I'm late to the party, but does anyone want to try to get another 12? I'll take the 12th beer, and let the other 11 choose!
12 Beers of Christmas 2013 Edition! (Need Brewers!)
- Thread starter danbrewtan
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gavball6
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Nice... I am brewing on Saturday morning! I will post some pics along the way!
Stovetop535
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I am an all grain brewer as well. I started brewing last January and basically went straight to all grain. I did one batch of Graff and one extract kit and then left that for the all grain route. I am planning on making a 10 gallon batch and pitching wyeast 1214 for the belgian abbey yeast as well as wyeast 3068 in order to also have a more traditional hefe, and for comparison.
I picked up 3 keggles off of craigslist over the past month and sold my "starter" 8 gall aluminum kettles. My bright, shiny and expensive weldless fittings and valve should be here this coming week. Once I get my equipment back together I will get this made.
I usually keg, but my process of bottling from my kegs is sub par at best. I have tried bottling from the tap as well as by using the picnic tap and racking cane and I am not happy with the results. I think I will bottle condition this brew, unless I can pick up some overtime at work and buy a fancy bottling wand.
I think I will keep the recipe pretty simple, especially since the guideline in the book leaves it open. I plan on adding kumquats and am still on the fence about adding some corriander and chamomile as listed in the recipe. I would imagine the kumquats, along with the corriander and chamomile are meant to be added at the end of the boil--say last 5 min?
I picked up 3 keggles off of craigslist over the past month and sold my "starter" 8 gall aluminum kettles. My bright, shiny and expensive weldless fittings and valve should be here this coming week. Once I get my equipment back together I will get this made.
I usually keg, but my process of bottling from my kegs is sub par at best. I have tried bottling from the tap as well as by using the picnic tap and racking cane and I am not happy with the results. I think I will bottle condition this brew, unless I can pick up some overtime at work and buy a fancy bottling wand.
I think I will keep the recipe pretty simple, especially since the guideline in the book leaves it open. I plan on adding kumquats and am still on the fence about adding some corriander and chamomile as listed in the recipe. I would imagine the kumquats, along with the corriander and chamomile are meant to be added at the end of the boil--say last 5 min?
gavball6
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I would definitely add these late in the boil or at flameout.
gavball6
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The Spiced Cherry Dubbel brewday yesterday went well, at least until I couldn't find the lid to my last unused fermenting bucket (easily rectified by kegging my California Common and using that lid!).
I was able to collect almost six gallons of 1.075 SG wort. This morning, the yeast is extremely happy eating away at all of those fermentable sugars and taking advantage of the blowoff tube I have setup on it!
I was able to collect almost six gallons of 1.075 SG wort. This morning, the yeast is extremely happy eating away at all of those fermentable sugars and taking advantage of the blowoff tube I have setup on it!
obscurebrewing
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Where's everyone from. Morehead, KY for me. And I'm brewing the crabapple lambic just so you don't have to check.
gavball6
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Just outside Philly for me...
This yeast is going crazy!
This yeast is going crazy!
stblindtiger
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Just outside Philly for me too! We should look at the possibility of meeting up later on to save on shipping!
Making the starter for the Christmas Gruit now!
Making the starter for the Christmas Gruit now!
More pics of the Fruitcake Old Ale brew day: hops!, managing the hot break, whirlpool (which also sanitizes the counterflow chiller and hoses), and collecting the wort. I collected almost 11 gals. I'll bottle half and keg the other half. Pitched the yeast this evening. Planning for a two week fermentation and then adding the dried fruit.
Brew day went pretty well. I had a friend come over with his brew rig who brewed his own beer. Collectively, we had a few problems which is weird because most of our brew days are typically pretty easy and problem free. My grain mill broke halfway through milling the grain, so I had to take the time to fix it. My mash tun was full to the brim since I was brewing 11 gals of the Fruitcake Old Ale (a lot of grain and water for 11 gals at 1.074 OG), and the lid fell in during the mash which caused a small overflow. But once the boil began, all went well. Added the spices at flame-out, collected almost 11 gals at 1.076 OG (a bit higher than intended), added pure O2, and let the beer continue to cool (water temps are at ~80F here in North Louisiana) to ~65F before pitching. I did not have time to make a starter before brew day, so I am pitching six vials of yeast (in two fermenters). That should give me close to the pitching rate I need given the yeast's production date. Anyways, now we wait!
Brew day went pretty well. I had a friend come over with his brew rig who brewed his own beer. Collectively, we had a few problems which is weird because most of our brew days are typically pretty easy and problem free. My grain mill broke halfway through milling the grain, so I had to take the time to fix it. My mash tun was full to the brim since I was brewing 11 gals of the Fruitcake Old Ale (a lot of grain and water for 11 gals at 1.074 OG), and the lid fell in during the mash which caused a small overflow. But once the boil began, all went well. Added the spices at flame-out, collected almost 11 gals at 1.076 OG (a bit higher than intended), added pure O2, and let the beer continue to cool (water temps are at ~80F here in North Louisiana) to ~65F before pitching. I did not have time to make a starter before brew day, so I am pitching six vials of yeast (in two fermenters). That should give me close to the pitching rate I need given the yeast's production date. Anyways, now we wait!
danbrewtan
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Awesome guys! It's interesting seeing everyone's set up. Keep the pics coming. I love it!
I'm moving soon so I'll have to wait until after that to brew my christmas beer. Probably early september. Will definitely share my pics!
I'm moving soon so I'll have to wait until after that to brew my christmas beer. Probably early september. Will definitely share my pics!
