Everything Brooklyn Brewshop

Wanted to start a forum all things concerned about BBS, that includes kits,techniques,recipes ,equipment,and any way to help each other out and share information concerning the BBS brewing. So far I have brewed 2 of their kits and 2 recipes from the book and all have been great. I have also brewed a couple smash beers using their methods.

I've brewed a couple of their beers so far. The first was their IPA kit, and having enjoyed myself with that, i got their book and brewed both their Grapefruit Honey Ale and Peach Cobbler Ale as my second and third brews. I havn't had awesome luck with my brews so far... Both the IPA and Grapefruit Honey tasted awesome when i tasted at bottling time, but after being bottle conditioned and refridgerated there was a distinct "off" flavour in the aftertaste of both of them... I don't really know how to describe it, my initial thought was it was "yeasty", though i'm not really sure...

I left the IPA in primary for 2 weeks and bottled, carbed for 2 weeks, and chilled my first bottle for a week before my first taste, and the last bottle of the batch was refridgerated for about 2 weeks, which did improve that "off" taste, but it was definetly still there... For the grapefruit honey i left in primary for 3 weeks, bottled carbed for 2 - 4 weeks, and refridgrated 1 - 3 weeks. My first bottle had significantly less of that "off" taste than the IPA, and after the first couple sips wasn't too noticeable anymore, but again was certainly there in the background. Again more time in bottles and then more time chilling in the fridge to help the yeast settle out and pack at the bottom definetly seemed to improve the taste further, but my last bottle still had the noticeable taste.

The peach cobbler was kinda a disaster right from brew day. I had to brew, couldn't get fresh peaches at any stores, substituted for frozen peaches, over baked the peaches in the oven, the brew itself was rushed because friends showed up about half an hour into the brew and expected me to socialize with them and my wife, so i was rushed.... I left it in primary 3 weeks, and at bottling time it smelled strongly of plastic, didn't really have very much flavour at all other than a mild plasticy taste... I'm hoping 3 weeks at room temp bottle conditioning and a couple weeks minimum in the fridge will salvage the beer even slightly, this saturday will be one week in the fridge, so I will see howmthe first one tastes then....

I was starting to have suspicions that the off taste could be the honey being used as the priming sugar, so my next beer i am going to use corn sugar to see if that makes a difference. I just can't figure out why they have tasted great at bottling, but then have that off flavour once bottled...

Other than that i have brewed a Honey Porter from a recipe i put together myself, which im bottling tomorrow, and next up is a Blonde, following BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde recipe...

The plastic flavor comes from chlorine in the water used to brew or cleaners & the like that contain chlorine or iodine . If the wrong dilution of these cleaners or sanitizers is used,it can give a plastic or medicinal flavor.
As for the IPA,2 weeks in primary wasn't enough. Generally,my average gravity beers take 3 weeks in primary,sometimes 3.5-4 weeks to finish & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. The plastic flavor generally doesn't age out. You need to look at your brewing water,cleaners & sanitizers. One of these is causing the problem. And it's def not the honey...

I love BBS! I've done 6 batches of their stuff: Everyday IPA, Blueberry Red Ale, chocolate maple porter, simcoe IPA, rye pa, and their light American ale, which I added lime zest to.

All have tasted great and I think the simcoe IPA is the best IPA I've ever had.

unionrdr said:

The plastic flavor comes from chlorine in the water used to brew or cleaners & the like that contain chlorine or iodine . If the wrong dilution of these cleaners or sanitizers is used,it can give a plastic or medicinal flavor.
As for the IPA,2 weeks in primary wasn't enough. Generally,my average gravity beers take 3 weeks in primary,sometimes 3.5-4 weeks to finish & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. The plastic flavor generally doesn't age out. You need to look at your brewing water,cleaners & sanitizers. One of these is causing the problem. And it's def not the honey...

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The IPA and Grapefruit Honey didn't have a plasticy flavour, just the Peach Cobbler. I know chlorine is usually the culprit, but i use bottled water for my brewing and use star san with distilled water for my sanitizer... I made the peach cobbler ale the same way I made the other two, but for some reason it turned out plasticy.

