I recently had a glass of BCBS on tap and it reminded me how damn good these are. I've hoarded a couple bottles and they're sitting in my closet. But these were pretty hard to get my hands on- had to trade some CCB that I picked up recently on a trip to Tampa to get some. This got me thinking- why not see if brewing my own is a possibility, so I don't have to worry about rushing out and paying a premium to get a couple of bottles? But I realize this is a really big beer and so I thought I'd check with the powers that be on this board and find out if I'm being too ambitious and overestimating my homebrewing capacity. So here goes:
Background: I have 3 extract batches under my belt- an IPA, hefeweizen and coffee stout. I also did brew with my first kit, a BBS 1-gallon all-grain setup that yielded me their Everyday IPA. These days I use a Brewer's Best kit with a 5.5 gal fermenter and another 5.5 gal bottling bucket. Have not felt the need to get a secondary vessel but will need one for this. I use a 30qt stockpot to mash in and to boil. I also don't have kegging equipment and I bottle my beers.
BIAB: I was looking into BIAB methods to doing this. I believe I would need to get a large enough grain bag and some sort of rack or false bottom to put at the bottom so the bag doesn't burn. Does this sound right? And because BIAB tends to have reduced efficiency, I'd just need to add more grain- any idea how much that would be generally- 5%? 10%? I honestly don't know my efficiency so I'm wondering what's the general ballpark that people have figured out. Or, am I better off doing extract? e.g. don't need to make it any more complicated than it already is?
Temps: I live in a smaller apartment and recently learned more about the importance of temperature control with my last 2 batches. I had a swamp cooler setup that I put together on the fly but I'm thinking I need to get something more consistent and more effective. Seems like the yeasts used for these clones have a range of 60-75. Is there any difference between each end of that scale, e.g. 60 vs 75? Because I will basically only be able to drop a new wet towel on top and throw some ice into the swamp cooler setup in the morning before I go to work.
Secondary: For when I secondary (I do need to get a glass carboy as I have never used a secondary vessel) I understand I'd probably put in some oak chips- is there really any major differences between the ones available on NB- American, French? From what I understand I'd need to soak it in some of my roommate's bourbon for a few days before I drop it into secondary. Certainly I don't think I could get my hands on used whiskey barrels.
Bottling: I also don't have any kegging equipment so I'd bottle. It seems like most people who post clone recipes for this brew will keg their beers. Is there any major downside to bottling compared to kegging here? It'd be nice to get a great batch into 2 cases' worth of bottles and then age them while drinking them as I go along.
And if there's anything else I forgot about, please feel free to educate me. I'm willing to save the project for later if it proves to be too ambitious for my current experience level and equipment- but I need that feedback from more experienced brewers. Thanks in advance!
Background: I have 3 extract batches under my belt- an IPA, hefeweizen and coffee stout. I also did brew with my first kit, a BBS 1-gallon all-grain setup that yielded me their Everyday IPA. These days I use a Brewer's Best kit with a 5.5 gal fermenter and another 5.5 gal bottling bucket. Have not felt the need to get a secondary vessel but will need one for this. I use a 30qt stockpot to mash in and to boil. I also don't have kegging equipment and I bottle my beers.
BIAB: I was looking into BIAB methods to doing this. I believe I would need to get a large enough grain bag and some sort of rack or false bottom to put at the bottom so the bag doesn't burn. Does this sound right? And because BIAB tends to have reduced efficiency, I'd just need to add more grain- any idea how much that would be generally- 5%? 10%? I honestly don't know my efficiency so I'm wondering what's the general ballpark that people have figured out. Or, am I better off doing extract? e.g. don't need to make it any more complicated than it already is?
Temps: I live in a smaller apartment and recently learned more about the importance of temperature control with my last 2 batches. I had a swamp cooler setup that I put together on the fly but I'm thinking I need to get something more consistent and more effective. Seems like the yeasts used for these clones have a range of 60-75. Is there any difference between each end of that scale, e.g. 60 vs 75? Because I will basically only be able to drop a new wet towel on top and throw some ice into the swamp cooler setup in the morning before I go to work.
Secondary: For when I secondary (I do need to get a glass carboy as I have never used a secondary vessel) I understand I'd probably put in some oak chips- is there really any major differences between the ones available on NB- American, French? From what I understand I'd need to soak it in some of my roommate's bourbon for a few days before I drop it into secondary. Certainly I don't think I could get my hands on used whiskey barrels.
Bottling: I also don't have any kegging equipment so I'd bottle. It seems like most people who post clone recipes for this brew will keg their beers. Is there any major downside to bottling compared to kegging here? It'd be nice to get a great batch into 2 cases' worth of bottles and then age them while drinking them as I go along.
And if there's anything else I forgot about, please feel free to educate me. I'm willing to save the project for later if it proves to be too ambitious for my current experience level and equipment- but I need that feedback from more experienced brewers. Thanks in advance!
