Northern Illinois All Grain Seminar?

Wow, nice beer list at Galway Tribes, there! Gotta go there, since it is near her, too.

FermentEd, I've gone by the Lizard several times but never wandered in. If they still have some Bell's there, I might have to get there ASAP!

Front Street Cantina is a favorite, too. Great tacos plate. I always loved the food at the Naperville FSC, but the bar area sucks - too small and right by the door. Bar area at the Plainfield location is so much nicer. They always have Sierra Nevada on tap - perfect with Mexican.

I was at the Lazy Lizard Saturday evening and had Goose Island Honkers Ale, good stuff. I'm in Seattle right now enjoying a Black Butte Porter made in Bend, Oregon and it is great! Welcome FermentEd.

Snakebone said:

I was at the Lazy Lizard Saturday evening and had Goose Island Honkers Ale, good stuff. I'm in Seattle right now enjoying a Black Butte Porter made in Bend, Oregon and it is great! Welcome FermentEd.

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Boy, that sounds tasty too! What are you doing in Seattle? Work??

I'm training some people with our maintenance software. We're going to go to some place that has a bunch micro brews to do some sampling. Fortunately my flight doesn't depart until 10:45 tomorrow.

Snakebone said:

I was at the Lazy Lizard Saturday evening and had Goose Island Honkers Ale, good stuff. I'm in Seattle right now enjoying a Black Butte Porter made in Bend, Oregon and it is great! Welcome FermentEd.

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Thanks Snakebone! It's great to see so many homebrewers in Plainfield.

Cheers!

You know, prior to my life as a brewer, I lived in an apartment complex above someone who I now recognize as a brewer. I always wondered why he had two 10 gallon coolers on his porch.

Too bad he and I never talked.

Snakebone said:

... I'm in Seattle right now enjoying a Black Butte Porter made in Bend, Oregon...

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Lucky bastid! You're in the beeriest area of the country, IMHO! Never been, but it's high on my list of 'must go' places.

The BBP - that's Deschutes Brewing in Bend, OR, isn't it? You sure can't find that around Plainfield. You need to get a big suitcase and bring some of your favorites back!

Rhoobarb said:

...You need to get a big suitcase and bring some of your favorites back!

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One like this should work

rdwj said:

One like this should work

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You'd definitely have to check that in, though.

FWIW, I checked the gravity and had a taste of the Silky Brown Ale last night. It's a keeper! FG is ~1.008, so a bit dry, but I thought we were pretty close to the Flossmoor version. It had a nice balance - not too much hops - and the roasted malts definitely come through. Can't wait for these to carbonate. I want to do a side-by-side with a growler of theirs to see how close we actually got!

if ya all want bell's come north bout 3 hours to k zoo and drink from the secondary
if theyll let ya. :rockin:

eriklupust said:

if ya all want bell's come north bout 3 hours to k zoo and drink from the secondary
if theyll let ya. :rockin:

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I was at the little pub there ~5 years ago with a buddy of mine on our way back from Detroit. Great place! Before we left, we went to their store across the parking lot and I picked up a case each of different 6-packs that were not available in our neck of the woods. I'd like to go back there this Spring.

Rhoobarb said:

You'd definitely have to check that in, though.

FWIW, I checked the gravity and had a taste of the Silky Brown Ale last night. It's a keeper! FG is ~1.008, so a bit dry, but I thought we were pretty close to the Flossmoor version. It had a nice balance - not too much hops - and the roasted malts definitely come through. Can't wait for these to carbonate. I want to do a side-by-side with a growler of theirs to see how close we actually got!

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If it's close, I'll have to make sure to make some more pretty soon. My taps are looking pretty pathetic right now. With cold weather, a rough schedule and collecting AG stuff, I just haven't been able to brew.

rdwj said:

If it's close, I'll have to make sure to make some more pretty soon. My taps are looking pretty pathetic right now. With cold weather, a rough schedule and collecting AG stuff, I just haven't been able to brew.

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I've totally got the itch to brew, and I'm thinking about doing it and taking advantage of the three foot snowbank in my front yard as a cooling mechanism. By the time my wort is done fermenting it'll be almost April (if I let it go for a while) and should hopefully be warm by then. In the mean time, I've got to decide whether I want to make a kegerator or lagerator out of the fridge I bought.

rdwj said:

If it's close, I'll have to make sure to make some more pretty soon. ...

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The g/f and I went to Three Floyds Saturday (I'm posting a review later) and stopped by Flossmoor Station on the way home. She wanted to have dinner there and I wanted to get two growlers to bring to my buddy Chris' Daytona 500 gathering yesterday. I figured I'd need some good beer to get through the mind-numbing spectacle that is NASCAR.

I picked up a growler of the Pullman Brown and I still say we're close. I have some left and I'm going to side-by-side them tonight when I get home!

Rhoobarb said:

The g/f and I went to Three Floyds Saturday (I'm posting a review later) and stopped by Flossmoor Station on the way home. She wanted to have dinner there and I wanted to get two growlers to bring to my buddy Chris' Daytona 500 gathering yesterday. I figured I'd need some good beer to get through the mind-numbing spectacle that is NASCAR.