I refered to the flavor you said of the IPA as not being in primary long enough. And you did say it had a destinct off flavor. They say cleaners & sanitizers mixed too strong can have that effect as well. What did you clean your equipment with & how was it mixed?

hehawbrew said:

I love BBS! I've done 6 batches of their stuff: Everyday IPA, Blueberry Red Ale, chocolate maple porter, simcoe IPA, rye pa, and their light American ale, which I added lime zest to.

All have tasted great and I think the simcoe IPA is the best IPA I've ever had.

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One thing that bugs me about the BBS recipes is the lack of OG and FG.

Maybe it would be nice for folks to share their readings, so those of us who are just starting out or doing a new recipe might have a guide.

Like the Simcoe IPA, for instance. I will be trying that tomorrow as a 2-gallon batch with my new Brewdemon fermenter. Might try the oven method for the mash. Anyhow, what OG and FG readings should I expect?

MedBrewer said:

Wanted to start a forum all things concerned about BBS, that includes kits,techniques,recipes ,equipment,and any way to help each other out and share information concerning the BBS brewing. So far I have brewed 2 of their kits and 2 recipes from the book and all have been great. I have also brewed a couple smash beers using their methods.

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Do you want to start a unique Brooklyn Brew Shop forum that's separate and apart from HBT?

Since there's already an active BBS thread here on HBT, it might be easier to keep that thread chugging along than to start a new BBS forum elsewhere.

unkyjack said:

Do you want to start a unique Brooklyn Brew Shop forum that's separate and apart from HBT?

Since there's already an active BBS thread here on HBT, it might be easier to keep that thread chugging along than to start a new BBS forum elsewhere.

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The name of that thread does specify Everyday IPA kit, which might lead some to think that it only applies to that recipe. I do like the idea of an ongoing general BBS thread.

Any chance the Mods could rename that thread so that it might identify as a general BBS thread?

PsyDanny said:

The name of that thread does specify Everyday IPA kit, which might lead some to think that it only applies to that recipe. I do like the idea of an ongoing general BBS thread.

Any chance the Mods could rename that thread so that it might identify as a general BBS thread?

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+1

Good idea. A thread often takes on a life of its own and provides helpful information well beyond the OP that started it.

Reason I started this on is b/c I could not find a general bbs thread,if there is then sure I'd love to keep posting on it. I've been posting all kinds of stuff on the bbs IPA thread,buts IPA .

PsyDanny said:

One thing that bugs me about the BBS recipes is the lack of OG and FG.

Maybe it would be nice for folks to share their readings, so those of us who are just starting out or doing a new recipe might have a guide.

Like the Simcoe IPA, for instance. I will be trying that tomorrow as a 2-gallon batch with my new Brewdemon fermenter. Might try the oven method for the mash. Anyhow, what OG and FG readings should I expect?

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I'm guilty of not taking a OG or FG until my rye pa !!! Too lazy to go get it right now tho! Sorry!

I may have taken em.... I'll hit the basement later and dig out my notes.

MedBrewer said:

Reason I started this on is b/c I could not find a general bbs thread,if there is then sure I'd love to keep posting on it. I've been posting all kinds of stuff on the bbs IPA thread,buts IPA .

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Yup. It started as a post about BBS IPA, but then went beyond info about just one particular recipe. I've discovered that happens all the time here on HBT. The topic of the original post morphs into something broader, with a lot of useful info beyond what's indicated by the subject line of the OP.

The suggestion to possibly change the subject line of the IPA thread to a general Brooklyn Brew Shop thread would help. I'm not sure how that's done. Maybe the original poster could do it. If not, an admin should be able to make the change if the OP says it's OK.

My only issue with taking OG's and FG's with the one gallon brews is that I loose about an entire cup of product with each sample to get my hydrometer to float.

MedBrewer said:

My only issue with taking OG's and FG's with the one gallon brews is that I loose about an entire cup of product with each sample to get my hydrometer to float.

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Sanitizer to the rescue. Has worked for me so far. Sanitize, remove wort for measurement, return to fermenter or bottling bucket.

MedBrewer said:

My only issue with taking OG's and FG's with the one gallon brews is that I loose about an entire cup of product with each sample to get my hydrometer to float.

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Up your batch size! Lol!

PsyDanny said:

Sanitizer to the rescue. Has worked for me so far. Sanitize, remove wort for measurement, return to fermenter or bottling bucket.

