Finally brewing today!

I haven't brewed in ages! I've got my grain crushed, my water heating, my hops weighed and my salts weighed and ready to go into the mash.

I'm still working on a lower ABV IPA- something as great tasting as a regular IPA but with no more than 5.75-6% ABV.

It's been so long since I brewed that I hope I remember how!

Somehow I think you'll manage to remember. And if not, just ask your questions in the Beginner's section, we'll help you out!

Enjoy!

Not doing the celebration clone?

YooperBrew said:

I haven't brewed in ages! I've got my grain crushed, my water heating, my hops weighed and my salts weighed and ready to go into the mash.

I'm still working on a lower ABV IPA- something as great tasting as a regular IPA but with no more than 5.75-6% ABV.

It's been so long since I brewed that I hope I remember how!

Click to expand...

The how usually isn't the problem after a long break. It is the where, as in where the h$%^ is the fill_in_the_blank!

Have fun
GT

KingBrianI said:

Not doing the celebration clone?

Click to expand...

Nope- I don't have any centennial hops. I thought I did, but we used them for the brewday in July. So, I'm back to my "old standard" IPA. 11 pounds US 2 row, 6 ounces of biscuit malt. 1/2 ounce magnum for bittering, and .5 ounce of amarillo and .5 ounce simcoe added continuously from 30-0 minutes. SO5 yeast.

The original recipe is for 13 pounds base malt, but I've found that reducing it a bit may bring down the OG but not change the beer perceptibly. I make this beer all the time- maybe I'm stuck in a rut? If I am, I like this rut!

The grain bill seems very similar to your dogfish head 60 min. ipa with the substitution of biscuit malt here for the amber malt there. I've never been a big fan of biscuit malt and wonder if you could share your experiences with the two beers and their malt profiles. They are similar but I much prefer amber and wonder what you get from the biscuit that keeps you from using the amber here too.

KingBrianI said:

The grain bill seems very similar to your dogfish head 60 min. ipa with the substitution of biscuit malt here for the amber malt there. I've never been a big fan of biscuit malt and wonder if you could share your experiences with the two beers and their malt profiles. They are similar but I much prefer amber and wonder what you get from the biscuit that keeps you from using the amber here too.

Click to expand...

A little off topic, but I am glad hear that I'm not the only one who isn't a big fan of biscuit malt. It just seems to add an off flavor to a beer, even though I know that's what it's supposed to taste like.


And Yooper, I feel your pain. I'm going on 2 months with nothing fermenting at my house.

YooperBrew said:

I haven't brewed in ages! I've got my grain crushed, my water heating, my hops weighed and my salts weighed and ready to go into the mash.

I'm still working on a lower ABV IPA- something as great tasting as a regular IPA but with no more than 5.75-6% ABV.

It's been so long since I brewed that I hope I remember how!

Click to expand...

I went a good 4 months with nothing brewed, i just did a triple brew day the other day did 3 different beers in one day. Talk about getting the stash back up.

It helps when you have neighbors that brew and help by letting you use there burners and help you with the process.

Still dont keg so I am definately not looking forward to bottling 6 cases of beer

Congrats on getting back to brewing, I see my lager excited you enough to drag out the brew rig again! It pleases me that I can be an inspiration to others.

I feel your pain Yooper. I haven't brewed anything since I brewed your ruinaition recipe back in May (I think). It is a great beer!
But I do have a double brew day scheduled for Monday. Can't wait! A Bavarian Hefe, and KingBrian's Amber.
For once, I hope the weekend goes by quickly!

Don't forget the used diaper additions.

KingBrianI said:

The grain bill seems very similar to your dogfish head 60 min. ipa with the substitution of biscuit malt here for the amber malt there. I've never been a big fan of biscuit malt and wonder if you could share your experiences with the two beers and their malt profiles. They are similar but I much prefer amber and wonder what you get from the biscuit that keeps you from using the amber here too.

Click to expand...

It was fun, and now I'm just doing CIP for my HERMS.

It is my DFH IPA clone, but with less two-row and the sub of biscuit malt. I seem to do a variation of that beer about every third/fourth brewday.

I love the biscuit malt in there. It's a very small amount (less than 3% on a 13 pound two-row batch, and just over 3% on this batch) and I like the dry malty taste it imparts. I've used the same recipe with amber malt, and aromatic malt, too. I like a little dry biscuity taste in there, to offset the hops, and I don't like crystal so I'm playing around with those three. I am crazy about the simcoe/amarillo combo.

I'm going to brew again this weekend. Friend's son can't make it due to work conflict, but I think his daughter is def interested if she can work out her schedule. I might try a double batch if I can get all the ingredients together and I end up brewing Sat morning.

Got some Golden Promise and we'll see how it does. Got to get the grain crushed and water figured out tonight so I am ready. Nothing worse than not being prepared. I don't want to be finishing up at 10:30 at night again.

I think I can smell some grain being crushed RIGHT NOW!

I hear ya Yooper... I haven't brewed in a month +. This weekend we are doing 2 beers (Spotted Cow clone and a Pecan porter), a quick raspberry mead champagne, and an apfelwine. Going to be a busy weekend, but now that I've got my AG down to less than 4 hours I'm hoping we can do it all in 1 day so I can golf on Sunday

BrewSpook said:

I hear ya Yooper... I haven't brewed in a month +. This weekend we are doing 2 beers (Spotted Cow clone and a Pecan porter), a quick raspberry mead champagne, and an apfelwine. Going to be a busy weekend, but now that I've got my AG down to less than 4 hours I'm hoping we can do it all in 1 day so I can golf on Sunday

Click to expand...

Oh, that reminds me! We're also thawing some frozen pinot noir grapes that I bought from Northern Brewer a couple of months ago. Three gallons of pinot noir to start now, and then in MLF when it's fermented. The weather here is warm, so I have to do it now. It's hard making wine in the winter here, especially if I'm doing MLF because it's a struggle to get my room temperature above 62 degrees! It's great for cold stabilization for wines, and for making lagers though!

Congrats. Sounds great

YooperBrew said:

Oh, that reminds me! We're also thawing some frozen pinot noir grapes that I bought from Northern Brewer a couple of months ago. Three gallons of pinot noir to start now, and then in MLF when it's fermented. The weather here is warm, so I have to do it now. It's hard making wine in the winter here, especially if I'm doing MLF because it's a struggle to get my room temperature above 62 degrees! It's great for cold stabilization for wines, and for making lagers though!

Click to expand...

Yeah my in-laws live in Cadillac, and I was born in Green Bay - I wish I had weather like that for some lagers. Even in the winter its hard to keep a consistent cold temp here. Two Christmases ago it was 75!

I am also going to be doing a batch of fresh fig wine... a friends tree is coming ripe and they hate figs, so I am going over every few days and picking the ripe ones and freezing them. Should be a fun experiment.

Good luck on your pinot, bet it turns out great!

oof, this thread hits me in a soft spot. I haven't been able to brew since the end of February, due to buying a house and doing all sorts of work and traveling for work. I've got a week left on the road and than some time off! I can't wait to enjoy my house and get some brews in...did someone say triple brewday? I'll prob do a few back to back days..until than, I live vicariously through all of you via the internet!