Syracuse, ny - round 6 group grain buy

Had to post some encouragement for belgian quad lovers. Just tried my westy 12 clone from the pious recipe thread. This one has aged now for over 6 months and wow what difference. It was good "young" as I tried it here and there for the first 2 months. But the grain bill for the new world version withe the belgian candy is $$$. So I really hadn't planned on rebrewing it any time soon since it wasn't IMO a clear outstanding brew just yet. Last night I changed my mind.

When i poured into the glass I could smell a pronounced aroma, without even smelling the rim closely, this aroma lifted up an out readily where my face was about 2-3 feet away and I thought... Sh!T it oxidized and that must be sherry notes. I took a closer smell and it was not sherry oxidation, but dark fruit/cherry, toffee and a slight almost roasty (burnt toffee roasty, a very slight coffee). I figured what the heck I will chew on it so I took a sip. Flavor was incredibly smooth. Alcohol flavor was not pronounced and it was incredibly... incredibly smooth. Rich dark fruit (sweet dark bing cherry reduced in cognac flavor) and caramel toffee rounded flavors on the front end with a pleasant aftertaste. This stuff is fantastic aged at 6 months. It reminded me of the change in wines or ciders I make, never experienced that with beer before. My wife, who didn't like it young before, loved this one, had to grab my glass back!

Anyway, that brew is back on the list and planned to occupy a couple kegs, hopefully brewed over the vacation time this upcoming holiday...

 

I had a bottle of Westvleteren 12 over the summer, it was amazing... and free! Soooo good.

 

Funny you mention this, as I cleaned out my kegerator today and I came across that bottle of quad you had given me sometime in the early summer. I'm glad I lost track of it... it sounds like it's going to be mighty tasty. Looking forward to trying it!

 

My quad is just coming into its own as well and I really enjoyed a glass the other night. Quads are different but when you're in the right mood and have the right one, you can't beat it. Im hoping to compare mine with a rochefort and westy over the holidays. The rochefort is my favorite but it's been awhile since I've cracked one open.

 

I agree with you. Not something I want every night, but when you are in the mood for it they are great. It is kind of like drinking a port wine. The good ones always taste great, but certain nights call for it, and others not so much. I want to rebrew, so I can slowly pick away at it and have some that last years plus. Not sure how dramatic the improvement will be after 6 months, but just the same it will be worth the experiment.



Oh yeah I forgot about that bierhaus - awesome. Now you will have to decide between holding for another 6 months or pulling hte trigger


Never tried an actual westy myself, and unless it was given to me at a reasonable price there is no way I would buy one. Have seen them on ebay for $150+ each. No thanks... will roll with the clone brew, less than $150 for 11 gallons!


Grabbed some amber syrup from Susnset!

 

what kind of flavors did you get out of the original westy?

 

I dont remember, had alot of good beers that day. Remember it being one of the best beers I've ever had. Very balanced, and delicious. I sold a pinball machine to the guy who had it, and I delivered the machine to York PA. While down there he kept pulling out amazing stuff for my buddy and I to try. Another one I was very impressed with was Hop Slam. He also sent us off with a 12 pack of stuff as well. A few bottles of Troegs Mad Elf from 05 and 06 (properly stored), Dogfish Head Raison D'extra from 07, some aged stuff from Bells, and other stuff from Dogfish as well.

 

Man already went through 4 bags of grain! Left with 2x 2-row, half of a munich, 1x of maris otter, and half of a pilz. Having so much in stock makes it so easy to brew more..gah.

Hope that's enough to hold me til the next buy =)

 

Well seeing as how we are only at 22bags and need 84.... I would say you have a little bit of a wait. Not to mention we haven't nailed down a place to deliver to yet.

 

Rumor has it EJ Wren has Canadian 2row for $50/bag right now, maybe I'll pick one of those up for the time being in case.

I figure I am good until prob March with my current stock.

 

Meh $50 per bag of 2 row - too rich for my blood ha! Though it looks like those chumps are finally learning not to gouge so much.