FermentedTed
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20 miles west of Chicago and I'm doing the honey ginger IPA.
NuclearRich
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New Haven area of CT here, should be brewing the quad soon.
I have some private collection Leuven Ale yeast (WY3538PC) that I should be able to build up strong (its a little past best-by date). I missed out on last year's 12 beers of christmas, and brewed the quad for myself. "problem" being that I couldnt drink it all! What do you guys think of me making one of the three bottles I ship a 2012 version? It was a different yeast, I think a trappist high gravity, and it turned out pretty damn awesome. This years I think I will do similar to what I did last year, and spice half, and not spice the other half. So long as they turn out alright, I would be shipping 1 2013 spiced quad, 1 2013 unspiced quad, and 1 1012 unspiced quad.
Now... to get on those damn labels...
I have some private collection Leuven Ale yeast (WY3538PC) that I should be able to build up strong (its a little past best-by date). I missed out on last year's 12 beers of christmas, and brewed the quad for myself. "problem" being that I couldnt drink it all! What do you guys think of me making one of the three bottles I ship a 2012 version? It was a different yeast, I think a trappist high gravity, and it turned out pretty damn awesome. This years I think I will do similar to what I did last year, and spice half, and not spice the other half. So long as they turn out alright, I would be shipping 1 2013 spiced quad, 1 2013 unspiced quad, and 1 1012 unspiced quad.
Now... to get on those damn labels...
gavball6
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That sounds good to me! Feel free to throw in a Pepperoni Pie from Pepe's while your at it!
NuclearRich
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Yum! Sounds like I have a lunch time craving... oh wait its Monday... I think every good place in New Haven is closed
jjefrey
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San Francisco Bay Area, brewing the gingerbread ale.
danbrewtan
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Alright by me!
danbrewtan
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Gav beat me to the punch with the pizza.
Houston, TX here. Brewing the spiced bourbon stout.
Houston, TX here. Brewing the spiced bourbon stout.
pheboglobi
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That's sounds fine by me.
I'm in Inglewood, CA, right next to Los Angeles (two streets in fact).
I would just add the honey to the primary. I generally add after fermentation starts to slow down but is still going lightly...I dissolve the honey in a small amount of warm water then pour it in...the ferment will kick back up again for a couple days, and being basically all just simple sugars it will finish again pretty quick. There's no reason to transfer it to add the honey...if you do feel the need to secondary you still can, but I've all but stopped using secondary.
stblindtiger
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Brewing the Christmas Gruit now....
Just sparging, thought I would add some pics!
Just sparging, thought I would add some pics!
Sounds good to me.
stblindtiger
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Sounds good to me too!
Just pitched on the weizenbock. Too much fun Saturday night prevented a Sunday brewday. Missed a little in the og. 1.067 to a predicted 1.075. Wonder if the LHBS really double milled for me or not. I'm in Houston, tx myself. Whereabouts Dan?
stblindtiger
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Couple more pics... I was a little light in the OG too, but I haven't added the honey yet... Hoping it brings it up a couple two three points....
stblindtiger
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I had to add some more smoke, pils and honey to get close to Mosher's OG... Anyone else find his calculations a bit screwy???
pheboglobi
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Yeah, I've found that his efficiency must be higher than the 75% he states in the book (p.62) or his numbers are off. I've brewed a few recipes out of the book, and even with the errata on some of them, they still seem to be off.
FermentedTed
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I rarely use a secondary as well since I do my dry hopping in the keg. The only time I do a secondary is if I'm racking onto fruit or doing a lager. With the ginger addition, I think I will still do a secondary, but I am leaning towards doing the honey addition in the primary as you mentioned.
stblindtiger
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79° and actively fermenting... Couldn't quite get it up to 80, but it seems to be doing just fine!
gavball6
Well-Known Member
Loving seeing the pics! The Cherry Dubbel is still bubbling away, but has slowed significantly enough for me to switch out to an airlock. But, boy was my blowoff bottle abused from this one!
I expect to let it sit in primary for at least 2 weeks before racking onto the cherries. I am still searching for somewhere local to buy the tart cherries before resorting to ordering online. Latest lead is at Wegmans so I have the missus on a mission to check that out today!
I expect to let it sit in primary for at least 2 weeks before racking onto the cherries. I am still searching for somewhere local to buy the tart cherries before resorting to ordering online. Latest lead is at Wegmans so I have the missus on a mission to check that out today!
danbrewtan
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I'm down in the Stafford/Sugar Land area. What about you?
danbrewtan said:
I'm in cypress. Just moved here about a year ago. But my temp housing was in Katy. Not too far away.
Anyways, the weizenbock is fermenting like crazy. Woke up this morning with probably a cup more fluid in my blowoff jar than I had yesterday. That's fun to clean at 5:00 am.
I'm going to secondary in about three weeks and the recipe calls for 2oz of candied ginger. I took a bite of teehee ginger and it is very strong. I'm thinking about cutting back a half ounce or so. Don't want it to overpower the rest of the flavors.
NuclearRich
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Brewed the quad today. Pics to follow.
NuclearRich
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As promised. Caramel Quad & RUMCAKE.
gavball6
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Considered taking a gravity reading on the Cherry Dubbel this weekend, but after popping the lid, I noticed the krausen was still hanging around pretty strong after two weeks. I will give it a few more days to see if it drops before taking my first post-fermentation SG reading.
jjefrey
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I will be brewing the gingerbread ale Labor Day weekend.
chip82
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I got my company to get 12 people to brew for our Christmas party.
