so my dark american lager/brown ale is fermenting.

and I was using a recipe from the LHBS in spring, TX.

6.5# LME
5# DME
.5 oz (i think) Calcium Chloride
1 oz liberty hops (that's what it was called, I don't have any idea how it makes it different. says it has some more spice to it"

Brewed it yesterday afternoon, checked this morning after about 16 hours and it's bubbling away. Can't wait to bottle it up and let it age. Brewed 5 gallons and got my capper and bottles ready and waiting, figured I'd let a six pack just sit in the closet for 6 months or a year and taste it then, see how it is.


I'll post some pictures here in a few minutes, if anyone cares to see.

Oh, I care to see, I do.

What LME and DME did you use?

11 lbs of malt extract to 1 oz of hops? what kind of beer is it?

stedtale said:

Oh, I care to see, I do.

What LME and DME did you use?

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I really have no idea. It was whatever the guy at the Shop had. He has his own recipes and evidently leads a group as well, so I followed his recipe for my first real beer. After this one, I want to try an apfelwein and maybe tweak a recipe or two and start coming up with my own.

I used Cooper's brewer's yeast for this one, as well.



This is this setup, waiting for the water to boil




The carboy's nice and clean, left the foamies in there for the yeast to munch on later:



what's that? is that the sound of water boiling? Sadly, no. (about half an hour into the boil)

Oh, sure it has to be boiling by now (nearly 45 minutes in)


Finally getting to make the Wort




I think this last one has the hops in it, but it was really rolling so it's hard to see:



Unfortunately, I was on the phone while siphoning all of this over to my carboy. Had a guy from craigslist responding to a musician ad I posted so I was siphoning with one hand and texting with the other.

Here's my airlock about to go on my 6.5gal carboy:

FreeM80s said:

11 lbs of malt extract to 1 oz of hops? what kind of beer is it?

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"dark american lager"

if it makes a difference, they were hops pellets.

and here she is. I used the cardboard box it came in to help shield it from the light, with a towel wrapping around the top of the carboy, for the light and for heat when it gets cold in the apartment. I got up this morning and took a short video of it bubbling away. Might upload it to youtube and post it here later on today, but it's nothing anyone's never seen before.

ahhhh I see. Looks great man

Do you have a hydrometer? This is a big beer, and you really should check youir gravity (not necessarily now, but before finishing).

Also, do you know if the LME was pre-hopped?

McGarnigle said:

Do you have a hydrometer? This is a big beer, and you really should check youir gravity (not necessarily now, but before finishing).

Also, do you know if the LME was pre-hopped?

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no, but I'm getting one

and

No, I don't believe it was pre-hopped. The 1oz hops packet i had was hops pellets and when they boiled out there was a ton of hops(flakes, etc. siphoned all my wort into the carboy and had to pour the hops that the siphon didn't pick up in as well) in the wort, so I'm assuming the LME wasn't pre-hopped.

So is it a lager or an Ale?

IrregularPulse said:

So is it a lager or an Ale?

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yes.

It's a lager recipe but I can't actually lager it so I'm using Ale Yeast and Ale Temperatures.

Thus, it's a dark brown ale?

Wow...11.5 lbs, you made a beer bigger than my barleywine. Did you mean .5 lbs of DME?
I calculate a starting gravity of 1.090 with 5lbs of DME and 1.051 with 0.5 lbs(much more manageable for Cooper's yeast). If its going to be that big (1.090) I hope you used a large starter. If you just pitched one pkg of Cooper's ale yeast into a beer that big, you will more than likely get a stuck fermentation, ask me how I know this. If you just typed out the lbs wrong and you meant 0.5lbs of DME you will more than likely be fine and at low risk for stuck fermentation.
-Jefe-

and here she is this morning.

I'm pretty sure it was 6.5# and 5#, I had three big tubs of Extract, so I'm assuming it was five pounds. Yeah, it's a big beer, and supposed to ferment fairly quickly I think.

The brewer's yeast was two packets worth (14g)

Just took this a few minutes ago, had some time to run home between classes.

14 grams of yeast is a good amount. I think a cuouple of us were perhaps more worried about the low hopping, but this is more malt bomb than hop bomb. I'm guessing the Liberty hops were added at the beginning of the boil.

McGarnigle said:

14 grams of yeast is a good amount. I think a cuouple of us were perhaps more worried about the low hopping, but this is more malt bomb than hop bomb. I'm guessing the Liberty hops were added at the beginning of the boil.

