles warm. Above 70 F for a couple of weeks. That yeast is getting tired and higher temps will keep them going without adding any noticeable off flavors.

If you want another option, I got an extra Keg, and would be willing to force carb and bottle for you. It takes a couple of weeks to do it right so we would have to get together soon. Just an idea. I'm not trying to hijack your beer.

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That makes perfect sense about the EC-1118. I was pretty worried about the bottle bombs as well.

I don't see it hijacking at all. If it isn't too much off your back, I would love to do that. I have never done anything with kegs so that would be a cool learning experience.