12 Beers of Christmas 2017

CornyKegs 728
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passedpawn said:
The failures to follow thru are pretty well documented in the past version of this endeavor. Pretty awful, mostly for the person who failed.

Are you sure you want to shoulder this?
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Oh, I am acutely aware of the shortcomings of participants in the past. I also found the restraint displayed by all involved extraordinary. I am tempted to tag a user or two just so they know the shame persists, but it is not my place. But hey, would you agree they met or exceeded the participation requirements of that trade, or even this one?

Shoulder my brother? Sure! Never a more upright guy. He is the one who dragged me down this rabbit hole of a hobby. Of course, if ANYONE finds this scenario objectionable, lets not worry about it. We have time to round out the brewers right here.
 
HopHeavy said:
Oh, I am acutely aware of the shortcomings of participants in the past. I also found the restraint displayed by all involved extraordinary. I am tempted to tag a user or two just so they know the shame persists, but it is not my place. But hey, would you agree they met or exceeded the participation requirements of that trade, or even this one?

Shoulder my brother? Sure! Never a more upright guy. He is the one who dragged me down this rabbit hole of a hobby. Of course, if ANYONE finds this scenario objectionable, lets not worry about it. We have time to round out the brewers right here.
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Haha, I'd say the same thing. My younger brother is a mostly silent member here as well (and an AWESOME DUDE).
 
HopHeavy said:
Oh, I am acutely aware of the shortcomings of participants in the past. I also found the restraint displayed by all involved extraordinary. I am tempted to tag a user or two just so they know the shame persists, but it is not my place. But hey, would you agree they met or exceeded the participation requirements of that trade, or even this one?

Shoulder my brother? Sure! Never a more upright guy. He is the one who dragged me down this rabbit hole of a hobby. Of course, if ANYONE finds this scenario objectionable, lets not worry about it. We have time to round out the brewers right here.
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This is my first year participating in this exchange but, for what it's worth, I hold zero objection for him being a part of the trade. I have a brother too and there's no one to shoulder better than your bro. :tank:
 
HopHeavy said:
I have a proposal for you all (though mostly @Auger ). My brother Pete, a home brewer, has expressed an interest in brewing the 3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock and participating in this trade. However, he is not a member here (yet). I recognize this is a departure from the plan, but I can absolutely vouch for him and it may serve to simplify some of the shipping. I believe a similar arrangement was successful in the last incarnation in 2016. Let me know your thoughts on this so I can inform him.
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I don't have a serious problem with it, like you said, we did it last year and it worked out. Why don't we give it another few weeks here to see if we can round out the list with active members, and if we're still short and no one has any objections, then we can go ahead, fair enough?

If anyone has an issue with that and wants to PM me about it vs. posting publicly in the thread, I'm fine with that too. :mug:
 
Auger said:
I don't have a serious problem with it, like you said, we did it last year and it worked out. Why don't we give it another few weeks here to see if we can round out the list with active members, and if we're still short and no one has any objections, then we can go ahead, fair enough?

If anyone has an issue with that and wants to PM me about it vs. posting publicly in the thread, I'm fine with that too. :mug:
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No problem at all.
 
binabik said:
I did the Quad last year. I did two incarnations as I wasn't super happy with the first one. The tricky part (for me) was getting the caramel addition to have just the right amount of caramel taste without going too far and get a burnt taste.

I like this beer. It was a great experience last year, but have to sit out this year.

Enjoy. I will be following.
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@binabik

Do you mind sharing what yeast you used and if you were happy with it?

Considering a few different strains right now and even tempted to see if I can get hands on one of the "private collection" offerings when it becomes available in a couple of months. Waiting, unfortunately, will rob a few months of aging that the beer likely needs.

Thanks.
 
I had used WLP 500 Trappist Ale yeast when I brewed the Caramel Quad a few yrs ago. I was happy with it in terms of fermentation, but I had a bit of difficulty bottle carbing, even after adding fresh yeast...If I were to do it again (which I won't, as shortly after I switched to the ever so much more controllable force carbonation/kegging) I would choose a different strain to add at bottling for carbonation...
 
biochemedic said:
I had used WLP 500 Trappist Ale yeast when I brewed the Caramel Quad a few yrs ago. I was happy with it in terms of fermentation, but I had a bit of difficulty bottle carbing, even after adding fresh yeast...If I were to do it again (which I won't, as shortly after I switched to the ever so much more controllable force carbonation/kegging) I would choose a different strain to add at bottling for carbonation...
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Thanks for the info. I may end up using one of the two strains I'm familiar with and likely the latter of the two since the first gave me conditioning problems like yours did. There's always EC-1118 for bottle conditioning... Hasn't let me down yet.

Now the question is: do I roast my own amber malt or buy it. Leaning towards giving home roasting a try. :mug:
 
TBC said:
I just happen to have the book here at work. I will pm you a pic of the recipe.
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I was reading through the list of recipes on the OPs post and the Honey Ginger IPA piqued my interest enough that I hopped on half.com and picked up Radical Brewing for like $7. Imagine my disappointment when the "recipe" for that particular brew (pg. 169) consists of "Brew an IPA. Add honey and ginger." Am I missing the recipe somewhere else in the book or did you come up with one of your own?
 
b-boy said:
I'd like to do this if there is still room. Are there any beers left?
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Looks like Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock and Abby Weizenbock are still available if I'm reading this correctly. Will be great to see a fellow WNY'er in this!
 