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yeah, 3/4 of the pellets were put in at the beginning and boiled for about forty minutes (after boiling the wort alone for five) and then the other 1/4 added in after forty minutes and boiled for another fifteen.

funkapottomous said:

Thus, it's a dark brown ale?

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I would call it an American old ale. Its like a barley wine without the hops. It looks great though, keep us updated

FreeM80s said:

I would call it an American old ale. Its like a barley wine without the hops. It looks great though, keep us updated

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that sounds good. I like American Old Ale.

maybe even Old American Ale. hmmmmmm.

Yes, thus it's not a lager if you're not lagering it.

okay, so I don't have a hydrometer and I KNOW this thing isn't done fermenting on day three, but the bubbles have ceased, so I'm going to break down and try and find one on amazon or ebay for cheap (if the shipping is cheap too) and take a FG.

any math whizzes want to calculate out my OG and what my FG should be? (he's got it written down on his recipe, but I don't have it handy at the moment)

JefeTheVol said:

I calculate a starting gravity of 1.090 with 5lbs of DME and 1.051 with 0.5 lbs(much more manageable for Cooper's yeast). If its going to be that big (1.090) I hope you used a large starter. If you just pitched one pkg of Cooper's ale yeast into a beer that big, you will more than likely get a stuck fermentation, ask me how I know this. If you just typed out the lbs wrong and you meant 0.5lbs of DME you will more than likely be fine and at low risk for stuck fermentation.
-Jefe-

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what he said. How many weeks are you planning on letting this sit?

funkapottomous said:

okay, so I don't have a hydrometer and I KNOW this thing isn't done fermenting on day three, but the bubbles have ceased, so I'm going to break down and try and find one on amazon or ebay for cheap (if the shipping is cheap too) and take a FG.

any math whizzes want to calculate out my OG and what my FG should be? (he's got it written down on his recipe, but I don't have it handy at the moment)

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If 1.090 was correctly calculated, then FG should hit around 1.025. I wouldn't expect below 1.020, and might settle for 1.030 (this being extract). Even if you did hit 1.025 now, leave it in primary for a bit...it's still "cleaning up."

If you're not dong a secondary, I think you should leave it for 3-4 weeks in primary regardless. But a hydrometer will tell you whether your yeast quit on you.

It's against the law to brew and text message at the same time.

Good luck. I hope it turns out nice.

Did you like shopping @ the spring store? I went there. All I bought was a book. Didn't spend much time looking around. For me, it is either that store, Defalcos, or the mighty internet.

FreeM80s said:

what he said. How many weeks are you planning on letting this sit?

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except he's calculating a gravity for a recipe using .5# dme, and not 5# dme.


edit:nevermind, I read his post and figured out what he was saying. yeah, 1.090 seems right. this is a big beer. Right now in the carboy it looks like I have a bunch of foamy caramel. I can't wait for it to be done, it looks tasty enough right now, I'll be excited when it clears.

I plan on letting it sit for at least a month before even bothering with trying to bottle it, whether the gravity is reached within the first two weeks or not.

152Sumo said:

It's against the law to brew and text message at the same time.

Good luck. I hope it turns out nice.

Did you like shopping @ the spring store? I went there. All I bought was a book. Didn't spend much time looking around. For me, it is either that store, Defalcos, or the mighty internet.

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the guy was really cool.
he had someone who was moving and needed to get rid of bottles, so I got about 30 bottles for five dollars, and he had some freebies laying out too that I took.

he's got a booklet of all his own recipes, was really helpful, and even gave me his phone number to call just in case I had questions or needed to ask anything. The only weird thing about his store is that they're closed on Tuesdays. :?

so a quick update.