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That's what I do, too.

I also agree that the one flaw in their book is the lack of OG/FG and IBU. I made the Grapefruit Honey last week, and it tasted much more bitter than I expected.

It was still very good going into the fermenter. I made a mistake and left out the victory and C10 malts, so it will be a little different than intended. Oh well.

I also think they suggest too much yeast. You should be able to get by with a quarter of a pack of yeast (~3g).

I brewed a one-gallon batch of BBS chocolate maple porter a couple of weeks ago, except I substituted 3oz corn sugar for the maple syrup and added a couple of ounces of strong, cold-brewed coffee to the secondary. OG was 14 Brix and FG was 8. The taste at bottling yesterday was great! Will wait a month to drink - if it is possible to wait that long!

PsyDanny said:

One thing that bugs me about the BBS recipes is the lack of OG and FG.

Maybe it would be nice for folks to share their readings, so those of us who are just starting out or doing a new recipe might have a guide.

Like the Simcoe IPA, for instance. I will be trying that tomorrow as a 2-gallon batch with my new Brewdemon fermenter. Might try the oven method for the mash. Anyhow, what OG and FG readings should I expect?

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If you want OG and FG readings for the BBS recipes, just send them an email and ask. They usually respond fairly quickly and have no problem giving OG / FGs, they just didn't include them in the book in an attempt to "keep it simple"

Yeah- they have awesome customer service. A real person reads and responds to you!

hehawbrew said:

Yeah- they have awesome customer service. A real person reads and responds to you!

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That's true, I've had a few questions and emailed them and they have written back promptly.

Any one make bbs summer wheat? Or the cranberry wheat recipe?

Any one added fruit to a BBS kit? I was thinking of adding mango to the wheat kit. Or adding pumpkin to the pumpkin ale recipe...any ideas?

I have 4 Chocolate Maple Porter kits to make, thinking of trying to add bacon to one of them (maybe in a secondary fermentation). Will have to research the heck out of that.

My experiences so far with BBS :

- Get a small mash tun or make one for sparging (strainer sparge sucks)
- Weigh your grains before using, sometimes you need to add more water to the mash than specified
- 3 weeks minimum fermentation
- I like my beer bitter, so I tend to put the bittering hops in for the full boil if applicable
- Customer Service is excellent
- I joined their brew club, I get 6 kits sent every quarter (i joined twice on purpose).
- Smoked wheat ale is one of the best beers I have ever had, I bought 6 kits on a flash sale ($10 ea).
- Some kits don't include all ingredients (e.g. you need to buy nuts, coffee, chocolate as they are optional)


I want to try a no sparge brew with a single kit, going to try secondary fermentations, cold crashing, and a few other tweaks. I brew 2 kits at a time, split into 2 fermentors so I can compare the suggested way to my modification.

I just had an issue with one of the recipes from the bbs recipe book. The edelweiss recipe told me to primary ferment for 4 days and then bottle. Well apparently that isn't enough time in the primary. Now I have some volatile beer bottles. Just a heads up

My Everyday IPA was very cloudy and I have a lot of yeast in the bottom of my bottle. Is there a way to filter your beer before pouring it into your glass?

^^You can leave it in primary 3-7 days after it reaches Fg to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty before racking anywhere. You'll get clearer beer,with less trub in the bottom of the bottles. That's one of the first things I learned here.

Cold crashing has helped when I've tried it. With cold crashing, you put the fermenter in the refrigerator for a day or two. When you're ready to bottle, take the fermenter out of the fridge a few hours ahead of time to let the beer come to room temperature. Then bottle as usual.

I've found that conditioning (at room temperature) for more than 2 weeks helps to remove some of the haze. IME, three or four weeks of conditioning makes a difference. Also, keeping the beer in the fridge for a week or two before drinking will help to remove a bit more haze and improve the taste.

It's hard to wait so long to taste a new brew, but patience pays off.

jlnota said:

My Everyday IPA was very cloudy and I have a lot of yeast in the bottom of my bottle. Is there a way to filter your beer before pouring it into your glass?

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I have cold crashed a few times and it helps. I just remove the airlock and put foil over the cap of the jug, then leave it in the fridge for a couple days. You can bottle directly out of the fridge with out need to warm the beer back up to room temp (has worked for me 3 times now).