I noticed some new malts have been added to the NCM sheet. I tried to get this earlier, but was unable - now it is on the sheet:

Split added:
GW-C150 - .25
BZ‐SPLT - .25

I know I will probably be good for another couple bags (but want to see how my brewing goes first):
BZ-PILS
Flaked Barley
MOPA


BZ added a few new varieties, looks like a carapils of sorts and a "spelt" malt. That one looks kind of interesting, and I might go in on a .25 split for that one... heck with it I will!

HOPS

If there are people who are interested I would try to do hops this next time around with the following disclaimer. Minimum buy in would be 1# per type and we would need 11 to close a type. If they have the hops we want in stock we would be getting about $6-9 a lb. Not sure if people are interested in that. Might be something we do right before we place the order so people know what hops they are going to need.

 

Would anybody be interested in going in on a bag of lactose?

GLM‐LACT55 - Lactose 55 pound bag $87.00

I would do up to 1/5 share (maybe more if needed since I really like the cream stouts I ahve been trying and want to brew more). That would give a price of $1.70 per lb including shipping at a maximum (~$18 for 11lbs). I see it in the stores for $3.95 per lb or more (~$43.45 for 11 lbs).

As Jeff said, when you have the stuff in your stores you are more likely to just brew it!

 

I'd definitely go in for lactose. Don't need any more than 11 lbs, max. So if we can do 1/5 split on it, I'm in. Let me know and I'll add that option(of a 1/5 split) and product to the spreadsheet.

 

Ok, I went ahead and opened a split for it and jumped in for 1/5. Also updated prices on added splits.

If we want to do hops, let me know and I'll add a new order section to the sheet in the future.

Jeff B

 

id be instrested in both the hops and lactose put me down for 1/5 lactose

 

All that talk about the quads made me run home and pour one. I barely got my shoes off before I was nose deep in this fine homebrew.

 

Nice on the quad - how was it?!

By the way - CBK - how was your deception cream stout?

rust - you were added to the lactose - two more to go!

 

Cant believe how many splits are listed already. I'll prob jump on a few more.

 

Added 1/5 Lactose, Great pick up!

 

Nice! Almost there on the lactose.

 

I'll jump on the lactose split. Could someone add me. My phone won't work for that.

 

added and it is closed! saweet

 

Dam you guys are fast! Actually I have not tried it yet. It is sitting in my brew closet in a keg primed with corn sugar awaiting an open tap. Love cream stouts and would have jumped all over this split if I had seen it sooner.

 

Haha - strike while the iron is hot right?!

Just to let you guys know; I have my cream stout (keg two) on the nitro and it is pouring really well. I precarbed it but putting the gas up to PSI 7 or so and shaking the keg for a while. Then I pushed the gas up to 15psi or so and shook for just a bit longer; unhooked and put it on the Nitro mix 90 at 35PSI. Threw it in the refridge and about 2 weeks + later it has been balancing and I have been pulling off a draft here and there. Right now it it is pouring like the guinness in the bar. It has a slow cascade that carries on for over 30 seconds and leaves a 1/2 inch or so thick creamy head. I am trying to stay away from the keg so there is plenty for the holidays, but man it is perfect right now.

Just thought I would give you guys an update

 

Hi all, Id love to get in on this order for some grain and maybe some hops. Can someone clarify the order sheet for me and what is the link for kegs all about? Thanks

 

Are you really located in Wayesboro, VA? If so, your about 8 hours from Syracuse (where you would have to drive to get your grains).

 

banged out a rebrew of the oatmeal stout... INSIDE MY BASEMENT! haha That was a nice change on this fridgid day...

Welded up the rest of the basic brew stand frame so it can be used. Current plan is to brew on the stand through winter and modify it along the way to make it the way we wnat in use, then paint.

Hope you gents had a great weekend as well!

 

No I don't live there anymore, I just moved to Rochester three weeks ago. I'm just to lazy to try and change my location. That being said can anyone help me so I can get in on this?