I just got back to the apartment tonight, we had to go into Houston for the weekend to do some stuff with the girlfriend's parents. I was worried because after about the third day, the yeast had apparently decided to slow down fermentation. My airlock was bubbling away for the first two days, and I checked on thursday evening and I saw no bubbles. "Oh noes!" I said, " No Bubbles! What Happened!?" I thought to myself, "well if i'ts not fermenting it'll just have to stay for the weekend and I'll get a hydrometer and check it when we get home"


My dad works in one of the energy plants and I mentioned needing a hydrometer and he said he'd get one for me from the plant, so I was just planning on getting it when he had it for me, but saints alive! when I get home and happen to glance over at the carboy (not even checking it, I was just looking in the general direction of the airlock) and what to my wondering eye would appear, but a bubble of gas, leaving fast from my beer. I rushed to SWMBO who asked what was the matter, I was so excited I made such a clatter. I said to her, "honey, we must repent! The beer that I left has begun to ferment!" she looked at me as though I was a crazy commuter, so I decided to tell all my friends in the computer!

long story short, i freaked, let it sit and it's fermenting (slowly but surely)

funkapottomous said:

ock) and what to my wondering eye would appear, but a bubble of gas, leaving fast from my beer. I rushed to SWMBO who asked what was the matter, I was so excited I made such a clatter. I said to her, "honey, we must repent! The beer that I left has begun to ferment!" she looked at me as though I was a crazy commuter, so I decided to tell all my friends in the computer!

long story short, i freaked, let it sit and it's fermenting (slowly but surely)

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and now, a Po-em!


Very nice

Potter1 said:

and now, a Po-em!


Very nice

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haha, thanks. i got inspired about halfway through the post.

after posting on a homebrewing thread on 4chan, I got a little worried.

does anyone think that the picture I posted earlier looks like infected beer?

naw man, you good.

what LHBS is in Spring?

Dude, your beer looks healthy as a horse.

Seriously, you really have to try hard to really, REALLY F**k this up, and you look like your sanitation practices are good. RDWHAHB

Johnny_Crunch said:

what LHBS is in Spring?

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Brew It Yourself off of I45. Only went there once. It is not as nice inside as Defalcos, but a nice pretty store doesn't equal good beer. I only bought a book, but the gentleman there seemed pretty knowledgable.

152Sumo said:

Brew It Yourself off of I45. Only went there once. It is not as nice inside as Defalcos, but a nice pretty store doesn't equal good beer. I only bought a book, but the gentleman there seemed pretty knowledgable.

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haha. I told my girlfriend if he organized his **** better he could get by with half the store space he's got. He was really nice, hooked me up with some bottles for cheap, and was nice. Like i said before, he told me if I had any questions or concerns or anything to call and he'd talk me through it.

another update.

I've let the beer sit and ferment for what seems like forever now but it hasn't even been two weeks. :/

My dad couldn't find a hydrometer at work, the ones they use are for testing battery acid.

I finally cracked and popped off my airlock today and took a whiff of the beer and it sure as hell smells delicious. I can NOT wait to bottle this bad batch.

Downloaded gimp and working on some label designs.

that is rays shop and yeah he is a real helpful guy. i was looking through all of his recipies nd what you got there is his dark american lager it contains 6.5# light liquid extract and 0.5# dark liquid extract. that should give you a og of around 1.050 and a fg of 1.012 he uses breiss extract and his stuff is always pretty fresh so ths should be pretty done after 3 weeks of fermentation and 1 month in the bottle

bradjoiner said:

that is rays shop and yeah he is a real helpful guy. i was looking through all of his recipies nd what you got there is his dark american lager it contains 6.5# light liquid extract and 0.5# dark liquid extract. that should give you a og of around 1.050 and a fg of 1.012 he uses breiss extract and his stuff is always pretty fresh so ths should be pretty done after 3 weeks of fermentation and 1 month in the bottle

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yeah, I assumed wrong before and just never came and corrected myself. I assumed that the three tbs he gave me were LME, LME, and DME separately.

apparently he just mixed in the .5# DME into the tub of LME, which makes a lot more sense now that I think about it.

bradjoiner said:

that is rays shop and yeah he is a real helpful guy. i was looking through all of his recipies nd what you got there is his dark american lager it contains 6.5# light liquid extract and 0.5# dark liquid extract. that should give you a og of around 1.050 and a fg of 1.012 he uses breiss extract and his stuff is always pretty fresh so ths should be pretty done after 3 weeks of fermentation and 1 month in the bottle

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sweet.

got my hydrometer today and checked my FG, and guess what it was?

1.013

good enough for government work. going to check it tomorrow morning and get to bottling late saturday, maybe sunday.

funkapottomous said:

sweet.

got my hydrometer today and checked my FG, and guess what it was?

1.013

good enough for government work. going to check it tomorrow morning and get to bottling late saturday, maybe sunday.

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awesome man. Make sure you save enough to send us all a few bottles to try lol