The BBS WGD light has been one of the best beers I have had to date. Also I agree that the Smoked Wheat beer was amazing!
This a pic of my WGD light batch. Cheers!!

Hey guys, my first batch ever was the Everyday IPA. Just drank the last one tonight. I thought it was awesome (though very slightly cidery).
Two weeks in the fermenter and then into the bottles with priming sugar instead of honey.
I'm planning on brewing up the grapefruit ale tomorrow. I was going to zest about half of a rind, does that sound about right?

Gunbu said:

Hey guys, my first batch ever was the Everyday IPA. Just drank the last one tonight. I thought it was awesome (though very slightly cidery).
Two weeks in the fermenter and then into the bottles with priming sugar instead of honey.
I'm planning on brewing up the grapefruit ale tomorrow. I was going to zest about half of a rind, does that sound about right?

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Bottling the grapefruit today. I just peeled the whole thing and added when it said to. Didn't zest.

It's been 16 days, and it kicked up a little when I brought it upstairs from the cooler basement. We gave it 2 more days than suggested.

There was one mistake: I forgot to add the Victory and C10 to the mash. (Stupid!) Should still be ok, but not quite as expected.

ericbw said:

Bottling the grapefruit today. I just peeled the whole thing and added when it said to. Didn't zest.

It's been 16 days, and it kicked up a little when I brought it upstairs from the cooler basement. We gave it 2 more days than suggested.

There was one mistake: I forgot to add the Victory and C10 to the mash. (Stupid!) Should still be ok, but not quite as expected.

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Sample tasted great. Light, fruity, a little bitterness. Got 9 bottles from the gallon.

ericbw said:

Bottling the grapefruit today. I just peeled the whole thing and added when it said to. Didn't zest.

It's been 16 days, and it kicked up a little when I brought it upstairs from the cooler basement. We gave it 2 more days than suggested.

There was one mistake: I forgot to add the Victory and C10 to the mash. (Stupid!) Should still be ok, but not quite as expected.

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Awesome, thanks. Didnt get to brewing mine today but hopefully tomorrow. Good luck on your brew, I'm sure it'll be good.

I'm going to be brewing up a 5 gal batch of their Simcoe IPA on the 5th, but, will be using Citra hops instead. Should be a refreshing beer for the hot month of August.

Has anyone ever made their Well Made Triple?

Just finished the last of my WGD light that I brewed with lime zest....was at the beach with my family....even my mom who does not like beer loved it! It taste like a bud lime, except that it dosnt suck!,

MedBrewer said:

The BBS WGD light has been one of the best beers I have had to date. Also I agree that the Smoked Wheat beer was amazing!
This a pic of my WGD light batch. Cheers!!

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The WGD light has been one of my best so far as well. I tweaked a bit and hopped with citra and Amarillo and it's been a nice session pale ale.

I really enjoyed the lavender blonde as well. I used a liquid saison yeast and it was amazing after 3-4 weeks in the bottle.

Any one use a dedicated mash tun like a cooler or something while doing bbs recipes or kits? My biggest problem is keeping a steady mash temp. I usually wrap my mash steel pot in a towel,bit that doesn't work too great.

MedBrewer said:

Any one use a dedicated mash tun like a cooler or something while doing bbs recipes or kits? My biggest problem is keeping a steady mash temp. I usually wrap my mash steel pot in a towel,bit that doesn't work too great.

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I used a sleeping bag to wrap it in before I went to 5 gal

I may try that steeping bag. I may even look into making a one gallon mash tun cooler,but honestly not sure if worth the effort of cleaning the tun after. So simple to clean a pot.

MedBrewer said:

I may try that steeping bag. I may even look into making a one gallon mash tun cooler,but honestly not sure if worth the effort of cleaning the tun after. So simple to clean a pot.

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You could use a small 2 gallon cooler to mash, and just use a bag inside it. Don't worry about putting a valve in. Look for a cheap cooler. It's much easier to do it that way than turning the heat up and down.

ericbw said:

You could use a small 2 gallon cooler to mash, and just use a bag inside it. Don't worry about putting a valve in. Look for a cheap cooler. It's much easier to do it that way than turning the heat up and down.

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Good idea.