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Thanks all, picking my burner up this weekend after a shrimp boil at the in-laws. Then to the LHBS for some 3711 and a brew day!

So I've settled on either 3522 or 3711. My wife likes IPAs and farmhouse ales and since she's agreeing to let me build a draft system over the winter, I'm going to leave the yeast choice up to her. Assuming, of course, that I can get the fermenter hot enough to sustain 3711. Thoughts?

Thanks all. As I ferment in my basement and don't currently have a way to actively heat the beer my concern with a saison yeast isn't runaway heat, it's getting the heat high enough to ferment in less than four weeks. If I pitch hot'ish (70-75) and wrap the fermenter in a blanket would that be...

Thanks, this is helpful! I'll steep with a small volume next time and then top up before the boil. I think I'll try leaving some of the extract until late in the boil as well. Any suggestion on how little I can start the boil with? Thanks.

Saison is actually the recommended yeast strain for the recipe. Maybe I'll go that route or try to track down the French Farmhouse yeast.

So it would appear! :mug: I'm going to have to think more about temperature control on this batch. My basement is around 67 or 68. I figure if I cool the wort to 60 when I pitch and then place the fermenter in a plain water bath that should slow the temperature rise. But will that be enough...

Hello all. I have a Belgian IPA kit from Midwest Supplies on deck and rather than use the dry yeast that comes with it, I'm going with a Wyeast slap pack. I'm debating between the following: 3522: Belgian Ardennes 1214: Belgian Abbey 1762: Belgian Abbey II I'm leading towards the 3522...

So I broke into my first batch this past week and also had a contact at a local brewery run a sample through their testing process. I brewed the Midwest Supplies Irish Red Ale kit. Since I'm using a friend's keggle, I did the steep in 6.5 gallons (rather than the 1.5-2 recommended) and boiled...

Thanks for the input guys. Holding off until I have a better handle on my equipment and efficiency seems wise. No sense in wasting $50 of grain and hops for something that turns out terrible. I suppose since I have a lifetime of brewing ahead of me, a barleywine can wait a while. Now to...

Good morning all. I'm preparing for the transition to all-grain brewing and having done some research last night after purchasing a copy of BeerSmith, I have a Barleywine design that I would love some input on. This will be my first AG batch but my brother-in-law (experienced in...

True on both counts. First batch is in the fermenter, do I get to call myself a Michigan Homebrewer yet? :)

Good morning all, I have my first batch of homebrew in the fermenter as of yesterday. I hope to see some bubbling when I get home from work! I had a quick question about hydrometer readings. I'm using the Irish Red Ale kit from Midwest which consisted of 6 lbs of LME and some specialty...

The RCIC worked great! I had 5 gallons at a rolling boil. After flameout I started the water, tipped the keg up on a bit of the angle and started to swirl the wort. Cooling times were as follows: 3 minutes - 110 F 5 minutes - 82 F 10 minutes - 69 F Seems like a working design to me...

He's actually at Bell's in Kalamazoo...I have a good friend who's a bartender at Founders and some friends who are members at Vivante so we tend to frequent those two places in town.

Hey all, my name is Patrick and I'm in Grand Rapids, MI. I've been drinking craft beer for quite a while but decided recently take the plunge into homebrew at the suggestion of my brother-in-law who works for a Michigan craft brewery. I've been lurking here for a while soaking up information...

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but thanks to everyone for posting these ideas! I'm getting ready to do my first homebrew using some hand-me-down stuff (though including a nice keggle) from my brother in law. There wasn't an IC along with the gear so I started looking around and stumbled on...