I picked up a growler of the Pullman Brown and I still say we're close. I have some left and I'm going to side-by-side them tonight when I get home!

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Can't wait to try it. When do we get to sample the goods?

Cheesefood said:

Can't wait to try it. When do we get to sample the goods?

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Isn't Snakebone supposed to host a 777 brew session soon?

I figure whenever we settle on a 777 brew session, that would probably be a good time to sample them!

Rhoobarb said:

I figure whenever we settle on a 777 brew session, that would probably be a good time to sample them!

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Is the RECIPE even settled yet?

rdwj said:

Is the RECIPE even settled yet?

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Good question. I just posted to the old thread to see if I can find out!

Rhoobarb said:

Good question. I just posted to the old thread to see if I can find out!

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Well, if worst comes to worst, we can come up with our own. I'm hoping we can do something within the next few weeks. This week is out for me, but beyone that. I'm probably open.

rdwj said:

Well, if worst comes to worst, we can come up with our own. I'm hoping we can do something within the next few weeks. This week is out for me, but beyone that. I'm probably open.

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SNIZZLEbrau! SNIZZLEbrau!

I wouldn't mind doing our own variation. We can use whichever homegrown hops Rhoob is generous enough to share with us and Rd and I can break in our AG gear. I'll bring a corny with me to bring it home, then transfer to a carboy once I'm home safe (I might need a shot of CO2 in there to help the seals).

I think my hops stash is getting stale. I need to buy some freezer bags for them.

rdwj said:

Well, if worst comes to worst, we can come up with our own. I'm hoping we can do something within the next few weeks. This week is out for me, but beyone that. I'm probably open.

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March is bad for me. I'm going to AZ, then coming home and going to Peoria for a couple of days, then home again, free for a weekend, in-laws coming up some weekend, then a wedding.

My birthday is coming up in May. I'm thinking of asking SWMBO for a grain mill.

By the way, my Dremel purchase is now safe and I can quit hiding it from her. She just dropped some major cash on various snake-oils (which is what I call her skin care products). I was worried I'd hear it about spending, but she can't say anything now.

Anytime from next weekend until late March is okay for me. But late March/early April is out. I usually plan a get-together for the NCAA basketball finals and it looks like it is going to be either the 24th or 31st of March. The girlfriend's surgery is April 6th and we'll be visiting my parnets April 13th. So, it would have to be either soon or wait until mid-April.

BTW, last night I had a taste of the Brown Ale we brewed and compared it to the Flossmoor brown I had leftover from Sunday. Taste-wise, it is very close. The color is a wee bit lighter and the mouthfeel is not as creamy. I think if I change the yeast (we used WLP008, I'd use WLP007 now), add a bit more dark grains and mash at a lower temperature (we mashed at ~155oF, I'd go ~149oF now), it'll be a lot closer. That said, it is a good beer and I think we'll enjoy it.

Hey Rhoobarb!
I think the way to increase mouthfeel is to mash at a higher temperature. In general, [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]a lower mash temperature, less than or equal to 150°F, yields a thinner bodied, drier beer. A higher mash temperature, greater than or equal to 156°F, yields a less fermentable, sweeter beer. [/FONT]

FermentEd said:

Hey Rhoobarb!
I think the way to increase mouthfeel is to mash at a higher temperature. In general, [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]a lower mash temperature, less than or equal to 150°F, yields a thinner bodied, drier beer. A higher mash temperature, greater than or equal to 156°F, yields a less fermentable, sweeter beer. [/FONT]

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Yeah, but we mashed at 155oF and it is not a creamy as I wanted. With oats in the recipe, I thought maybe a lower temp might be better. Maybe I should mash in the 130s-140s for 20 mins, then raise it to ~155oF, same as an oatmeal stout.

Perhaps a little maltodextrin might help too? I've never used it, but it's supposed to add body and mouthfeel.

As for date, just about any weekend except this weekend is good for me.

rdwj said:

Perhaps a little maltodextrin might help too? I've never used it, but it's supposed to add body and mouthfeel.

As for date, just about any weekend except this weekend is good for me.

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I've used it before and, yes, it does. I just wanted to avoid it. Maybe I'll up the CaraPils, which does basically the same thing. Hmmm...

Getting back to the 777: the big winners seemed to be:

Brewsmith's 1.056, SRM 7.0
7.0 lb 2-row
1.0 lb wheat malt
0.5 lb Vienna
0.5 lb Honey malt
0.5 lb Crystal 10L
0.5 lb Munich
.25 lb Biscuit

texasgeorge's 1.055, SRM 7.0
8.0 lb 2-row
1.0 lb wheat malt
1.0 lb Vienna
1.0 lb Honey Malt
0.5 lb Crystal 10L
0.5 lb Carapils
0.5 lb Victory

The three hops on top (sounds like a Dr. Seuss story) in the poll were
1. Amarillo
2. Cascade
3. Simcoe

I have all three hop varieties. As for Cascade, I have them from Freshops and lots of my own home grown. What say we just pick one grain bill, pick a yeast, do a single infusion, and we’ll post our final and see if anyone bites!

