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Thanks! I planned it out the last 2 years well in advance. Really thought my schwarzbier had at least an outside shot at advancing last year, but nope. That, plus the cost of entry/shipping, made me a little gun-shy this year, and here we are.

I sent one entry into Homebrew Alley. An oatmeal stout, which was the only real "to style" beer I had on at the time. Still debating nationals. I didn't really plan for it, and it's coming up on crunch time to brew something in order to have it ready for the first round shipping.

Everyone seems to hate on them, but I like FedEx for this kind of thing. Setup an online account so you don't have to talk to anyone, and just drop it off at a shipping location, don't even need to declare what it is. Also, I have a cousin who works for them and they don't care it's beer unless...

Kicked the oatmeal stout, cleaned the keg and line, tapped the Baltic porter. Going to pull some of the porter soon and flavor it with coffee and vanilla for a friend at work.

2022 was my first full year as our local brew club president and I love it. We've established a good rhythm of being informational, but still keeping the focus on fun stuff and drinking homebrew. Plus, the brewer at the local spot where we meet sits in at every meeting, which is a huge plus...

Please hoist one for my departed princess (who happens to also be Zymurgy alumni). Today was one of the hardest days in my life. She lived a long and happy life and we did all we could for her. May you be at peace now, Morgan 😭

Plugged your numbers in and I think the issue is that the diastatic power is a bit low - getting 33. Bare minimum is 30, and I personally add a little enzyme to help if it's below 40.

Over the weekend I kegged the wee heavy. Got great attenuation. Not sure how "to style" it will be as I tried to use mostly stuff I already had on hand, though it does meet all the specs (except technically the FG is low due to the aforementioned attenuation). Also cold crashed the Baltic porter...

FYI, they're designing and setting up a dedicated taproom in downtown Albany separate from the existing production facility. Probably not open until late spring or summer though, so doesn't help for the immediate future. And I'm a stone's throw from @Dgallo so he better invite me too lol.

Recently got to 14% with US05 (technically a blend with 1056, but it's the same stuff) going from 1.140 - 1.034. The alcohol tolerances are not hard rules, the yeast will do what it wants. Just pitch a large, healthy starter, oxygenate, ferment at the right temperature, and be patient.

Thanks! Out of my hands now, but fingers crossed. This is only the 2nd time I've brewed this beer (with a couple small changes this time), but I got a gold the first time so not out of the question!

Kicked the pumpkin, so officially tapped the oatmeal stout & barleywine (the latter definitely fermented some in the keg, but doesn't taste infected). Prepped to brew over the weekend, but stuff happened and I never got to it. It's just as well, as the yeast is taking a long time to wake up in...

Fairly active weekend beer-wise. Racked the imperial stout to the barrel (went from 1.140 to 1.034!), kicked the farmhouse ale, cleaned the line (a little extra attention cleaning being that it used a STA1+ yeast strain), and put the pumpkin ale on. But being that it was primarily brewed to give...

Seems like I get a pretty good deal compared to a lot of the posts in here. Beverage center charges by the pound, somewhere around $2.50-3/lb. Since they usually don't get quite the full 5lb in, a fill usually costs me $12-13.

Been meaning to post these for a bit. Lithuanian farmhouse ale and Belgian strong dark ale.

I ferment in regular carboys and almost always lager in kegs. So assuming that this is what you're doing, you'll be fine.

Part of it was the specific strain...sorry I don't recall the name, but it was one that was only "slightly" thiolized, not like the 200x one. That, and giving it some time to age for a little bit for everything to come together.

I know you aren't the only one in our club not a fan of the thiolized beers ;). Though Anthony had one over the weekend that was more balanced, and one of the better thiolized beers that I've had.

So for the record this beer has gone over very well for the few who have tried it recently. One of our brewclub members described it as "weed and lemons" (and seemed to have a lot of consensus lol), a friend who drinks pretty much only IPA's said it was the best beer of mine he had tried...

I got ~91% attenuation on my first use of this yeast (1.056 - 1.005). Only tapped very recently, so still young.