BroomVikin said:
I was reading through the list of recipes on the OPs post and the Honey Ginger IPA piqued my interest enough that I hopped on half.com and picked up Radical Brewing for like $7. Imagine my disappointment when the "recipe" for that particular brew (pg. 169) consists of "Brew an IPA. Add honey and ginger." Am I missing the recipe somewhere else in the book or did you come up with one of your own?
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You brew your favorite IPA and after you rack it to the secondary follow the directions. I believe there are a couple of IPA recipes in the book if you don't have a particular favorite.
 
BroomVikin said:
I was reading through the list of recipes on the OPs post and the Honey Ginger IPA piqued my interest enough that I hopped on half.com and picked up Radical Brewing for like $7. Imagine my disappointment when the "recipe" for that particular brew (pg. 169) consists of "Brew an IPA. Add honey and ginger." Am I missing the recipe somewhere else in the book or did you come up with one of your own?
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TBC said:
You brew your favorite IPA and after you rack it to the secondary follow the directions. I believe there are a couple of IPA recipes in the book if you don't have a particular favorite.
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Yeah a few of the recipes are like that....the chapter in the book is all about using different spices in brewing and how to handle them, so some of the recipes focus on the spice blends and rely on the brewer to have a solid base recipe to start with. The spiced bourbon stout I did last year was like that as well. IMO I liked it because it allowed me to kind of feel more ownership of the beer since I had already been developing the base stout recipe, vs. just using an existing recipe part and parcel.
 
So that just leaves the one beer! Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock anyone? :ban:
 
b-boy said:
That's fine. I'll take the Abby Weizenbock. This should be a lot of fun.
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Great!


Available:

3) Spiced Dunkel Weizenbock



Taken:

1) Caramel Quadrupel ( @Easycreeper )
2) Spiced Cherry Dubbel ( @passedpawn )
4) Juniper Rye Bock ( @jerbrew )
5) Fruitcake Old Ale ( @JDXX1971 )
6) Saffron Tripel ( @dryboroughbrewing )
7) Christmas Gruit ( @Auger )
8) Honey Ginger IPA (@bobeer )
9) Crabapple Lambicky Ale ( @HawleyFarms )
10) Gingerbread Ale ( @TBC )
11) Spiced Bourbon Stout ( @HopHeavy )
12) Abbey Weizen ( @b-boy )
 
Just finished reworking some recipes and loading them onto the Picobrew to pilot. (I'll be using the big rig for the 'real deal', but it might kill me to have 50 gallons of Tripel lying around).

So, I'm going to shoot for Tripels in the style of Westmalle, Rochefort, Tripel Karmeliet, Victory Golden Monkey, and La Fin Du Monde, any other suggestions?
 
Easycreeper said:
@binabik

Do you mind sharing what yeast you used and if you were happy with it?

Considering a few different strains right now and even tempted to see if I can get hands on one of the "private collection" offerings when it becomes available in a couple of months. Waiting, unfortunately, will rob a few months of aging that the beer likely needs.

Thanks.
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Sorry for the delayed response.

I used Wyeast Belgian Abbey II for mine. I was quite happy with the results.
 
binabik said:
Sorry for the delayed response.

I used Wyeast Belgian Abbey II for mine. I was quite happy with the results.
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Thanks! Since you used WY1762 and @biochemedic used WLP500, I may wait to see if I can get hands on one of the private collection/seasonal strains or maybe WY1214. You know, just to mix it up a bit.

Wish I could compare the three when I get mine done, but it wouldn't make much sense because of process differences.
 
Decided on brewing mine as a cranberry lambicky as advised if crabapples aren't in season. Went out and checked the crabs still clinging to my trees and decided they just won't do. Have my recipe set to go just need to order my yeast. Not sure yet if I am going to start fermentation with a clean yeast on cranberries then rack off of fruit into a carboy with a lambic blend, or ferment on cranberries for the duration using only a lambic blend. Or maybe just ferment solely with the lambic blend, then rack onto cranberries a couple months before bottling.
 
Anyone have a good Bavarian Weizen recipe as a starting point?

I found a few recipes online, but they are lower alcohol versions. I'm looking for more punch. Maybe an Imperial Weizen?

It is Christmas after all. :D
 
b-boy said:
Anyone have a good Bavarian Weizen recipe as a starting point?

I found a few recipes online, but they are lower alcohol versions. I'm looking for more punch. Maybe an Imperial Weizen?

It is Christmas after all. :D
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I'm out doing kid activities at the moment, but when I get back on my desktop PC, I will PM you some recipe info and ideas from the book. I have a saved message that I had sent to a prior participant who didn't have the book....

I would say bumping the gravity up a bit would be fine (and the book recipe even suggests as much too...)
 
Looking at sunny and low 60s here Sunday. My brewing is tied to the weather, so I am stoked. Going to do a RIS as I only have about 12 pack left from last winter's run. I intended to pilot a 6-7ish stout for the Christmas beer next month. Now I am thinking I will spice both and let us see what happens.
 
Alright, gentlemen, the amber malt needed for the caramel quadrupel is in the oven. 2+ weeks to let the malt mellow and to build up the starter and this brew will be on its way!

Any suggestions on the water profile to use? Right now, I'm looking at the Chimay and Rochefort profiles being built from distilled water. First time for water chemistry here...
 
Made the toffee this morning. This is about as "deep reddish brown" as I can get it without burning it (had to boil some water in the pot afterwards to get the rest off of the sides when it was done, hence the bubbles):

IMG_20170218_105003_zpshy1kc6jb.jpg
 
Easycreeper said:
Made the toffee this morning. This is about as "deep reddish brown" as I can get it without burning it (had to boil some water in the pot afterwards to get the rest off of the sides when it was done, hence the bubbles):

IMG_20170218_105003_zpshy1kc6jb.jpg
Click to expand...

It's been a few minutes since I made the Caramel Quad but that looks like I remember!
 

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