 

I did an almost-SMaSH outside today: CM pilsner and Magnum and Tettnang hops. The weather wasn't actually so bad, I kept moving inside and out.

 

Brewed an ipa today... Outside and froze my ass off! I'm a little envious of your new electric system cidah. I've been thinking about building one myself. Any details you could provide me with would be greatly appreciative!

 

See the first couple entries in this thread. Basically, you click on the spreadsheet link and at the bottom right there is an area where you can enter your name as a new buyer. There should then be a new column named for you. Then you just update that column with the number of bags you would like to buy (full sacks), or you can take part of an open split (< 1.0) to get part of a bag. For instance, under my name "COPYRIGHT1997", I'm signed up for 1/2 sack (.50) TF-GPRM (Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise .sp?), 2 sacks CM-2ROW (Canadian Malting 2 Row), and 1 sack TF-MOPA (Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter .sp?).

You should also post this thread so that Cida (who has organized the group buys) can also be aware (the spreadsheet is new for this round of buying). Right now, the next buy is "spring" as there was a round in August and another buy in November where we did sixty some sacks plus a bunch of PBW and StarSan. It's GREAT having a GALLON of StarSan! So, the thought process given winter was to try and wait until spring and to see if we can get a bigger order (2 pallets = 84 sacks or maybe even 3 pallets).

Regarding the kegs, one of the group members has a lead on kegs, and the spreadsheet is to gauge interest at different price levels to see if we are able to negotiate a better price as a group.

I live in the Albany NY area and did my first participation in the Round 4 buy (August) as a new All Grain brewer. It's a great group of folks, so feel free to ask questions (I do all the time). I now have a great stock-pile of not only base grains (2 row, Marris Otter, Munich, Pilsen, Vienna), but also a variety of crystal, cara-pils, corn, rice, wheat, ...), all from the group buy and jumping on splits of sacks.

Oh, one more thing...in the first post on the thread you can get the link to the catalog of where we buy.

Hope this helps!

 

More to come - remind me if I forget to pm you tomorrow!!

 

Also interested!

 

Man, I'm insanely jealous. I tried to brew a 2.5 gallon batch of Deception Cream Stout on the stove top last night using BIAB. It didn't go so well mostly because my range sucks. I'll just have to brave the cold next time. I'm not even sure if the beer will turn out but we'll see.

 

you know it is funny. A year ago I would have never thought I would be all electrical and bringing inside. Would have said brewing outside isn't that bad etc. Which don't get me wrong I like to brew outside! However... it was REALLY nice to be able to set and forget the rig and not have to lift a ton of heavy stuff... AND pump right into my 15 gallon fermenter from the BK.

Is teh deception cream stout a Denny conn recipe? I had no idea!

 

Blichman 15G BK/MT:


Here is the kettle

Anybody interested in a Blichman 15G kettle with the false bottom? My buddy wants to sell his to upgrade size to a 20G blichman. It is less than one year old and in great shape, works great as a MT and or BK.

For those of you unfamiliar with the kettles they come with:
1. Sight Glass (protected with stainless siding)
2. Thermometer
3. 3 piece stainless ball valve
4. Stainless dip tube (for Boiling, or Mashing)
5. Lid

He is looking for $400 - paid $463 (He bought it from Northern brewer;$375 for the kettle/$80false bottom/$8 to ship). I can pass it off to people at a grain buy or meet up and drop off, etc).



Let me know if you have any interest.

 

Woo hoo, just won a free carboy cleaner on the giveaway thread. This was my winning submission:

 

Thanks for the info cidah! Next time I make it to the Syracuse area I would love to come take a look at the rig. That might help me get a better understanding of it! I will even buy you a couple beers for your time!

 

No problem. Hopefully by then I have it all looking pretty

 

Thank you copyright. I have done group buys in va for about two years so Ive dealt with this malting company before I just was unsure about the spread sheet format. Thanks again and I look forward to meeting some of you guys.