Personally, I like the second one, but I'm flexible to change.

What percentage of your grain bill was oats? You may want to do a beta-glucanase rest somewhwere within a temperature range of 104F to 122F and hold it there for half an hour. Then raise your temperature to the upper 150s.

Cheese, do you have one weekend available in March? If so, we can probably plan around that unless it conflicts with Rhoobarb.

FermentED and Snakebone, any date restrictions?

We've got 2 keggles. If we can get everyone together, can we do 12.5 gals per keggle so that everyone can take 5 gals or are we better with 3 boil pots?

FermentEd said:

What percentage of your grain bill was oats? You may want to do a beta-glucanase rest somewhwere within a temperature range of 104F to 122F and hold it there for half an hour. Then raise your temperature to the upper 150s.

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Not much, only ~4%. Here's the recipe. Yep, that's what I was thinking, I just couldn't remember the proper temps off the top of my head. Next time, I may go that route. I did that for my oatmeal stout and it worked. I also do it for the flaked rye in my Honey Blonde Ale, although I've been seriously thinking about switching to malted rye.

rdwj said:

Cheese, do you have one weekend available in March? If so, we can probably plan around that unless it conflicts with Rhoobarb.

FermentED and Snakebone, any date restrictions?

We've got 2 keggles. If we can get everyone together, can we do 12.5 gals per keggle so that everyone can take 5 gals or are we better with 3 boil pots?

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Either works for me. I can bring a boil pot and burner if needed.

rdwj said:

Cheese, do you have one weekend available in March? If so, we can probably plan around that unless it conflicts with Rhoobarb.

FermentED and Snakebone, any date restrictions?

We've got 2 keggles. If we can get everyone together, can we do 12.5 gals per keggle so that everyone can take 5 gals or are we better with 3 boil pots?

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My weekend dates from now until the end of March are tentative, as I am cleaning and painting my mothers house (she’s 80) to place it on the market mid to late March. I hope to have one day off in that time frame. The weekend of the 24-25 would be preferable, but that’s probably a prime weekend for NCAA. The 17-18 may be possible, but I wouldn’t know for sure until the prior week. Even if I can’t brew with you guys I should be able to stop by later. Sorry to be a PITA as far as a commitment goes. I want to meet up with you guys. This timeframe is a real scramble for me. I sure could use a break and this would certainly do it.

Just locked my NCAA get-together for March 31st. So the 24th is good for me, but the following three weeks are not.

rdwj said:

Cheese, do you have one weekend available in March? If so, we can probably plan around that unless it conflicts with Rhoobarb.

FermentED and Snakebone, any date restrictions?

We've got 2 keggles. If we can get everyone together, can we do 12.5 gals per keggle so that everyone can take 5 gals or are we better with 3 boil pots?

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Yes, but I won't know which one until my BIL figures out when he's coming out to visit us.

As for the two keggles, that's cool and all but I'd really like to try out my gear.

Can I suggest we have the NCAA tourny on while we brew? Is that possible? I can't imagine anything my wife would rather do less than hang out with us while we're brewing and watching men's basketball. So I should be free and solo that weekend (if I'm free).

Cheesefood said:

Yes, but I won't know which one until my BIL figures out when he's coming out to visit us.

As for the two keggles, that's cool and all but I'd really like to try out my gear.

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Cool, let us know when you find out. As far as gear - I hear ya. I want to use mine too. I thought the keggles might be easier, but we can easily do two of them and an other pot. Pretty much, whatever people want to use - use!

Basket ball & beer! Doesn't get any better than that!

Now, which recipe to use?

Rhoobarb said:

Basket ball & beer! Doesn't get any better than that!

Now, which recipe to use?

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Let's each do something different. That way we all have something to trade later on. I'll bottle up enough for you guys, or bring over a corny when it's done and try out Rd's fancy beer gun.

By the way, my beer thawed out. I tried my troubled Dead Guy clone, and it still has that funky taste to it. I'm starting to think that the hops I dry hopped with are bad.

Cheesefood said:

Let's each do something different....

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We could, but then it won't be a 'group brew' in the true sense of the word. Unless... you're thinking we use the same basic recipe (ingredients, hops) but altering the method (yeast, mash temps, hop additions, etc.). That might be interesting!

Rhoobarb said:

We could, but then it won't be a 'group brew' in the true sense of the word. Unless... you're thinking we use the same basic recipe (ingredients, hops) but altering the method (yeast, mash temps, hop additions, etc.). That might be interesting!

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Yeah, but this way we end up with 3 brews to try from.

Unless you REALLY want to do the same recipe. Let me know, so we can coordinate and wear the same shirts.

You know, I tend to agree with Cheese. I'd hate to get stuck with 25 gallons of stuff we don't like. To make matters worse, we won't have each other to dump some off - lol.

Perhaps we can do something where we make two different things. There is a pretty long lag during the 60 min rest - we could get the next one going during that.

Seems like we'd have plenty of time